MBB: Getting to know possible asst. coach candidate Billy Donlon

Submitted by Erik_in_Dayton on

Sam Webb mentioned this morning that he's heard that Billy Donlon, former HC at Wright State, is in consideration for one of the open assistant coach positions on the basketball team.  Sam added that he hasn't been able to confirm this.  FWIW, we've had a poster state that he knows Donlon will get one of the positions (with Saddi Washington getting the other). 

The purpose of this post is to introduce Donlon and to give a bit of context to his record at Wright State.  I figure that even if Donlon is not one of the new assistants, well hey, you're getting free Wright State info!

A bit on Wright State:

They've only made the NCAA Tournament twice, with the last time being in 2007.  They've only won their conference regular season title once (also in 2007).  They are very much the second bananna to the Univ. of Dayton's program as far as the Dayton area goes.  The most games they've ever won in a season as a D1 program is 23.

The Raiders play in the Ervin J. Nutter Center, which seats about 10k people for basketball.  I went to elementary school with Ervin J. Nutter's granddaughter.  Can you believe it?!

Donlon:

Donlon is 39.  He was Wright State's HC from 2010-2016.  He was their associate HC from 2006-2010.  He won the Horizon League Coach of the Year award in 2013.

Wright State fired him after the 2016 season despite the fact that his team won 22 games total and 13 Horizon League games, the most Horizon League games the Raiders had ever won.  His career winning percentage at Wright State was 53.7%, which is almost exactly equal to the program's all-time D1 winning percentage. 

Several coaches and former coaches were upset by Donlon's firing.  Dan Dakich said the National Association of Basketball Coaches ought to boycott the open HC position at Wright State (they did not). (*1).  Chris Mack of Xavier called the firing "ridiculous." (*2).

My own two cents is that Wright State has often punched above its weight during its time as a D1 program and that it's done well to achieve what is has.  It would be a truly outstanding coaching job to make the Raiders a yearly visitor to the NCAA Tournament.  Wright State should remember that it's big brother, Dayton, has only recently been a regular visitor to the Tournament.

Donlon and defense:

If Donlon is hired, his youth and apparent defensive acumen will probably have a lot to do with it.  As far as defensive efficiency, his Wright State teams finished 50th in the country (2015-2016), 250th (2014-2015), 29th (2013-2014), 26th (2012-2013), 93rd (2011-2012), and 132nd (2010-2011) while he was HC.  While was assistant HC, they finished 60th (2009-2010), 10th (2008-2009), 99th (2007-2008), and 87th (2006-2007).

The 250th ranking in 2014-2015 likely jumps out at you, but he deserves a break when it comes to that year.  The Raiders suffered a string of injuries so bad that season that at one point they suited up for four conference games without their top six players. (*3).

Summary

Donlon seems like great candidate to me.  Winning 22 games overall and 13 conference games at Wright State is pretty darn good in my opinion.  As I mentioned - and I cannot emphasize this enough - we're talking about a program in the Dayton, Ohio area that is not the region's preeminent basketball team.  So there are, like, limits, man, on what you can expect.  And while his teams haven't been great at defense each year, he's had some significant success on that front. 

 

 

 

(*1)   http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/sports/college-basketball/tom-arc…

(*2) http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/college/xavier/2016/03/17/mack-w…

(*3) http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2016-01-23/college-bask…

 

bacon1431

May 3rd, 2016 at 2:57 PM ^

Was unjustly fired IMO. I'd take him in a heartbeat. I think he would only be here a year or two because as he should be a candidate for mid major jobs going forward. 

He is supposedly a solid defensive coach and weak on offense. Sounds like a mutually beneficial relationship for both JB and Donlon. 

Chaz_Smash

May 3rd, 2016 at 3:35 PM ^

I knew the guy's dad, a longtime high school coach in Chicago. The dad was a strange dude. Billy's more personable, grew up wanting to be a coach.

Perkis-Size Me

May 3rd, 2016 at 4:12 PM ^

Who else read this and thought for a split second that Billy Donovan said "to hell with the NBA, why not go back to college basketball and become an assistant instead?"




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Lanknows

May 3rd, 2016 at 5:16 PM ^

I nominate you to be the BB coaching search's Alum96.

Sounds like an excellent candidate. I'm not sure HC record necessarily translates directly to ability as an assistant but I like the track record, age, upside and defense potential. 

The characteristics I want out of our assistants:

1. recruiting

2. defense

3. big man coaching (to replace alexander)

 

arsenal926

May 3rd, 2016 at 7:03 PM ^

Donlon may have been unjustly fired, but there's little doubt he would have been fired the following year. During his time at Wright State he was an awful recruiter, played an unappealing style of basketball, and typically bored the WSU fans to death. The team he would have brought back for next year would have been picked to finish last in the Horizon if it wasn't for a whole bunch of other coaching changes in the Horizon league. Wright State played an easy non-conference schedule and would typically be just ok in league play to get above that 20 win benchmark. While they did make trips to the conference finals, they were never exactly a favoirte.

Now that I've gotten all the negative out of the way I'll say that I absolutely love Donlon and think he's perfect for Michigan. Donlon gets every ounce of talent out of his players and has consistently turned a group of unathletic players into a defensive juggernaut. His guards have always been really good and I think he is a worthy replacemet for Jordan. I'm confident enough in Beilein running the offense that what Donlon lacks in that regard he'll make up for on the defensive end. And typical to just about all good defenses, Donlon ran a pack line D at WSU. I'd hope he implements that here at Michigan.

As far as the person? Hands down my favorite non Greg Kampe coach in the Horizon league.

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/news/wsu-coach-donlon-unloads-on-…

Winchester Wolverine

May 3rd, 2016 at 7:18 PM ^

I go to Wright State and I'll have you know that Tom MF Hanks endorses our acting school so we're good at something damn it.

I have no idea why we got rid of him. But I'd be happy to see him at Michigan.