By Joe Posanski
Kansas City Star
March 20, 2009
BOISE, Idaho | Steve Donahue seems like a happy man. It’s a refreshing thing to see in March. When you see big-time coaches this time of year, when you see Roy Williams or Rick Pitino or Tom Izzo or Ben Howland, well, “happy” might not be the first word that comes to mind.
But Donahue sits in front of the small media contingent, and he talks about how a near-tragedy led to him signing a 7-foot center, and how nobody wanted his best shooter, and how much fun it is to coach a group of kids who, when you tell them something, they just do it. You never know what is in a person’s heart, and you never know when ambition will strike. But listening, I get the feeling that coaching basketball at Cornell is everything Steve Donahue wants out of his professional life.
That’s not a big national story because Cornell is not going to win this NCAA Tournament. It would be a huge upset if Cornell even beat Missouri today, and it’s especially unlikely because Missouri does not seem like the kind of team that will get upset. The Tigers play the sort of intense, full-court, pressing style that eats up teams with lesser talent. They lost only twice all year to nontournament teams, and both were road games in the Big 12. It’s hard to imagine Cornell beating 40 minutes of heck or whatever they call that style these days.
But it sure seems that no matter what happens today, Steve Donahue will be a happy man. He doesn’t make huge amounts of money like other coaches. He cannot recruit the nation’s top players. Coaching at Cornell, he will never reach a Final Four; he will never play home games in front of 18,000 screaming fans (Newman Arena holds 4,473); he will never be famous.
So what does he get?
Well, his guard Louis Dale speaks fluent French. His backup forward Jon Jaques blogs for the New York Times and majors in biology and society. Role player Andre Wilkins puts up YouTube videos about what it has been like growing up in the poor Jane and Finch neighborhood in Toronto so that kids can be inspired by him. Another one of his best shooters, Geoff Reeves, grew up in Burlington, Kan. — he was a high school teammate of Kansas’ Tyrel Reed — and he had other options, but he went to Cornell because, of course, he wanted to go to Cornell.
And Donahue signed his center, Jeff Foote, after a freak accident during practice in 2006 left guard Khaliq Gant unable to move. Gant was paralyzed for four months — he is walking now, though unable to play — and the head nurse at the medical center was Wanda Foote. She was so impressed with the Cornell players that she said she really wanted her 7-foot son to play at Cornell. He was a walk-on at St. Bonaventure then. Foote transferred, and he led this year’s team in rebounds and blocks.
“I have always said that I think (the Ivy League) is the best-coached league in the country,” Donahue says. “And it has nothing to do with the coaches. It has all to do with the players.”
This is what he gets: a group of bright and driven young men who are smart enough to realize they probably won’t play in the NBA and who are dedicated enough to play precisely the way Donahue wants them to play. Listen to Missouri people describe what they know about Cornell:
“They work well together, and they seem like they have been playing together for a long time,” guard Matt Lawrence says.
“They’re a very intelligent team,” guard J.T. Tiller says.
But Donahue sits in front of the small media contingent, and he talks about how a near-tragedy led to him signing a 7-foot center, and how nobody wanted his best shooter, and how much fun it is to coach a group of kids who, when you tell them something, they just do it. You never know what is in a person’s heart, and you never know when ambition will strike. But listening, I get the feeling that coaching basketball at Cornell is everything Steve Donahue wants out of his professional life.
That’s not a big national story because Cornell is not going to win this NCAA Tournament. It would be a huge upset if Cornell even beat Missouri today, and it’s especially unlikely because Missouri does not seem like the kind of team that will get upset. The Tigers play the sort of intense, full-court, pressing style that eats up teams with lesser talent. They lost only twice all year to nontournament teams, and both were road games in the Big 12. It’s hard to imagine Cornell beating 40 minutes of heck or whatever they call that style these days.
But it sure seems that no matter what happens today, Steve Donahue will be a happy man. He doesn’t make huge amounts of money like other coaches. He cannot recruit the nation’s top players. Coaching at Cornell, he will never reach a Final Four; he will never play home games in front of 18,000 screaming fans (Newman Arena holds 4,473); he will never be famous.
So what does he get?
Well, his guard Louis Dale speaks fluent French. His backup forward Jon Jaques blogs for the New York Times and majors in biology and society. Role player Andre Wilkins puts up YouTube videos about what it has been like growing up in the poor Jane and Finch neighborhood in Toronto so that kids can be inspired by him. Another one of his best shooters, Geoff Reeves, grew up in Burlington, Kan. — he was a high school teammate of Kansas’ Tyrel Reed — and he had other options, but he went to Cornell because, of course, he wanted to go to Cornell.
And Donahue signed his center, Jeff Foote, after a freak accident during practice in 2006 left guard Khaliq Gant unable to move. Gant was paralyzed for four months — he is walking now, though unable to play — and the head nurse at the medical center was Wanda Foote. She was so impressed with the Cornell players that she said she really wanted her 7-foot son to play at Cornell. He was a walk-on at St. Bonaventure then. Foote transferred, and he led this year’s team in rebounds and blocks.
“I have always said that I think (the Ivy League) is the best-coached league in the country,” Donahue says. “And it has nothing to do with the coaches. It has all to do with the players.”
This is what he gets: a group of bright and driven young men who are smart enough to realize they probably won’t play in the NBA and who are dedicated enough to play precisely the way Donahue wants them to play. Listen to Missouri people describe what they know about Cornell:
“They work well together, and they seem like they have been playing together for a long time,” guard Matt Lawrence says.
“They’re a very intelligent team,” guard J.T. Tiller says.
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