Bishop Ludden High School Coach Pat Donnelly

 

 

Coming off a year where Syracuse’s Bishop Ludden won the Class B State Championship, coach Pat Donnelly is ready for another season of success. What makes coach Donnelly so special is that he not only measures his success by wins and losses, but also by how the young men he coaches act off the court.

 

Upstate Scouting: First off, I have to ask you how special was it to receive a personal message from Dirk Nowitzki?

Pat Donnelly: Very unexpected, (it’s) not everyday you get a video message from the NBA MVP!  Dirk is the best friend of one of my former players, Nick Crème.  Nick sent it to me the night we won the state championship.

U.S.: How long have you been coaching at any level and specifically Bishop Ludden?

P.D.: 31 years of coaching (two JV – four varsity at ESM).  Entering my 26th year at Bishop Ludden.

U.S.: What made you go into coaching? Any person or event in particular?

P.D.: After playing in grammar, high school and college, I wanted to stay involved.  My high school and college coaches (Gerry Wilcox and Jerry Welsh) were a big influence on my getting into coaching.  Both are members of the NYS Basketball Hall of Fame.

U.S.: What has been your most rewarding season as a coach?

P.D.: Hard to pick one.  They all are rewarding, at times.  If I had to pick one it might be the 1994 State Championship team.

U.S.: What drives you to continue being a coach after achieving so much success, including winning the Class B state title?

P.D.: It really is the success of my former players.  So many of these young men have moved on to be very successful in their lives today and have told me that playing basketball at Ludden was an important factor in their success.  We don’t evaluate teams on the wins & losses, but on where they are ten years after they graduate from Ludden.  Seeing what becomes of players after graduating from Ludden and having basketball play a small part is what keeps me going.

U.S.: How do you feel about your team this season and what are your expectations?

P.D.: Expectations are high.  We return ten out of twelve from last year’s team, but have been moved up to Class A this year.  I think we are a work in progress.

U.S.: Is there any one player in particular that you have high expectations for? If so, why?

P.D.: Dan Kaigler is an excellent student and player.  As Dan goes, we go.  He works very hard in practice and just “comes to play” everyday.

U.S.: If there is anything else you would like the reader to know, feel free to share that here.

P.D.: I have been humbled by recently being inducted into the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2012 and selected for induction into the 2013 NYS Basketball Hall of Fame.  I am there because of so many people, but the main reason is that I have had the good fortune to coach great players.

Upstate Scouting would like to wish Pat Donnelly and his team luck this year. We know it will be a challenge moving up in class, but Donnelly truly knows how to get the best out of his players.

Josh Skinner-Staff writer