It seemed only fitting that Don Donoher died a few days after this year’s NCAA Final Four in April. The longtime University of Dayton basketball coach who had guided the Flyers on an improbable run to the men’s national championship game 57 years earlier passed into eternal life at age 92 on April 12.

If you’re a college basketball fan, a University of Dayton graduate or have any connection to the Miami Valley, you’ve probably at least heard the name. Donoher was highly respected by everyone who knew him.

Even 35 years after he coached his last game at Dayton in 1989, he remained a beloved figure. When the school honored the Flyers’ 1984 team that reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament in December at UD Arena, Donoher received a standing ovation while sitting in a wheelchair as he was surrounded by former players on the court.

The admiration extended well beyond Dayton. A who’s who of college basketball coaches always spoke glowingly of Donoher. Some of the familiar names from his era included Digger Phelps, John Chaney and Rick Majerus. A reporter who covered the Flyers recounted recently how opposing coaches would frequently approach him to ask how Donoher was doing in retirement.

Legendary Indiana coach Bob Knight, an Ohio native and former Ohio State player, was not the easiest man to impress, but he so respected Donoher that he made him an assistant coach with the 1984 U.S. Olympic gold-medal-winning team. A few years later, Donoher spent a season as an assistant in 1989-90 with the Hoosiers when he was let go at Dayton in 1989 after three consecutive losing seasons.

Make no mistake, though, that Donoher’s basketball accomplishments –- and there were many -- really aren’t what defined him as a coach and as a man. Unnoticed by most of the world, but not by those who knew him well, was a deep Catholic faith that guided his life until the end.

Columbus native Larry Hansgen became the radio play-by-play voice for Dayton basketball in 1982. He was raised Methodist and had fallen away from his faith in college before he met Donoher. Within two years, Hansgen had become Catholic.

“It was very early in my time broadcasting games and his mother died,” Hansgen recalled. “And he talked about her passing and her funeral with such a peace about him.

“He had two brothers who were priests and when they celebrated the funeral Mass, just the look on his face and the peace he had, I said to myself, ‘I want that.’ And so I went through RCIA and became a Catholic. The rest is history.”

Donoher was a daily Mass-goer, often attending at noon on campus while he was coaching the Flyers, starting as an assistant in 1963 and serving as the head coach from 1964 through 1989. When he took his teams on the road, a priest always traveled with them to make sure Mass was available. 

“He led me to my faith and I’m sure to a certain degree he did other guys,” Hansgen said. “But the biggest thing is that he never proselytized. He didn’t evangelize. He had a quiet faith, but it was so prominent in his life.

“People who have negative feelings about organized religion sometimes are uncomfortable seeing pious people, but what was great about Mick (Donoher’s nickname) is that he was not what I would call pious, but a man who lived his faith on a daily basis in such a manner that it wasn’t, ‘Hey, look at me.’”

Dan Christie played for Donoher in the 1980s. He remained in the Dayton area after graduating and he and his family stayed connected with the coach through the years. 

Like Hansgen, Christie was not Catholic, but he also recognized the coach’s strong faith.

For years after college, Christie faithfully attended church with his Catholic wife and children before, finally, more than 30 years after college, he decided it was time to become Catholic. He began instructions during the pandemic year of 2020.

“I called coach for something, I can’t remember what it was, but I said, ‘Hey, Coach, are you sitting down?’” Christie said. “And he goes, ‘Geez, Dan, did you kill somebody? What’d you do? What happened?’ I said, ‘Well, I just want to let you know, because I know your faith is one of the biggest things in your life, I just want you to know that I converted.’”

A few days later, Donoher showed up at Christie’s office and dropped off a gift. It was a clock that played “How Great Thou Art.”

Longtime Capital University basketball coach Damon Goodwin was a starting guard on Dayton’s Elite Eight team in 1984. Like Christie, Goodwin drew inspiration from the example set by his college coach.

“Coach Donoher was a man of deep faith,” Goodwin said recently. “I played for him for four years and coached with him for a season. He would attend Mass every day and was always reflecting on his path.

“He will be missed and he lived a life of thoughtfulness and inspiration.”

Donoher not only was devoted to his players and his faith but also to his wife of 66 years, Sonia. They met in college at Dayton and married in 1954 after his final season as a player for the Flyers. And late in her life while she was battling Alzheimer’s, he remained by her side at a care center until her death in 2020. After her passing, friends observed that he made almost daily visits to the cemetery where she was buried. 

Just as noteworthy as Donoher’s devotion to faith, family and basketball was his humility. 

A Hall of Fame coach who led Dayton to eight NCAA Tournament berths, seven National Invitation Tournament bids (including the NIT championship in 1968) and a 437-275 record in 25 seasons, Donoher could be seen sitting with fans in the stands watching Flyers games long after his coaching days had ended or spotted in line at the post office mailing a package.  

Until his death, he held the distinction of being the oldest living person to have coached in an NCAA men’s basketball championship game, but he only knew that he was upon being informed of that fact by a reporter a few years ago.

Considering all of his success in the major college ranks, he wasn’t above sharing his basketball knowledge with coaches and players at the high school level. For more than a decade, he served as a junior varsity coach and varsity assistant at Middletown Bishop Fenwick, which his grandchildren attended. Christie’s son also had the privilege of being coached by Donoher in high school.  

Donoher’s own basketball career began at Toledo Central Catholic High School. He came to the University of Dayton in 1950 and played for three years before enlisting in the U.S. Army and then returning to Dayton as a part-time assistant.

In February 1963, he became the program’s first full-time assistant under his mentor, coach Tom Blackburn. The following season, Blackburn was suffering from cancer and Donoher took over as interim coach for the final three games. Blackburn died in March 1964 and Donoher was named his replacement.

He enjoyed immediate success, leading the Flyers to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament and a 22-7 record in his first season.

In 1967, he reached the pinnacle in the sport. Dayton advanced all the way to the national championship game, where the Flyers ran into mighty UCLA led by 7-foot-2 center Lew Alcindor, who would later become NBA all-time great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. That team was coach by another legend, John Wooden, who won seven consecutive national titles starting that year and 10 overall.

An NIT championship followed in 1968. The program had mixed success in the 1970s and then came the magical run in 1984 led by standout Roosevelt Chapman. En route to the Elite Eight, 10th-seeded Dayton took down LSU, Oklahoma and Washington before losing to eventual national champion Georgetown. 

Five years later, Donoher was fired after three consecutive losing seasons.

In later years, he was enshrined in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame, the University of Dayton Athletics Hall of Fame, the Toledo Area High School Hall of Fame and the Toledo Central Catholic Hall of Fame.

Despite his successes, life wasn’t easy by any stretch. There were plenty of bumps in the road, among them the hardship of being ousted by his alma mater. He lost a son, Gary, and several of his other children experienced struggles.

As a coach, Donoher sometimes showed his frustration.

Christie recalled a tough loss at Notre Dame when Dayton blew a five-point lead in the final minute. After the game, Donoher had an assistant rent a car in South Bend to ride in for the return trip to Dayton because the frustrated coach didn’t want to be on the bus with the players. 

“But his faith was second to none,” Christie said. “It pulled him through some of the life challenges that were thrown at him with his own family and the stresses of coaching Division I basketball.”

You might be wondering why it’s worth sharing Donoher’s story. Simple. Men in particular need to read about other successful men whose lives have been guided by their Catholic faith.

In today’s world, many men are afraid to express their devotion to Christ, His Mother and the Church. Men like Don Donoher provide an example of faith and humility that everyone should strive to emulate.