OLEAN, N.Y. (WKBW) — Mike MacDonald is happy to be heading home.
On Wednesday, MacDonald was formally introduced as the newest head basketball coach at St. Bonaventure University, the school he graduated from in 1988.
“We have something special here,” MacDonald said. “We have a university that cherishes college basketball.”
During his introductory press conference, MacDonald shared a story about his friend asking him why he took the job. At Daemen, MacDonald built a powerhouse program and seemed to be nearing retirement. His response was simple: “Because it’s Bonaventure.” When the press conference was done, I asked what exactly he meant by that.
“It's a special place where people care about basketball,” MacDonald told 7 Sports. “They care about the people who play basketball, the people who coach basketball, even if you have a bad year, they wrap their arms around you, and they root for you.”
"As we began the process to identify the next leader of our men's basketball program, we developed a list of more than 20 characteristics that we would look for in the person to succeed Mark Schmidt as head coach," St. Bonaventure Director of Athletics Bob Beretta said. "Mike McDonald checked every box."
MacDonald spent 12 years at Division-2 Daemen, winning an impressive 76 percent of his games. This past season, he led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight. But something about the opportunity to return to his alma mater was too good to pass up.
“I understand what kind of shoes I'm walking in, and these are going to be difficult, but, but as you said, it's a new era of college basketball,” MacDonald said. “The teams change every year. We have to be able to try and put a team together and build it, and hopefully we can keep a team together for a little while.”
You can watch our entire interview with MacDonald at the top of the page!
