February 16, 2006: Headlines: COS - Morocco: Sports: Basketball: The Sacramento Bee: Morocco RPCV Gary Donnell knows the true meaning of intensity and focus on the basketball court
Peace Corps Online:
Peace Corps News:
Peace Corps Library:
Sports:
January 23, 2005: Index: PCOL Exclusive: Sports :
February 16, 2006: Headlines: COS - Morocco: Sports: Basketball: The Sacramento Bee: Morocco RPCV Gary Donnell knows the true meaning of intensity and focus on the basketball court
Morocco RPCV Gary Donnell knows the true meaning of intensity and focus on the basketball court
Whether as a standout player at Roseville High School, Sierra College and Linfield College in Oregon; or as a teacher of the game as a member of the Peace Corps in Morocco and coach at Oakmont High School; or as a weekend warrior in recreation leagues around Placer County, Donnell did it with passion.
Morocco RPCV Gary Donnell knows the true meaning of intensity and focus on the basketball court
Intensity awarded wtih trip to the Hall
Feb 16, 2006
The Sacramento Bee, Calif.
Caption: As a basketball player for Sierra College, Gary Donnell always seemed to have the right stuff. Photo: Special to THE PRESS-TRIBUNE
Feb. 16--Anyone who has battled for position or tried to match X's and O's with Gary Donnell knows the true meaning of intensity and focus on the basketball court.
Whether as a standout player at Roseville High School, Sierra College and Linfield College in Oregon; or as a teacher of the game as a member of the Peace Corps in Morocco and coach at Oakmont High School; or as a weekend warrior in recreation leagues around Placer County, Donnell did it with passion.
So it wasn't surprising that Donnell joined skier Lynn Giovannoni as "Players" inducted into the Sierra College Hall of Fame on Feb. 4 by the Sierra College Wolverine Athletic Association.
They joined inductees "Coach/AD" Howard "Woody" Woodside and Lois Hatch; "Support" Robert Wickstrom and Kevin Ramirez; and "Team," the 40 members of the 1966 Lettuce Bowl football squad that included current Wolverines athletic director John Volek.
Donnell was impressed with the turnout of about 250 for the luncheon in which his son, Chris Donnell, talked about his proud father.
"They did a really nice job," Donnell said of the event. "I can't say enough about John Volek. He's really trying to get people to reconnect with the college."
Donnell admits to having a particularly fond place in his heart for the Rocklin college. His three sisters and two brothers also attended the school, and it's where he developed into an outstanding basketball player.
During the 1966-67 season, the 6-foot-4 freshman forward helped coach George Goto's Wolverines to the Golden Valley Conference title one year after a two-victory season. Sierra won nearly 20 games and finished second in Donnell's sophomore season.
The two-year performance earned Donnell a scholarship to Gonzaga, though he opted to compete instead for coach Ted Wilson at tiny Linfield College, an NAIA school in McMinnville, Ore., that played a full-throttle, up-tempo style uncommon at the time.
Donnell said Linfield, in compiling 24-4 and 23-6 records during his two years at the school, often would score 90 points or more a game.
"We played wall-to-wall pressure and ran every time we got the ball," Donnell said. "He liked to have a lot of guys in double figures. So when you got to 10 points, you had to watch out, because (Goto would) pull you out."
Wilson helped get Donnell a one-week rookie-camp tryout with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1970, where he shared court time with top draft pick Geoff Petrie, now the Sacramento Kings president of basketball operations.
But Donnell knew making an NBA roster was a long shot. He helped coach at Linfield while he completed his graduation requirements and then with his bride, Candi, took a two-year mission to Morocco. Donnell helped coach the junior and senior national teams while enjoying the exotic locale along the Atlantic coast.
"It was the best thing in the world to be there together," Donnell said. "It cemented our relationship. It was an eye-opener as far as being in a different culture. ... Everyone was very, very good to us."
Returning to the United States, Donnell spent three years as an off-campus head coach at Sierra College, then later served as an assistant to John Rankin.
But Donnell's reputation as one of the area's top coaches developed at Oakmont, where he coached for 14 seasons. While he had many good teams, his favorite was the 1993-94 unit that went 30-4 and lost to East Bakersfield in the Division II state championship in Oakland.
He said the team that included Whitney Brake, Chad Littler, Anthony Flood and his point-guard son, Chris, had an insatiable work ethic.
"We had a stable of guards and forwards that were athletic and bright and shared the same values," Donnell said. "Good kids and good athletes make you a good coach."
Donnell, who stepped down at the end of the 2000-01 season, still teaches physical education and coaches the boys and girls golf teams at Oakmont. But he has no desire to coach basketball again.
"No way," he said. "I'm in a different chapter in my life. To try to do something well, you have to work hard at it, and you can only sustain it so long."
When this story was posted in March 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| March 1, 1961: Keeping Kennedy's Promise On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy issues Executive Order #10924, establishing the Peace Corps as a new agency: "Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed--doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language. But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps--who works in a foreign land--will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace. " |
| The Peace Corps Library The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory. New: Sign up to receive PCOL Magazine, our free Monthly Magazine by email. Like to keep up with Peace Corps news as it happens? Sign up to recieve a daily summary of Peace Corps stories from around the world. |
| Paid Vacations in the Third World? Retired diplomat Peter Rice has written a letter to the Wall Street Journal stating that Peace Corps "is really just a U.S. government program for paid vacations in the Third World." Director Vasquez has responded that "the small stipend volunteers receive during their two years of service is more than returned in the understanding fostered in communities throughout the world and here at home." What do RPCVs think? |
| RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case. |
| Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject. |
| PC establishes awards for top Volunteers Gaddi H. Vasquez has established the Kennedy Service Awards to honor the hard work and service of two current Peace Corps Volunteers, two returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and two Peace Corps staff members. The award to currently serving volunteers will be based on a demonstration of impact, sustainability, creativity, and catalytic effect. Submit your nominations by December 9. |
| Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: The Sacramento Bee
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Morocco; Sports; Basketball
PCOL31874
21