Darryl McDonald (born 17 June 1964) is an American-Australian professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
coach and former player who is an assistant coach for
Melbourne United
Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena.
The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 a ...
of the Australian
National Basketball League (NBL). Nicknamed "D-Mac", he played
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
for the
Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname " Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also referred to as "A&M" or "Texas Agg ...
. He played in the NBL for the
North Melbourne Giants
The North Melbourne Giants, previously known as the Coburg Giants, were an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of ...
,
Victoria Titans / Giants and the
Melbourne Tigers
Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena.
The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 as ...
.
McDonald was a three-time NBL champion: winning with the Giants in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...
, and twice with the Tigers in
2006 and
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
. He was selected as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the
NBL All-Star Game in 1996 and 2006. McDonald served as the interim coach for the Melbourne Tigers during the 2011–12 season and returned in the same capacity with the renamed Melbourne United for the 2014–15 season.
Early life
Born in New York City and growing up on the streets of
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...
,
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, McDonald learned to play basketball on the tough New York playground courts such as the famous
Rucker Park
Greg Marius Court at Holcombe Rucker Park is a basketball court in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, at 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, just east of the former Polo Grounds site. It is geographically at the base of a large cliff ...
. Known as "Mr. Excitement" and "D-Mac: The Playground King.",
he battled against New York playground legends such as The Terminator, Master Rob and Pookie Wilson as well as future
NBA stars
Rod Strickland
Rodney Strickland (born July 11, 1966) is an American basketball coach and former professional basketball player. He is currently the head coach at Long Island University. Prior to LIU, he served as the program manager for the NBA G League's profe ...
and
Mario 'The Jedi' Elie.
College career
McDonald played basketball for
Westchester Community College
Westchester Community College (WCC) is a public community college in Valhalla, New York, in Westchester County. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system.
History
New York Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences becomes Westc ...
after his graduation from high school.
After hearing about the young point guard, Texas A&M coach
Shelby Metcalf travelled to Harlem in 1985 to see McDonald play on the playgrounds. Thoroughly impressed, Metcalf began recruiting McDonald to come to Texas and play for the Aggies.
Fortunately for Metcalf, McDonald had already decided to leave New York. His neighbourhood in Harlem was very dangerous, and McDonald's brother had in fact been shot and killed by robbers in early 1985. After agreeing to attend Texas A&M, McDonald spent the first few days of his stay in
College Station in his dorm room, convinced that the number of gun racks he saw on pick-up trucks throughout town meant the area was as dangerous as the place he had left.
His early years in Texas were frustrating as Metcalf tried to change's McDonald's style of play. McDonald was a "creative and flashy" player who liked playing to the crowd. With superb instincts, McDonald had a knack for stealing the ball but had difficulty playing straight-up defence. Metcalf finally agreed to allow McDonald to play as he saw fit, with good results.
In 1987, McDonald led the Aggies to the
Southwest Conference
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...
Tournament Championship, despite the fact that the Aggies entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed after losing nine of their last eleven conference games. For his performance, McDonald was named the tournament MVP.
Their victory earned the team an automatic bid to the 1987
NCAA Tournament, Metcalf's final tournament appearance, and the last for the Aggies until 2006.
The Aggies played a tough game against
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
but ultimately lost their first-round game, exiting the tournament.
Professional playing career
After graduating from Texas A&M, McDonald spent several years playing in the relative obscurity of the Canadian NBL, where he was named an All-Star in 1993 while playing to Cape Breton, and the
CBA where he played for the Oklahoma City Cavalry and the
Sioux Falls Skyforce
The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...
.
A chance encounter led D-Mac's career
Down Under
The term ''Down Under'' is a colloquialism which is differently construed to refer to Australia and New Zealand, or Pacific Island countries collectively.Oxford English Dictionary (Electronic), Version 4.0, entry fordown under. The dictionary r ...
.
Brett Brown, at the time coach of the North Melbourne Giants, was watching a tape of a CBA game to scout a different player. As soon as he saw D-Mac, he knew that was the player he wanted.
In McDonald's first year in the league in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...
, he led the Giants to the
NBL championship with a 2–0
Grand Final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. S ...
series win over the
Adelaide 36ers
The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in th ...
, including hitting the game winning shot in overtime in Game 1 of the series at the
Clipsal Powerhouse
Adelaide Arena (known commercially as Adelaide 36ers Arena) is a multipurpose indoor sports stadium located in Findon, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia.
It is the former home arena for the Adelaide 36ers of the NBL and th ...
in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
to give the Giants a 95–93 win. D-Mac was also named the runner-up in the
NBL Most Valuable Player voting and the runner-up for the NBL's
Best Defensive Player Award. For each of his first three years (1994–1997), McDonald led the league in assists and steals, winning the
NBL Good Hands Award each year, and was again named runner-up NBL Most Value Player in
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
. From 1995–1997 he played in the
NBL All Star-Game, becoming the MVP of the 1996 game. McDonald was named to the
All-NBL First Team from 1994–1996 and to the All-NBL Second team in 1997.
McDonald continued to remain with his team when they merged into the
Victoria Titans in
1998–99 under coach
Brian Goorjian
Brian Warwick Goorjian (born 28 July 1953) is an American-Australian professional basketball coach and former player served as the head coach of the Bay Area Dragons of the East Asia Super League (EASL). He is also currently the head coach of th ...
, and then becoming a member of the Victoria Giants after the Titans folded following the
2001–02 NBL season
The 2001–02 NBL season was the 24th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 11 teams contested the league, The free-to-air television network ABC did not return this season only showing on Fox Sports on Foxtel.
Regu ...
. Despite finishing second in the NBL in assists in 2001–02 and
2002–03, and being the NBL leader in steals in
2000–01 and 2002–03, McDonald was sacked by the Giants after the 2003 season as they decided to move in a younger direction.
The
Melbourne Tigers
Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena.
The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 as ...
quickly picked him up, and he served as a backup to
Andrew Gaze
Andrew Barry Casson Gaze (born 24 July 1965) is an Australian former professional basketball player and coach. He played 22 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL) with the Melbourne Tigers from 1984 to 2005, winning the league's MVP a ...
and
Lanard Copeland
Lanard Copeland (born July 26, 1965) is an American-Australian professional basketball coach and former player. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, he played in the National Basketball League (NBL) from 1992 to 2008.
Playing career Early years
Copeland ...
for two seasons,
earning NBL Best Sixth Man honours in 2004.
The
2005–06 season saw McDonald return to the starting line-up, and his play saw many sporting commentators wonder how his 42-year-old body was able to sustain his elite level of play and athleticism.
McDonald helped lead the Tigers to the 2006 championship, outclassing many of his younger opponents along the way including starting
Australian Boomers point guard
CJ Bruton. He was named among the finalist for the
NBL's 25th Anniversary Team, finishing 17th in the final voting, and was named to the 2006 NBL Aussie All-Star Team, where he was named the MVP.
McDonald signed a contract extension to lead the Tigers past his 44th birthday. His contract also gives him the opportunity to coach a Melbourne Tigers developmental team in the off-season.
Despite his age, he was still one of the quickest and most explosive players in the NBL, but rarely played a full game due to his age and limited stamina. He retired after Game 5 of the
2007–08 Grand Final series win over the Brian Goorjian coached
Sydney Kings.
Coaching career
From 2007 onwards McDonald has served as the coach of the
Wesley College Firsts boys' basketball team.
McDonald served as the head coach of the
Melbourne Tigers
Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena.
The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 as ...
during the 2010–11 season when
Al Westover
Alan William Westover (born 7 September 1954) is a professional basketball coach best known for his tenure with the Melbourne Tigers in the National Basketball League (NBL), where he coached the team to four consecutive Grand Finals, winning t ...
was sacked.
After starting the 2014–15 season as an assistant coach with the renamed Melbourne United, he was again elevated to the role of head coach when
Chris Anstey
Christopher John Anstey (born 1 January 1975) is an Australian former professional basketball player. His career included stints in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Russia and Spain. Anstey was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers ...
stood down following the team's first game.
McDonald is involved with basketball coaching with the Australian Basketball Development (AUBD), a basketball program run by
Sedale Threatt
Sedale Eugene Threatt (born September 10, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Threatt played college basketball at the West Virginia Institute of Techn ...
and his son
Sedale Threatt Jr.
On 23 December 2020, McDonald joined Melbourne United as an assistant coach for the
2020–21 NBL season.
Personal life
McDonald has dual American/Australian citizenship.
He has seven children.
His second oldest son, Derrick, joined the Tigers' roster as a development player in the 2006–07 season.
McDonald once appeared on ''Judge Judy'' to debate a custody hearing for one of his children. The case was held shortly after his season finished in Australia, with McDonald just making it to the trial.
References
External links
DMACK websiteDarryl McDonald profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Darryl
1964 births
Living people
American emigrants to Australia
American expatriate basketball people in Australia
American expatriate basketball people in Canada
American men's basketball coaches
American men's basketball players
Australian men's basketball coaches
Australian men's basketball players
Basketball players from New York City
Junior college men's basketball players in the United States
National Basketball League (Australia) coaches
Melbourne Tigers players
Melbourne United coaches
North Melbourne Giants players
Oklahoma City Cavalry players
People from Harlem
Sportspeople from Manhattan
Point guards
Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA) players
Basketball players from Melbourne
Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball players
Victoria Giants players
Victoria Titans players