Coach Don Friday named ECAC Coach of the Year after leading Penn State-Harrisburg to first-ever conference title and first ever national tournament appearance

Coach Don Friday, PSU-Harrisburg
Photo: Athletic office

... and Happy Birthday, Coach!

When he took over the Penn State-Harrisburg men’s basketball program six years ago, he knew that the program had never experienced any significant success.

This year, the fruits of his labor over the last six seasons came to fruition as the Lions captured their first conference championship as it won the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) on Feb. with a 76-69 win over Lancaster Bible College on Feb. 29.

That earned them a spot in the NCAA Division III national championship race, earning their first victory ever with a first-round win over John Hopkins, which had been ranked sixth in the country entering the tournament.

PSU-Harrisburg won 21 games this season, another school record.

As a result, Coach Friday was named 2020 ECAC Div. III Coach of the Year,

Friday was named NEAC Coach of the Year and led Penn State Harrisburg to its-first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. They made the most of that appearance as he led the Lions to a double-overtime victory over No. 6 Johns Hopkins in the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament game.

In addition to tournament heroics, the Blue & White won their first-ever conference championship with a program record with 21 victories on the season. Under his guidance, sophomore Donyae Baylor-Carroll was named the NEAC Player of the Year, while freshman Nate Curry earned NEAC Rookie of the Year recognition.

“ECAC Announces 2020 DIII Men's Basketball All-ECAC Team and 
Major Award Winners,” March 18, 2020

Has major players returning

With the conference player of the year just a sophomore and the rookie of the year just a freshman, the future looks bright to the team. However, this should not be a surprise. 


Coach Friday on left, POY Donyae Baylor-Carroll on right

Friday teamed with his college coach and mentor, Pat Flannery, to win a national title at Lebanon Valley in 1994. He later coached with Flannery at Div. I Bucknell and was the head coach at St. Francis University for four years, bringing the Red Flash back to respectability.

So, this is a talented leader of young men, and he should be commended for his efforts.

But, more than that, Don Friday is a great human being, a good man, a man who really cares for his players, along with being a good father and husband.

In short, this was a great honor for a great guy.

And imagine where the St. Francis Red Flash would be if they had stuck with him. Back in the national playoffs, no doubt.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the toughest loss I ever experienced in approximately a quarter-century of coaching football. George Pasierb was a great coaching adversary.

Image
R.I.P. George Pasierb, 1946-2020 Shade-Central City High School football coach Photo: Tribune-Democrat No high school football fan could ask for anything better than this. On a beautiful sunny, warm afternoon on Saturday, October 30, 1982, in Nanty Glory, Pa., the battle featured a clash of two undefeated titans of the Appalachian Conference.  One was the preseason unanimous favorite to win the title, the other a veritable surprise that season, one that had built an 8-0 record entering that game.  This battle lived up to the pre-game hype, ending in a one-point decision that was not certain until the final play of the game.  I thought of this because the coach of the powerful Shade-Central City High School Panthers, George Pasierb, passed away earlier this week. He coached the Panthers for 20 years, but his best team was arguably that 1982 team that battled the Blacklick Valley Vikings on that Saturday afternoon before more than 3,000 ebullient fans.  And, the one-po...
Read more

Why did Tennessee-Chattanooga hire trainer Tim Bream despite his role in the alcohol-induced death of Tim Piazza at a Penn State frat?

Image
… was a live-in advisor at the fraternity On paper, Tim Bream has an impressive resume. Actually, very impressive — up to a point. That seems to be when Bream’s life appears to careen out of control. Bream, who resigned as Penn State trainer in Feb.,  was a graduate of Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in physical education, specializing in athletic training. He then attended West Virginia as a grad assistant trainer, where he received a master’s degree in Physical Education with an emphasis on Sports Science. All of this information is from his bio on the Penn State athletic site. He then worked his way up the ladder impressively, working at Syracuse, Vanderbilt, and finally at the University of Richmond, where he was the Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer. Then he received his big break, being name as Assistant Athletic Trainer for the Chicago Bears in 1993, and four years later, Head Athletic Trainer. He was with the Bears for 19 years when inexplicably,...
Read more

Why did Mike Tomlin start hiring black coaches after 15 years?

Image
Brian Flores … hiring Flores probably rankled Goodell To place this into context, understand that the only reason that the Steelers hired Mike Tomlin 15 years ago is because he was black.  Why? He had never even been a coordinator anywhere, never in the NFL. The only reason that he was interviewed was because of the “Rooney Rule.” That rule is one named after the late Dan Rooney who led the effort to force every NFL team to interview at least one black coach when it had head coaching openings.  The Steelers had focused their coaching search after Bill Cowher left on Ron Rivera, then a defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears. Their interview with Tomlin was a peremptory one, something to satisfy the smell test.  After all, why interview a guy who was just a defensive coach? Coordinators are the people who are hired for the big gig.  Tomlin, though, is a great talker, and he wooed Dan Rooney so much that he was hired for the position.  Which begs the q...
Read more