NEGAUNEE, MI – Going into next year’s basketball season, the Negaunee Miners were going to have to replace a very prolific senior class of Tyler Jandron, Eric Lori, Zane Radloff, and Tyler Windahl. Now, however, they’re going to have to rebuild entirely. Finlandia University announced late Wednesday night that they have hired their former stand out Mike O’Donnell as their new head coach.
O’Donnell who took over at the beginning of the 2005-2006 season has kept the Miners atop the MPC during his entire reign. He will leave Negaunee with a 173-49 record (according to MaxPreps.com) and only lost a combined seven games over the past three seasons. Also under his belt are eight district championships, six regional championships, three U.P. ABC Coach of the Years and he brought three teams to the final four of the MHSAA Class C tournament.
O’Donnell, who graduated from Finlandia University in 2004, was the tournament MVP in 2001 when the Lions won the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division I championship. O’Donnell released the following statement:
“Being able to come back to my alma mater is something I’m extremely excited about. This is a place where I had success as a player and a student, and I hope to help my players learn to be successful, not only on the court, but in the classroom as well.”
Negaunee will surely have some big shoes to fill when choosing a new coach. It’s been a pleasure to watch the Negaunee Miners Basketball program flourish under his tutelage and Finlandia will surely be getting 100% effort from a great coach. We here at SunnyFM wish Coach Mike O’Donnell & his family nothing but the best as he takes another step in his coaching career! Congratulations Coach!
-Carl Leander Johnson
