Billy Donlon

The Clemson Dubcast

Billy Donlon goes way back with Brad Brownell -- all the way back to when Brownell was an assistant at UNC-Wilmington and Donlon played for the school.

Donlon later served as an assistant for Brownell when Brownell was head coach at UNC-W, and then he followed him to Wright State when Brownell got that job.

After Brownell left for Clemson, Donlon took over for him at Wright State and lasted six seasons.

Donlon has been Brownell's associate head coach for the past two seasons. He joins The Dubcast to reflect on the Tigers' stirring Elite Eight run and all the things that went into it.

Donlon also goes deep on his life story: His grandparents came to America from Ireland, living in New York after entering via Ellis Island.

Donlon's father was an assistant coach for Providence and played a major role in recruiting the team that went to the Final Four in 1987. He had left a year earlier to join Bill Foster at Northwestern.

Donlon remembers growing up in the Chicago area when the Bulls were becoming transcendent with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and others.

He routinely visited the Bulls' practice facility, and he recalls one day when Pippen and Horace Grant invited him to lunch.

"I was three hours late coming home, and the cops were at my house when I got home because my mom didn't know where I was," he said.