Tag: Donnie Tyndall

Donnie Tyndall wins coaching debut at Florida junior college

Former UT basketball head coach Donnie Tyndall wins first game at Chipola College.

A former University of Tennessee men’s basketball coach earned his first win at his new school.

Donnie Tyndall, who coached the Volunteers during the 2014-15 season, was tapped to coach Chipola College in Florida over the summer.

He won his first game as the Indians head coach, notching an 81-71 victory over the College of Central Florida on Wednesday at Milton Johnson Center.

The Indians are a community college team that competes in the NJCAA.

Tyndall’s tenure on Rocky Top lasted one year as he was dismissed for violations that he committed as the head coach at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Following his brief stint with the Big Orange, Tyndall coached in the NBA G-League.

He was an assistant with Raptors 905 between 2016-18.

He then served as an assistant for the Grand Rapids Drive between 2018-19 before taking over as the team’s head coach during the 2019-20 campaign. As the Drive’s head coach, Tyndall coached former UT standout Admiral Schofield.

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The Grand Rapids Drive are in the …

The Grand Rapids Drive are in the market for a new coach since Donnie Tyndall is on the move. Chipola College officials announced Thursday that Tyndall was named the school’s men’s basketball coach during Tuesday’s college board of trustees meeting. Tyndall coached the Drive to a 25-18 record in his first year at the helm before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The G League started its program in …

The G League started its program in 2018 as a professional alternative for top prospects. But after it couldn’t lure top talent, it recently added more lucrative benefits to encourage star recruits to consider the NBA’s development system — a prep school of sorts for the pro level — over a college scholarship or overseas move. And in some cases, it has worked. “I think that it’s a good idea from the standpoint if you have guys that are just dead set on not wanting to go to college for whatever reason — maybe they just want to focus on nothing but developing their game, maybe they don’t like school,” said Donnie Tyndall, head coach of the Grand Rapids Drive, the Detroit Pistons’ G League affiliate.

Donnie Tyndall: “Everybody has got …

Donnie Tyndall: “Everybody has got their own opinion and mindset about how they want to go about living their life. If a guy doesn’t want to go to college and his options have been to go to Australia or go to China or wherever so that you make good money. A few years ago, the G League was paying $30,000-$35,000 and there wasn’t this option for the higher-paid guys. Why would you play in the G League if you could go to Australia for $500,000?”

Tyndall said whenever the “Select Team” …

Tyndall said whenever the “Select Team” faces a G League team, those G League players will have added “ammunition” since most are making around $35,000 and are fighting to reach the NBA. “Your players are going to know these guys are making a lot more money than they are and they are projected first-round NBA-type talent,” Tyndall said. “So every time the elite team goes to the floor, they’re probably going to be getting the opponent’s best shot. It’ll be interesting to see how those young guys handle that.”

Donnie Tyndall having success in NBA G League

Donnie Tyndall having success in NBA G League.

GRAND RAPIDS — Former University of Tennessee men’s basketball coach Donnie Tyndall is having some modest success as a head coach in the minor leagues of professional basketball.

Tyndall, who coached the Volunteers during the 2014-2015 season before being fired after receiving a show cause penalty by the NCAA for violations committed while he was at the University of Southern Mississippi, is in his first year as head coach of the Grand Rapids Drive of the National Basketball Association’s G-League.

Grand Rapids is the minor league affiliate of the Detroit Pistons.

One of the players on the Drive’s current roster is former Tennessee player Jordan Bone. Bone, a rookie, was a second-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

Grand Rapids is 11-10 this season and seventh in the G-League’s Eastern Conference standings.