2009-10 Men's Basketball Coaching Staff
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Donnie Tyndall
Head Coach
Phone: 606-783-2087
Email: d.tyndall@moreheadstate.edu
Donnie Tyndall, the 2007-08 Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year, is in his fourth season as men’s head basketball coach at Morehead State University.
Under Tyndall's guidance, the Eagles have improved each season, culminating last season with Morehead State's first OVC Tournament title and NCAA bid since 1984. In returning the Eagles to prominence, Tyndall led MSU over Alabama State in the NCAA Tournament Opening Round, the first NCAA Tournament win for an OVC team since 1989.
The 2008-09 Eagles finished with a 20-16 overall record, the first time since 2002-03 that a Morehead State team has reached 20 wins. Tyndall is only the third coach in school history to have a 20-win season and he is the only coach to accomplish the feat in fewer than four years.
Tyndall’s first Morehead State team more than tripled the win total from the previous year. The 2006-07 Eagles were picked 11th in the Ohio Valley Conference but finished seventh and advanced to the conference tournament for the first time in three seasons.
The 2007-08 team continued the steady progress by picking up 15 wins and finishing third in the conference standings even though it was picked 10th in the preseason league rankings. The season was highlighted by a 10-0 start in Johnson Arena. That start matched the best start at home in school history.
That two-year turnaround by Tyndall and the Eagles is ranked among the top eight team teams in the nation for conference improvement. In those two short years, the MSU men’s basketball program became a contender for the OVC crown and one year later achieved that goal.
Well respected both in the Morehead community and within the college coaching ranks, Tyndall was named as one of the Top 10 “Under the Radar” coaches by Athalon Sports this year. He also served as the Co-Chair for the MSU Capital Campaign in 2009.
An MSU alumnus who was a basketball letterwinner, he is the 12th head coach in the history of the Eagle program. He returned to his alma mater from the position of associate head coach at Middle Tennessee State University where he had served for four years.
A NCAA Division I assistant coach for nearly 10 years, the 39-year old Tyndall spent one season as associate head coach at the University of Idaho. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach for four seasons at Louisiana State University. In 1996-97, Tyndall served as head coach at St. Catharine College in Springfield, Ky., for a season. After graduation from MSU, he spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
“In conducting a national search and speaking with literally hundreds of people, it became apparent that someone with a commitment to recruiting high level student-athletes, a passion for the game and certainly a fondness for Morehead State would emerge as our new head men’s basketball coach,” said MSU Athletic Director Brian Hutchinson. “Donnie Tyndall has all the requisite experience, having been a Division I assistant for nearly 10 years. He is proving himself to be absolutely the right person to lead this program into prominence regionally and nationally.”
At MTSU, Tyndall teamed with Head Coach Kermit Davis to lead the Blue Raiders to four consecutive winning seasons, averaging 17 wins a campaign. As recruiting coordinator, he directed MTSU recruiting efforts that have resulted in two classes being ranked in the Top 25 nationally. “Hoop Scoop” ranked the 2003 class 23rd, and the 2004 class was ranked 11th nationally. Each class was selected as the number one class in the Sun Belt Conference by that basketball publication.
While many of his responsibilities centered around recruiting, Tyndall also played instrumental roles in practice and game preparation, coordinating scouting reports and practice organization and in academic monitoring.
While he was at Idaho, the Vandals 2002 recruiting class was ranked as high as 15th nationally. Tyndall also served as scouting coordinator. As the individual in charge of academic progress, he helped the team earn a cumulative grade point average of 2.6 (on a 4.0 scale), the best at the school in more than a decade.
During his tenure on John Brady’s staff at LSU, Tyndall helped recruit three classes that were ranked among the Top 25 nationally. In 2000, LSU won the SEC and advanced to the Sweet 16. Three of the recruited student-athletes went on to play in the NBA, five earned All-Southeast Conference honors and five were named Academic All-SEC. As the Tigers’ academic coordinator, he helped improve the basketball team’s grade point average from 1.7 in 1996 to 2.65 in 2001.
During his one season as head coach at St. Catharine, he led the team to a school record 30-5 mark and to the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament for the first time in school history. Tyndall was named the Kentucky-Tennessee Junior College Coach of the Year and was also named the top coach in Region VII. Illustrating his emphasis on academic achievement, the team’s grade point average improved from 1.81 to 2.64, and all six of the sophomores on the squad earned associate degrees.
As an assistant coach at Iowa Central, he had on-floor coaching and recruiting duties and organized and supervised the team’s strength and conditioning program.
A native of Grand Rapids, Mich., Tyndall played at Northview High School, then one season at Iowa Central (1989-90). He was a member of Eagle teams for three seasons (1990-93). Tyndall played with Athletes in Action after completing his career at MSU.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from MSU (1993) and a master’s degree from LSU.
Tyndall has two daughters, Taylor Elise and Grace Elizabeth.
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