He returned from his 1958 retirement to coach the final Spring Arbor High School basketball team in 1961, before the high school was discontinued. As a Spring Arbor basketball coach, Mac led the now-Cougar basketball team into interscholastic competition for the first time in 1948. Mac was a multi-talented coach, but his true passion was for the game of basketball. When Spring Arbor became a four-year college, he also assumed the coaching responsibilities for golf. His high school coaching career included 13 years with basketball, 12 years with track, seven years with baseball, five years with cross country and nine years with intramural football. “Mac” McDonald served at Spring Arbor for 26 years (1945-71) during the institution’s high school, junior college and four-year college years.
Everyone is waiting for the finalization of renovations to the SAU Fieldhouse, the completed facility to be known as the “MAC,” short for “McDonald Athletic Center.”Ī beloved and respected athletics coach and mathematics teacher, Donald A. “Mac” is an important name in SAU Athletics - and lately it’s been a popular name among community members on our Spring Arbor campus.
