O'Donnell staying involved with hoops
BUTLER TWP — Mackenzie O'Donnell was at the Butler High gymnasium talking to new Golden Tornado girls basketball coach Mark Maier and her former post coach at the school, Paul Epps, when a question came up.
How many points did O'Donnell, who was the 2012-13 Butler Eagle Girls Basketball Player of the Year, score in her career with the Tornado?
“Honestly, I had no idea what I had,” O'Donnell said.
Turns out, it was “only” 774.
But 774 was a lot in a section where scoring 50 points was an offensive explosion during O'Donnell's four years slugging it out in the paint.
“Being double- and triple-teamed in high school prepared me more for college,” O'Donnell said. “I had to fight for everything.”
Now an assistant girls basketball coach for the Tornado under Maier, O'Donnell is hoping to teach a group of hungry players at Butler what it takes to win and persevere at the high school level.
“When Mark introduced me, he asked if they knew who I was,” O'Donnell said. “They raised their hand and I saw a spark in some of their eyes. That was nice.
“I want to teach them the bigger picture,” O'Donnell added. “That attitude not only matters on the court, but off the court. How you present yourself is important.”
O'Donnell carried herself the same way throughout her high school career.
She never once complained about the physical play inside. Instead, she put her head down and simply did her best.
“I never let that stuff bother me,” O'Donnell said. “I just went out and played hard and never let anyone get in my head.”
When O'Donnell moved on to La Roche College, she dominated for four years. She finished with 1,581 career points — more than double what she scored in high school.
She is the No. 2 all-time leading scorer for the Redhawks, five points ahead of former teammate at Butler and La Roche, Casie Cygan.
“In high school I went out and played and did my thing and never really worried about how many points I scored,” O'Donnell said. “I wasn't expecting to get 1,000 in college because I didn't even get 1,000 in high school.”
Lost in her basketball success was her standout play on the softball diamond.
O'Donnell is also a junior high softball coach at Butler. She's been in that position for three years.
Her mother, Tina O'Donnell, is the head softball coach at the school.
“I miss playing softball — I'm in a slow-pitch league now,” Mackenzie O'Donnell said. “I liked coaching it when I was playing basketball because it gave me a break and allowed me to think about something else.”
Basketball, though, has always been O'Donnell's first love and she's relishing the opportunity to stay close to the game now as an assistant.
“I'm pretty excited, to be honest,” O'Donnell said. “We have a lot of talent and they have no clue about their potential. They don't even know how good they can be yet. I remember Paul saying that same thing to me.”
