Dan D’Antoni’s Long, Strange Trip to Cinderella Status
In what was the most action-packed game of the NCAA Tournament’s first round, the No. 13 Marshall Thundering Herd upset No. 4 Wichita State 81-75 in San Diego, CA. Now, the Herd will likely play their in-state rival, West Virginia, in the Round of 32 on March 18th.
While Marshall is a true underdog, they have star-power that’s rarely seen from a No. 13 seed. Well, actually, that’s sort of misleading — the Herd have a name associated with their program that’s rarely seen from a No. 13 seed. That name is D’Antoni…it’s just not the D’Antoni that basketball fans see cozying up to Chris Paul and James Harden on ESPN or TNT. It’s Dan D’Antoni — not his uber-famous younger brother, Mike.
Mike, of course, revolutionized NBA basketball as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, and most recently, Houston Rockets. Dan, on the other hand, has been in the shadows. For a while, you could find him on his brother’s staff, assuming the role of NBA Assistant Coach from 2005-2014. But before that, and way before he was hired to resurrect his alma mater’s basketball program in 2014, he was a high-school teacher who coached the basketball team.
I know what you’re thinking, tons of guys have coached in high school for a few years before moving up the ranks. This, however, was different.
Dan D’Antoni, who is now the face of the coolest Cinderella team in the NCAA Tournament, coached at Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach for THIRTY YEARS — spending his days in front of a chalkboard.
It’s truly hard to believe; thirty years is a career all by itself. Then he did a decade in the NBA? And has been at Marshall for four years? Insane stuff. But Dan D’Antoni, for as young as he looks, is an eye-popping 70 years old.
To bring things full circle, D’Antoni started his coaching career in 1970 as the coach of Marshall’s freshman team. He spent just one season there, choosing to chase his playing career for a few years before diving back in. Then in 1975, he took the job in sunny Myrtle Beach and never looked back.
He stalked the sidelines of Socastee High for 30 years, piling up over 524 wins and 12 trips to the state tournament. In 2016, he was enshrined in the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.
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Moving forward, you’d be silly not to route for D’Antoni and his massively exciting team. They play fast, shoot deeeeep threes, and led Conference USA in scoring with 84.3 points per game.
Plus, D’Antoni is just an awesome dude. I mean, the guy wears a t-shirt under his suit jacket. He’s a national treasure.
After Marshall’s upset win versus Wichita State, he didn’t give the typical cliche quotes to reporters. Instead, he led with this.
“Tell my brother we’d beat his team!”