April 16, 2003
 Jack Donohue died April 16 of cancer in Ottawa, Canada,
at 70.
Mr. Donohue had been the head basketball coach at Holy Cross
from 1965 to 1972, attaining a record of 106-66.
The longest-serving head coach in amateur or professional
sports in Canada, he was with the Canadian men’s basketball
team for 17 years. During his tenure, the team competed in
the Olympics four times, earning a fourth-place finish at
both the 1976 and 1984 games. Under Donohue’s guidance,
Canada won the gold medal at the 1983 World University Games
in Edmonton, Alberta; his team ranked in the top six in the
world for 18 years.
Inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame as well as the Canadian,
Ontario and New York basketball halls of fame, Mr. Donohue
retired from coaching in 1988. He then devoted his time to
speaking engagements, coaching senior management and leaders
of corporate Canada, communication, motivation and teambuilding
skills. In April, the Toronto Raptors basketball team named
him the recipient of the 2003 Coach Mac Award, in tribute
to his contributions to Canadian basketball.
At the start of his career, Mr. Donohue coached Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,
then known as Lew Alcindor, at Power Memorial Academy in
New York, and achieved a record of 163-30 – including
71 straight wins, from 1959 to 1965.
He received his bachelor’s degree in economics from
Fordham University in New York City, and his master of arts
degree in health education from New York University.
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