Devin Donaldson has spent the past school year as just a regular student at Ball State University. It was a change of pace for the former Blackhawk Christian guard, far away from the hardwood he plied his trade on throughout high school.
All of that will change for him next season as Donaldson recently announced on social media that he will spend his sophomore year of college at the University of Saint Francis where he will reunite with high school teammate Jalan Mull.
“I caught myself missing basketball all too much. I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” Donaldson said. “I’ve kept playing every day, improving my jump shot and making it more consistent and I’ve been focusing on getting stronger.”
Donaldson reached out to Mull this season as an olive branch to the Cougar program. He and Mull formed a tight bond on and off the court when Mull joined the Blackhawk Christian program in the pair’s junior season.
“When Jalan came to BC I gained a lifelong brother. He and I are very close and I’m really excited to play with him again,” Donaldson said. “He is so good at finding the open man; it makes life easier for shooters like myself. I’m excited for this journey with him.”
Mull appeared in 23 games as a freshman at Saint Francis, averaging 4.8 points and 10 minutes of action per contest.
Donaldson says he had talked to the coaches at Saint Francis briefly during his senior season in high school, but his only real college basketball options were on the Division III level. It was March of this year before he heard back from the Saint Francis staff and was able to start putting the pieces together to return to the game.
“Coach made it clear that I will have to work hard for what comes next but I will continue to push myself to the limit and leave the rest up in Gods hands,” Donaldson said. “I applied, and I was just waiting for the moment to get accepted for me to commit. I knew it was what I wanted to do no question.”
In his senior season at Blackhawk Christian, the left handed shooter was a pivotal part of the Braves lineup early in the season as they stayed among the top teams in Class 1A. He scored 12 points on December 30, 2017 when Blackhawk Christian knocked off then top-ranked Barr-Reeve.
He would go on to miss several games during the second half of his senior season. While he wouldn’t play as big of a factor in the second half of the season, his sharpshooting was still important on the Braves’ run to the semistate round where they were beaten by Southwood. Donaldson averaged 5.7 points per game in 20 games as a senior, hitting 40 percent of his three pointers (34-of-85).
With no offers to play on the college level appealing to him, Donaldson had given in to the fact that his playing days were over as he headed off to Muncie. That all changes now.
“It felt amazing to know that I will be playing the game I love again,” Donaldson said. “I felt like I was losing my mind not playing the game I love so I thank God for this opportunity to be apart of such a good program at USF.”
Saint Francis finished the 2019-20 season at 16-15 overall. They graduate just two players from that roster.
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