coach_years birth_place coach_team awards sport birth_date article_title name alma_mater
1978 -- 1989 1989 -- 2000 hanover , indiana illinois state western michigan mac coach of the year -lrb- 1984 -rrb- coach of the year -lrb- 1992 -rrb- mvc men 's basketball 29 may 1942 bob donewald
 bob donewald hanover
bob donewald

bob donewald , sr. -lrb- born may 29 , 1942 -rrb- is a retired american college basketball coach .
he was the first coach to lead illinois state university to the ncaa post-season national tournament , and he did so for three consecutive seasons .
his 1983 team gave illinois state its first missouri valley conference basketball championship and his 1984 team captured illinois state 's first division i ncaa tournament victory .
he coached at south bend st. joseph 's high school for 8 seasons , from 1965-66 - 1972-73 .
donewald was an assistant coach under indiana university coach bobby knight , for three seasons -lrb- 1974-75 - 1977-78 -rrb- and was a member of the hoosiers staff in 1976 when indiana went undefeated and won the national title .
in 1978 , donewald was hired as the new head coach of the illinois state redbirds , replacing gene smithson .
in donewald 's second season , the redbirds qualified for the nit 's post-season tournament , and then , in 1983 , the redbirds entered march madness for the first time in their history by winning the missouri valley conference post-season tournament .
donewald 's redbirds also qualified for the ncaa tournament the next two seasons .
donewald 's success was parlayed into a student referendum to build a new arena to replace horton field house , in use from 1963-1988 .
redbird arena was approved , and was built mostly from student fees collected over the next twenty years .
donewald began to acquire a national reputation , and in 1982 turned down an opportunity to coach the wisconsin badgers .
however , donewald 's isu teams relied upon a slow moving game , similar to a four corners offense .
with the introduction of the shot clock in the mid-1980s , donewald 's strategies and his teams began to suffer .
in 1989 , after failing to replicate his earlier successes , donewald was fired by isu .
he was immediately hired as coach of the western michigan university broncos , where he coached until 2000 .
in the 1997 -- 98 season -- his 9th season as head coach at wmu -- the broncos qualified for the ncaa tournament , where they advanced to the second round before being eliminated .
in 1992 , donewald was named coach of the year for the mid-american conference .
but donewald was unable to get the broncos back to the ncaa again , and was fired in 2000 .
donewald today lives with his wife of over 40 years in their kalamazoo home , where he does consulting work for several college and pro teams .
he also works occasionally as a color analyst .
his son , bob donewald , jr. , is currently the head coach of the iowa energy .
