Ex-La Salle basketball star "Buddy" Donnelly dies

Charles "Buddy" Donnelly was the captain and point guard for the Explorers' 1952 NIT championship team.
Charles "Buddy" Donnelly was the captain and point guard for the Explorers' 1952 NIT championship team. (La Salle University)
By Dick Jerardi, Daily News Staff Writer
Posted: May 10, 2012

Charles "Buddy" Donnelly, 81, the captain and point guard for La Salle's 1952 NIT champions, died Sunday.

Then-freshman Tom Gola was the star and leading scorer for that championship squad, but, in the team picture, Mr. Donnelly is in the middle of the front row, with a basketball in front of him.

"He was a very good player and a real nice guy," said Speedy Morris, the winningest coach in La Salle history.

After graduation, Mr. Donnelly was the player-coach of the Army's Fort Belvoir (Va.) basketball team that included Duke all-American Dick Groat, who went on to baseball fame with the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals. The team won the 1953 All-Army Tournament.

Mr. Donnelly also coached Father Judge High, going 100-30 in nine seasons. In addition he coached the Camden Bullets of the Eastern League and St. Joseph High in Hammonton, N.J.

Mr. Donnelly was also an insurance salesman.

"Buddy meant a lot to the La Salle community as a member of the 1952 NIT champions," director of athletics Tom Brennan said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends during this difficult time."

La Salle finished 25-7 in 1951-52 and beat Dayton, 75-64, in the NIT championship game.

Morris said Mr. Donnelly used to come around for functions when he coached La Salle.

"He was a member of the Blue Chip Club for a couple of years, always positive," Morris said.

Mr. Donnelly, who was inducted into the La Salle Hall of Athletes in 1992, is survived by his wife, Mary, and three children - Michael, Robert, and Stacy. A viewing will be held Thursday beginning at 7 p.m. and on Friday from 9 to 10 a.m. at the Joseph A. Quinn Funeral Home, 5358 Roosevelt Blvd. The funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Martin of Tours Church, 5450 Roosevelt Blvd.

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