Davis Names First Staff Member

Middle Tennessee men's basketball coach Kermit Davis made his first staff addition this week by naming Donnie Tyndall as associate coach. Tyndall comes to Middle Tennessee after spending a year as the associate head coach at the University of Idaho. However, the Vandals don't provide Tyndall's connection to Davis. Tyndall was on staff at LSU with Davis from 1997-2001. "We are extremely fortunate to have Donnie Tyndall join our staff as associate coach. Donnie was with us at LSU and will bring a relentless recruiting mentality and excellent basketball knowledge to Middle Tennessee. Donnie and his family will be a great fit into the Murfreesboro and Middle Tennessee community," said Davis. Tyndall has earned a reputation as a top-flight recruiter during his career. While at Idaho, Tyndall was instrumental in bring in a recruiting class that was rated as high as 21st in the nation and the best class in school history. His recruiting expertise began while at LSU as a member of John Brady's staff. While a Tiger assistant, he assisted in recruiting three classes that were in the top 20 in the country and two in the top 10. The Tigers' 1998 recruiting class was rated as high as 3rd in America. Among his recruits at LSU, five were named All-SEC and two went on to play in the NBA. Prior to joining the LSU staff, Tyndall served as head coach at St. Catharine College in Springfield, Ky., taking the team to the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament for the first time in school history and a final ranking of 15th nationally. His 1997 squad recorded a 30-5 record, the best in school history, and led the nation in scoring at 106.1 points per game. Tyndall was an assistant coach at Iowa Central Community College before his stint at St. Catharine. While at Iowa Central, he was the recruiting coordinator, organized the team's strength and conditioning program, and was a part of all on-the-floor coaching duties. Aside from his excellent coaching and recruiting pedigree, Tyndall has also demonstrated an ability to turn around a team's academics. He has served as the team's academic supervisor at every stop in his career and has turned in outstanding results. In one year at Idaho, he helped push his team's GPA to a 2.6, marking the highest grades for a Vandal squad in 11 years. At LSU, he helped raise the team GPA from a 1.7 in 1996 to a 2.65 in 2001. The same story held true at St. Catharine where the team rose from a 1.82 to a 2.64 in one year. In two years at Iowa Central, all 10 sophomores that played under Tyndall graduated with an associate degree. Tyndall played college basketball at Morehead State from 1991-1993, lettering for three seasons. He was the recipient of the Morehead State University Senior Achievement Award during his final campaign. He came to Morehead from Iowa Central Community College where he was the team captain and most valuable player in 1990. He also received the ICCC Student-Athlete of the Year award following his lone campaign in an ICCC uniform. "It is an unbelievable opportunity for my family and me to come to Middle Tennessee. I had the good fortune of working with Kermit Davis for four years at LSU. There is no one that I respect more as a basketball coach and as a person than Coach Davis. I am excited and ready to get started bringing the Blue Raider program back to prominence," said Tyndall. Tyndall earned his B.S. in secondary education- history from Morehead State in 1993 and went on to earn an M.S. in human resource management at LSU in 2000. Tyndall and his wife Christi have a 3-year-old daughter, Taylor Elise, and are expecting their second child in June.

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

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