Pat Donnelly

Last summer, Pat Donnelly was working as the advance scout for the Women's National Basketball Association's (WNBA) New York Liberty.

PhotoNow he's toiling at a less glamorous , but, he says, more satisfying , roundball gig, one-third into his first year as the coach of the Grosse Pointe North Varsity Boys team.

Donnelly, a Cleveland-area native, spent three years as the advance scout for the Liberty, and says he enjoyed the opportunity to work for a professional league.But having coached college basketball for 15 years (from 1989 to 2004), he says that during his Liberty stint, he missed the daily interaction with players , not to mention the ability to teach.

"That's important , I really enjoy that part of coaching, and I definitely missed it," says Donnelly, who lives in Troy and holds a "day job" as an account executive for Warren-based Metro Detroit Signs."I like teaching the values that sports instills in the kids."

For Donnelly, teaching and sports are family affairs , his wife, Jennifer, is a teacher in the Lakeview School District, while his son, Colin, 9, plays baseball and basketball, and his daughter, Claire, 5, is learning gymnastics.

Donnelly went into this season with his work cut out for him: The squad posted a 3-18 win-loss record last year , the result, says Donnelly, of losing several experienced upperclassmen to graduation.

"They were 25-2 two years ago, and went to the state semi-finals, but that was a senior-laden team.Now, we're a much younger team, but my job is to instill a winning attitude, and stress that if they come to play every day and work hard, they can be successful."At press time, the team was 8-5 this season.

"Pat has been very professional," says Carmen Kennedy, the school's athletic director.