McDonald describes his family's move to Andover as a 'perfect storm'
The term “perfect storm” was originally coined to describe an unusual combination of events or phenomena — often at sea — that produces a disastrous result. Over time, the phrase has also come to be used in a positive sense — when a rare set of circumstances combine to create an extraordinary opportunity. It is in that sense that Alan McDonald describes his family’s move from Cleveland to Andover when he was 13 — a “perfect storm,” as he calls it, “a unique opportunity.
” McDonald’s father, Billy, played four years at Jackson State under legendary coach John McLendon and later suited up for the Cleveland Pipers, a semi-pro team. He went on to become a successful business owner in the Cleveland area. Not everyone in the family was thrilled when Billy McDonald decided to move them from their home on Cleveland’s east side to rural Ashtabula County.
Alan’s older brother, Maurice “Mo”, then 15, was beginning to carve out a niche in the city’s competitive basketball circles. But there had been a couple of cautionary incidents in Cleveland, and the McDonald family had always enjoyed trips to Pymatuning Lake to fish and visit friends. Eventually, Billy purchased four acres in the area.
“It was familiar to us,” said Alan, who graduated from Pymatuning Valley in 1984 and will join Maurice in the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame during its banquet April 12. “It seemed like a natural fit. The people we met were warm and welcoming.
It probably affected me more than Maurice. It gave me more opportunities than I would have had if we had stayed in Cleveland. ” The McDonald family home happened to be located down the street from the brother of Pymatuning Valley basketball coach Bob Hitchcock.
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