NASHVILLE - Ronda Jo Miller Donatucci, '02, is one of six former student-athletes who will receive the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Silver Anniversary Award tonight at the NCAA convention welcome and awards presentation in Nashville, Tennessee. Miller Donatucci will be honored along with five other student-athletes of her era: Danielle Donehew (Georgia Tech), Isaiah Kacyvenski (Harvard), Matt Kuchar (Georgia Tech), Keiko Price (UCLA), and Kerri Walsh Jennings (Stanford). All five completed their collegiate careers 25 years ago, and are being recognized for their outstanding collegiate and professional achievements.
The awardees were nominated by administrators at their undergraduate schools and selected by a panel of former student-athletes and representatives from NCAA member schools and conferences. Miller Donatucci is the first Deaf person ever to receive this award, and the only NCAA Division III player in this year's cohort.
Miller Donatucci played basketball and volleyball at Gallaudet. She was inducted into the Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame not once, but twice, in 2008 for basketball and 2014 for volleyball. Both of her uniform numbers were also retired.
Miller Donatucci's four years in each sport are the stuff of legend. She led her basketball teams to two NCAA tournament appearances, in 1996-1997 and 1998-1999. The latter team made it to the Sweet Sixteen and was the subject of two books. Her volleyball teams won two conference championships and made two NCAA tournament appearances. She holds numerous individual records in both sports; see
this article for a complete listing.
Miller Donatucci made history as the first deaf player to try out for the Women's National Basketball Association, with the Washington Mystics. She has been inducted into the USA Deaf Basketball Hall of Fame and the USA Deaf Sports Federation Hall of Fame, and remains active in the deaf sports community, including working with the Fuller and Miller Donatucci Classic. (This year's Classic is being held January 17-19 at the Oklahoma School for the Deaf for boys and the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf for girls.)
Where is Ronda Jo Miller Donatucci now?
After many years as a teacher and school administrator in her home state, first at the Metro Deaf School in Saint Paul and then at Minnesota State Academies for the Deaf and the Blind in Faribault, Miller Donatucci relocated last fall to Frederick, Maryland, to become a high school and middle school teacher in the Career and Technical Education program at Maryland School for the Deaf. She also coaches girls' volleyball and girls' basketball with third and fourth grade students.
Miller Donatucci explained that she had wanted to return to the classroom for some time, especially as her two daughters reached school age. Thus, she seized the opportunity to join MSD. This year, she coached her older daughter in both sports.
Miller Donatucci lives in the Frederick area with her two daughters, Grace and Lobelia. She plays recreational volleyball and basketball in the Frederick area.
What was it like to receive this award?
Miller Donatucci was very surprised to be named an NCAA Silver Anniversary honoree. Of her five co-winners, she knew of only one – Kerri Walsh Jennings, the five-time Olympian in beach volleyball who won three gold medals and one bronze medal, and who holds 115 championships overall. She idolized Walsh Jennings and considered playing beach volleyball in the Deaflympics because of her, but kept her commitments to indoor volleyball and basketball.
Who were some of your role models growing up?
Miller Donatucci was quick to name Jim Potter, a long-time teacher and coach at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf, as someone who provided her with much inspiration from an early age.
She also cited Nanette Virnig, her lifelong best friend. They grew up and played sports together.
Finally, Miller Donatucci is inspired by the memory of Ronda Kopatich-Johnson, another close friend with whom she grew up in Minnesota. The two Rondas played sports together in school and at Gallaudet. Johnson lost her battle with cancer 11 years ago, at age 34.
Did you foresee all the accolades that have come to you over the years?
Miller Donatucci is by nature humble and unassuming. She has greatly appreciated the many awards that she has received – trophies and medals, multiple Hall of Fame inductions, having her uniform numbers retired, having a basketball tournament named in her honor, and now this NCAA Silver Anniversary award – but she has maintained a modest demeanor throughout. "I was simply doing what I do best," she said. Tonight, she says, she looks forward most to meeting her volleyball compatriot Kerri Walsh Jennings and being a little bit of a "fan girl."
What do you do today to be seen as Ronda Jo the person, not Ronda Jo the athlete?
Miller Donatucci is now a seasoned mid-career educator and educational administrator. She finds her greatest satisfaction from being a mother to two young daughters and in helping to shape future generations of young deaf children. Her move to Maryland after decades in Minnesota was a seismic shift for her, but she and her family have adjusted well.
What words of wisdom would you like to share with young deaf people?
This was by far the easiest question for Miller Donatucci to answer. She said that one must work hard to attain their goals. Some people have natural gifts – Miller Donatucci's height was an asset in both of her sports – but everyone must put in the work. "Set your goals and work toward them. All your work will pay off later," she said. It is best to develop this work ethic at a young age, she added.
What else would you like to share with our readers?
Miller Donatucci has warm memories of her time at Gallaudet and of her teams. She was here one year ago for the silver anniversary gathering of the Sweet Sixteen basketball team and rekindled many of her past relationships with players, coaches, staff, and supporters. She also wants to thank her Phi Kappa Zeta sorority sisters, who provided support and encouragement throughout her career.
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