Former player and recent graduate Donald Friday Jr. is set to begin his third season as an assistant coach for Penn State Harrisburg's men's basketball program in 2025-26. No stranger to the program, he will fill the role of top assistant after serving on the men's basketball staff the past two seasons.
Most recently, Friday helped guide Penn State Harrisburg to 18 victories and the semifinal round of the United East Championship Tournament in 2024-25. As a team, the Lions were especially strong on the glass, securing an NCAA Statistical Championship in rebounding margin (13.5). Individually, Isaiah Eggleston became the second player in program history to be named to the NABC Division III All-Star Game and the ninth player in the program’s NCAA era to reach the 1,000-point mark. Eggleston also earned First-Team All-Region recognition from both the NABC and D3hoops.com after being named the United East Player of the Year. He was joined by Chris Henderson (second team) and Lance Douglas (third team) as all-conference picks.Â
In 2023-24, he helped lead Penn State Harrisburg to the most successful season in program history in 2023-24. The Lions won a program-record 25 games, captured the United East Championship and made their third NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. In March, Penn State Harrisburg defeated Hood in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament - the program's third NCAA Tournament victory in four years. Donyae Baylor-Carroll became the first player in program history to earn all-America honors of any kind, as he was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-America Second Team to go along with a D3hoops.com All-America Third-Team selection. Baylor-Carroll, a two-time D3hoops.com National Team of the Week selection, was named to the NABC-Reese's Division III All-Star Game after becoming the program's all-time leading scorer (1,973 points), while teammate Nate Curry surpassed the 1,500-point mark for his career and finished as the program's all-time leading rebounder (892 rebounds). Baylor-Carroll was named an All-Region First-Team pick by both the NABC and D3hoops.com after earning United East Volt Division Player of the Year and United East Volt Division Defensive Player of the Year honors, while he and Curry secured United East Volt Division All-Conference First Team recognition. Following the conclusion of the historic campaign, Penn State Harrisburg received votes in the final D3hoops.com Top 25 National Poll for the third time in four seasons.
Friday was a four-year player for Penn State Harrisburg who graduated from the college in 2023. He appeared in nearly 40 games during his career, was a key reserve on two NCAA Tournament teams (2020, 2022) and was also consistently successful in the classroom, as he was named to the NABC Honors Court three times.Â
