Don was a native of Ohio attending high school at Tecumseh near Springfield. He was a letterman in both baseball and after graduation he was offered a baseball contract with the Cinncinnati Reds, but went into the United States Navy serving four years. Following his Navy time he  played minor league baseball before deciding to seek his college degree. In 1956 he was offered a basketball scholardhip to play for Florence State where he excelled for the Lions scoring 1039 points during his career averaging 14.4 points per game. He led the team to the NAIA playoffs in 1960 and served as team captain in his junior and senior seasons. After graduating he went on to coach basketball at Carbon Hill High School and was the first basketball coach at Muscle Shoals High school. Don served the school as a teacher, coach, principal and superintendant for 25 years.