NATCHITOCHES -- The building where Dan McDonald began his Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame career as a sports information director and journalist no longer stands on Northwestern State's campus.
 
The memories and influences formed inside Bullard Hall remain firmly planted in McDonald's mind.
 
"When I first got here, my very first day on campus, I'm sitting there with Pesky Hill, who was the SID at the time," McDonald said after the news conference introducing the 2017 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame class at the museum on Front Street in downtown Natchitoches.
 
"He said I want you to be my student assistant. I was his student assistant, and we were the staff. It was the two of us, and that was it. It was a lot of work, but it was great because I got a chance to do a lot of things guys who were just coming to school – freshmen and sophomores – didn't get to do."
 
What Hill did for McDonald resounded in the latter's career and continues to do so today.
 
After graduating from Northwestern State, McDonald embarked on a brief career in journalism before returning to NSU as its sports information director in 1975. A five-year stay in Natchitoches began a 24-year run for McDonald, who was honored with the Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, in the sports information field.
 
Following his time at NSU, McDonald matriculated two hours south to then-University of Southwestern Louisiana where he stayed for 19 years. McDonald's time as a sports information director earned him a spot in the College Sports Information Directors of America Hall of Fame in 2011.
 
For the two-time Hall of Fame honoree, it all goes back to the tools given him by Hill and current Northwestern State Vice President for External Affairs Jerry Pierce.
 
"Jerry Pierce was Pesky's boss, they saw that this was something I wanted to do, something I cared about and something I enjoyed," McDonald said. "They were the guys who nurtured that. They gave me the responsibilities and the benefits of it. Being able to do the kinds of things I did was a direct result of what they allowed me to do.
 
"They allowed me to stand and fall on my own merits. I messed up an awful lot, but they were right there saying, 'It's OK. It's part of the learning process. We want you to do this. We want you to do better at it.' I became better at it because of what they did for me."
 
Like numerous coaches, McDonald's career created quite a tree of sports information directors. In the same way Pierce and Hill helped guide McDonald's career, he in turn tutored the likes of Greg Sharko of the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour, University of Houston Director of Athletics Communications Jeff Conrad and longtime NSU Sports Information Director Doug Ireland.
 
Coincidentally, some of McDonald's other Northwestern State influences were coaches.
 
"They embraced me," McDonald said. "I was a 21-, 22-year-old kid. I was not much older than the guys they were coaching, and I was working with them. They sort of put their arm around my shoulder and said, 'Don't worry. We'll make it work.'
 
"Tynes Hildebrand did that. Guys like George Doherty did that. Many different coaches in many different sports I had to work with (did that). They took me in, they accepted me and they treated me as an equal. They didn't have to do that, because I was such a young guy. They were so good to me."