As we grieve the death of iconic native son Kenneth O’Donnell, we seek to honor his accomplishments as a student, athlete, teacher, coach, and mentor by having the Neptune High School gymnasium named in his honor.  Our prayers and heartfelt wishes are with Ken’s wife Karen and their children Kevin, Sean and Lauren and the entire O’Donnell family.  We seek to preserve his memory in hopes that others will be inspired by his life’s work and aspire to become the person that Ken was naturally.

A native of Neptune City, Ken graduated from Neptune High School in 1968 as a member of the National Honor Society, President of the Varsity Club, and earned 1st Team All-State honors in both basketball and baseball.  The list of athletic accolades is lengthy.  Highlights include All-Monmouth County 1967-68, All-Shore 1967-68, Holiday Jubilee Hall of Fame, and Monmouth County Athlete of the Year 1968.  He is one of a select few that has been inducted in both the Neptune High School Hall of Fame and the Neptune Athletic Hall of Fame.  Drafted directly out of high school by the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball, Ken played in the Royals’ minor league system from 1968-73 while simultaneously earning his B.S. in Elementary Education from Monmouth College in 1973.  In 1989 Ken earned his master’s degree in Administration, Supervision, and Curriculum from Georgian Court College.

As a teacher, his career at Neptune Junior High School began in 1978.  Over the course of his student-athlete years and his professional career as a teacher, coach (varsity boys’ and girls’ basketball, varsity baseball, and soccer) and mentor, Ken’s accomplishments proved he breathed rare air the likes of which has never graced the halls of Neptune High School.

As the Scarlet Fliers Varsity Girls Basketball Coach, Ken’s teams won 85% of their games (230-42) including the NJSIAA Group IV Championship in 1984; Shore Conference titles in 1981, 1987, 1988, and 1989; NJSIAA Group IV Central Jersey Championships in 1984, 1988, 1989, and 1990; and Shore Conference Division Championships in 1981 through 1985 and 1987 through 1990.  He was the Star Ledger State Coach of the Year in 1984, Asbury Park Press Coach of the Year in 1984 and 1989, and the Red Bank Register Coach of the Year in 1998. 

On the boy’s side he led the Scarlet Fliers to victory nearly 75% of the time.  In 2005, Neptune was the first Shore Conference school to advance to the Tournament of Champions final game.  State championships were won in 2002 and 2009; State Group runner-up once (2005); three Shore Conference Championships (1995, 2004, 2008); three time NJSIAA Central Jersey Champions (1995, 2004, 2005); Shore Conference Division Champions six times (1995, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008); Holiday Jubilee Champions six times (1991, 1995, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008); Star Ledger State Coach of the Year in 2004; Asbury Park Press Coach of the Year in 2004; and coached the New Jersey State North-South All-Star game.

But Ken O’Donnell is more than the measure of his won-loss record, x’s and o’s, and championships.  As Shaun Hubbard, one of Ken’s student-athletes so eloquently posted to Facebook upon learning of his passing, Ken was imbued with special qualities that merit this high honor.  Wrote Shaun:  “Ken O’Donnell was a coach that went above and beyond.  I remember my first Holiday Jubilee.  I was beyond nervous.  Made many mistakes and went 0 for the world from the line in the first half.  I could literally hear the crowd yelling . . . “Take him out O’Donnell”.  But he didn’t.  He accepted my mistakes and coached me through it to a more productive and dominant second half and surpassed a 1,000-point career.  When college football scouts came to see me during basketball season, he would set time aside for me to show off my athletic ability.  “Aye Shaun.  Dunk it.” when he knew they were watching.  When it came down to making the hardest decision for an 18-year-old athlete to make between college football and basketball, he didn’t pressure me on my decision.  He fully supported me.  He gave me my first job ever at one of his summer basketball camps which introduced me to a love and respect for coaching which I still do today.  I’ve witness him take in other players to his home for a few days while they got their heads straight and kept them out of trouble.  He was a great coach, a great person, and a true Neptune legend.  To his family, Mrs. O’D, Kevin, Sean, and Lauren, thanks for sharing him with us.  He made a difference in my life as well as many others.  He will be forever missed and forever loved.”  When it came to life, Ken saw but two colors:  Red & Black.

The Neptune Township Board of Education would do well to hold an individual of such high moral character as Ken O’Donnell in high esteem.  Ken’s lifelong dedication to his alma mater merits naming the gymnasium for him as a tribute to a life well lived and as an beacon for future students, athletes, faculty, staff, and administration.