Frederick Douglass High School Dedicates Basketball Court to Championship Coach

The new and improved gym floor at Frederick Douglass High School also pays homage to the legendary Astros who brought championships back to 225 Hamilton E. Holmes Dr.

Douglass High School revealed the new court designs recognizing the 2019 and 2020 girls’ basketball state championship teams, the 1984 men’s basketball championship team, and coach Donald Dollar, who led the ’84 championship team.

Coach Dollar, who was also recently inducted into the Georgia High School Coaches Hall of Fame, not only brought Douglass High School its first state championship, but he was also an influential figure in the youth basketball circuit and his community.

“We’re honoring and recognizing a legend in Georgia High School Athletics,” Douglass High School athletic director Alana Allen said. “His name will be on our court forever.”

 The 1984 championship basketball team and Dollar were inducted into the Astros Hall of Fame earlier this year alongside other Frederick Douglass legends like former NFL running back Jamal Lewis, Morehouse College athletic director Harold Ellis, and Shyronda Mifflin, the first female athlete from Douglass to play professional sports.

Coach Dollar’s son, Chad Dollar, attended the court dedication and shared how much his father loved Frederick Douglass High School and impacting the lives of students.

“This is one of the best honors he’s had since he’s passed,” Chad said. “His legacy will always be known here and this is just something that symbolized that. One of the things that he always tried to do is use the game of basketball as a vehicle to help kids. He always believed in this community and the kids.”

Donald Dollar’s legacy continues to make an impact on Douglass High School and its basketball programs. His former players across multiple alumni classes not only show up to events honoring their former coach, but they also continue to show up for the Douglass Astros basketball games.

“When I won the state championship in 2019, that’s when I really started seeing the alumni and I kept hearing about coach Donald Dollar,” Allen said. “His players were the ones who kept coming to my games, and usually you don’t see a lot of males coming to female games. But they kept coming to our games, so I knew the influence that he made on their lives because of what they do now for our athletic program.”

On their new gym floor dedicated to the champions of the past, the Douglass Astros boys’ and girls’ basketball teams will strive to add more championships to the school’s legacy. Last season, the boys reached the Final Four of the GHSA state tournament.