Jonathan Maldonado (center) with Arcadia head basketball coach Nick Wallace (left) and head football coach Eric Elias (right).
By Tim Peterson
(Arcadia) – Arcadia’s Jonathan Maldonado, who will now play football at Ole Miss, returned to the school Saturday to make a donation to the football and basketball programs.
Maldonado, who played both sports at Arcadia and graduated in 2022, spent four years at Nevada playing football before moving on to Ole Miss where he will play this fall. Maldonado was introduced by Arcadia head basketball coach Nick Wallace Saturday and the presentation was made before an Apaches’ summer league game.
Jonathan Maldonado (Center) with the Arcadia basketball team. Basketball coach Nick Wallace (left) and football coach Eric Elias (right).
”It means the world to me. Obviously, the character I was able to build here in four years, I would not be able to get to the spot I’m at today without Arcadia and the community here. The person I was able to become with the help of coaches and the support staff and everybody around here…just the whole community. I needed that for my journey,” Maldonado said. “I truly believe that. God has a way of working and obviously I’m at a spot now where I can give back to the community. So to me it means everything.”
Wallace was grateful to introduce his former player.
“He’s a great kid. I love him and I’m thankful for his huge donation to Arcadia basketball and football,” Wallace said.
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People who are paid substantial amounts of money almost always find ways to shovel some of it toward charities or other such good causes. That way, instead of just handing the full amount of taxes to the government, they can derive some benefit from that money, such as being named a great benefactor in articles like this.
I’m not discounting this act of kindness, merely pointing out that not all the money being donated would have stayed in Maldonado’s pocket, not by a long shot.
From T. Peterson: Right. So he’s a great athlete, charitable and a good businessman.
NIL money trickling down. Nice
Saying the donation is “huge” doesn’t pin anything down. Would this amount be enough to buy a courtside seat to tomorrow’s game at the Garden? Or, would the amount be more along the lines of what it would take to bribe a city councilman? My idea of a huge donation is buying a hamburger combo at a passing tourney, so I’d be impressed with anything beyond that.
From T. Peterson: Then you would be impressed.