A native of Bloomfield, New Jersey, McDonald attended Seton Hall Prep[1] where he was a standout on the basketball team, noted for his mature inside game and soft jumper from the outside.

[2] By the time he graduated in 1974,[1] McDonald received interest from hundreds of college basketball teams with noted scholarship offers from USC and UCLA.

Naval Academy and Princeton, but ultimately selected the University of Pennsylvania citing its strong academic reputation and good law school which he had an eye toward pursuing.

[6] McDonald played the small forward position for the Quakers during an era in which they were a nationally prominent basketball program.

McDonald led Penn in scoring at 18.9 points per game,[7] but the team finished in second place with a 17–9 overall record (11–3 Ivy).

[5] In 1976–77, McDonald led the Quakers in both scoring (21.2) and rebounding (9.2)[7] en route to being named the Robert V. Geasey Trophy recipient as the best player in Philadelphia Big 5 competition.

[11] Penn improved during McDonald's senior season in 1977–78, when he led the team in scoring for a third straight year at 22.3 points per game.

[5][14] In the second round (Sweet 16), with McDonald hampered by early foul trouble, the Quakers lost a close game in the final minutes to eventual tournament runner-up Duke.

[5] McDonald played 34 games for Finnish club Turun NMKY, helping the team win silver in the Korisliiga for the 1978–79 season.