One of Delaware’s outstanding high school athletes in the late 1940s, Donald “Ducky” Carmichael was a multi-sport star in prep school before enrolling at the University of Delaware,
where he was a top football and baseball performer, earning six varsity letters. At P.S. duPont High School, Carmichael was named the Outstanding Athlete in his junior and senior years. As a senior,
Don was a first-team All-State football halfback and co-captain of a talented football team that defeated archrival Wilmington High for the fourth consecutive year. Don won a total of seven varsity
letters at P.S. in football, basketball and baseball. Carmichael then entered the Augusta (Va.) Military Academy. He led Augusta to victory in the first Orchid Bowl game and the mythical Southern
prep school championship. Then it was on to the University of Delaware, where Carmichael was the leading football scorer in his freshman and senior years. Don was also an outstanding defensive back
at Delaware. As a sophomore on the Blue Hens’ 1949 team that finished 8-1, he intercepted eight passes in nine games – the second highest total in the nation. Carmichael moved to offense in 1950 and
1951, topping the Hens in scoring in his senior season. Don also was a starting Hens outfielder for three seasons, and played guard on the Delaware basketball squad. After serving in the U.S. Army
during the Korean War, Carmichael was offered tryouts by the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants, but turned them down to start a real estate career.