Donson went 3:49 off of interval speed based training and only like 30 miles a week. It isn't out of the question that if he bumped up his mileage and did some more strength based running that he would at least run a sub 3:46.
Plus, his natural running strength is pretty solid. He is decent at cross when healthy (25:30 at conference freshman year).
Think about it this way. Joe Coffey ran a 3:46 1500m last spring. Would you say that Coffey is head and shoulders above Donson? I wouldn't. Both are good at different things, but are very close to each other in terms of talent.
All of that said, runners like Wintheiser, Escher, Campbell, Saska all spoiled us all.