Hall of Honor
Another of the Taylorville (Illinois) athletes who was reunited with his prep coach, Dolph Stanley, at Beloit, “Big Red” Janssen enjoyed an outstanding collegiate career as a 10-letter winner in three sports. Although he earned all-Midwest Conference honors as a football tackle and excelled in the shot put in track, it was on the basketball court that Janssen played a major role in Beloit’s great success. Stanley called him “an under-rated player who was not only big (6-foot-3 and 210 plus pounds) and tough under the basket, but also had basketball savvy.” During four varsity seasons, Janssen scored 446 points as Beloit registered 100 victories, while losing only 15 times; captured four conference championships, including a 30-game winning streak through his senior year; and made three appearances in the 32-team NAIB tournament in Kansas City, taking third place once and reaching the quarterfinal round on the other two occasions. Janssen was sales and marketing manager at Gardner Machine Company before his death at age 52 in 1979 after a lengthy battle with Hodgkin’s disease and leukemia. Beloit College honors his memory and achievements by annually presenting the “Red” Janssen Most Courageous Athlete Award to its outstanding junior male and female athletes.
