id="docs-internal-guid-4070416f-7fff-0857-d15c-d2ab319ae231">While Beloit College is not a place to scout for NBA prospects, our program was respected by people who understood basketball. In the early 1980s, while I was still in high school, Coach Knapton’s team earned, for a period of time, the number one ranking out of the nation’s over 400 D3 men’s basketball programs.
id="docs-internal-guid-4070416f-7fff-0857-d15c-d2ab319ae231">My path to Beloit began as a 5’ 11” walk-on point guard at Texas Christian University (TCU). Being outmanned there should have come as no surprise given that 1982 showcased the University of Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, the famed members of Psi Slamma Jamma, who ruled supreme in the Southwest Conference and would go on to Hall of Fame careers in the NBA. After a freshman year of basketball at TCU, transferring to play at Beloit College seemed more realistic.
With an invitation from Coach Knapton, I visited Beloit on a lazy summer afternoon. Entering the former Marvin Field House, it seemed cooler at first but no less humid than it did outside. I’ll never forget stepping onto that soft, springy hardwood court for the first time. A dozen players assembled, and two teams formed as the rest waited to play next.
While watching, I quickly realized that this was no ordinary pickup game. Playing among some of the College’s team was a collection of area players who were home for the summer: Perry Range, a star at the University of Illinois and recent draft choice of the Kansas City Kings; Tony Carr, who was invited to the U.S. Olympic trials and just drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks; Bob Grady, a 6’9” forward who had weeks before been drafted by the Dallas Mavericks; and, Bill Hanzlik, who led Notre Dame to the Final Four and was two years into his 10-year NBA career after being selected as the 20th pick in the 1980 draft.
I soon got my turn to play and tried to settle in with this elite cast. Carr splashed a jumper from what was easily a three pointer by today’s standards. Grady took down a rebound from high off the glass and made an outlet pass to me. It turned into a two-on-one fast break with Hanzlik as the defender. As I broke past the free throw line extended on the left side, I pumped the ball hard towards my teammate but never let go. Hanzlik bit on the fake and I went in for an easy layup.
Moments later, Grady swept another board and flicked it again to me to see if I had another trick. No need this time. As I crossed the top of the key, I glanced to see only Hanzlik back at half court. I cruised in uncontested. Boom! I was past the backboard when I heard the sound. Hanzlik’s shadow was enveloping me as I looked back to see the ball hurdling towards half court after the thunderously impossible blocked shot. I’d been defensively posterized like never before and officially schooled on the consequences of messing with an NBA All-Defensive Second Team award winner.
That competitive experience convinced me to enroll at Beloit. By my junior year with only a few credits needed to fulfill the requirements for graduation, I took a full time job in town and picked up an evening class. And, thanks to Beloit’s Field Term program, I not only earned further academic credit by creating a course relating to my work experience, but it propelled me into a 25-year career in the beer business that included work in distribution and logistics. That experience combined with an MBA from the University of Chicago enabled me to co-found what became the largest contract manufacturing brewery in the country. The company ultimately achieved annual production of in excess of 100 million cases of product employing over 1,000 employees. In 2011, I returned to Beloit to succeed my mentor, Professor of Economics Jerry Gustafson, to lead the College’s center for entrepreneurship where I teach and mentor other Beloiter’s to consider self-employment as a career option and take agency over their lives.
Over the past 40 years, my experience has come full circle back to Beloit. Working on business projects with Bill Fitzgerald’86 and Evans Papanikolaou’86, teaching with our Beloit College Executive-in-Residence Tim Leslie’89, placing students in internships with Ken Muth’91, or having great conversations with Dave Hendricks’65, I continue to keep and make many friendships with our basketball community. Choosing a college can be a quite arbitrary process, one that many find difficult. Athletics can provide a stabilizing foundation for healthy habits and establish friendships that last a lifetime.
id="docs-internal-guid-4070416f-7fff-0857-d15c-d2ab319ae231">With an emphasis on achievement and empowering students to build skills that serve them to take on the world with confidence and purpose, Beloit worked for me. Its small size fosters interaction with other students, faculty, and staff. And, having an international focus presents a global experience that belies its size. I look forward to the many years ahead for the men's and women’s basketball program and the opportunities presented for our future players.
id="docs-internal-guid-4070416f-7fff-0857-d15c-d2ab319ae231">Brian Morello’85
id="docs-internal-guid-4070416f-7fff-0857-d15c-d2ab319ae231">June 1, 2022
