Beloit College

In reference to my personal experience with Beloit College, the basketball program and Coach Dolph Stanley, it went like this:   In the Spring of l950, after basketball season, I was invited to join other nearby high school basketball players at the high school gym in West Frankfort, Illinois (nearby to my home in Benton, Illinois) to scrimmage one afternoon. I was familiar with some of the participants since we played them during the regular season.  It was lead by Dick Jones who had graduated from West Frankfort a few years prior and had gone on to play basketball at a college in Wisconsin.                                                                                                                               
 
Later on, I was invited to spend a long weekend to travel to Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin.  To travel from Benton, Illinois to Beloit, Wisconsin in those days was similar to going from Benton to Australia today.  I had never been to Wisconsin. So, I traveled on the train with a connection in Chicago for the weekend.  It was a delightful experience.  
 
 During the summer, I worked (usually at a coal mine or construction) and I was considering some other colleges that had strong basketball programs.  These were in Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky. I visited some of them and, as the summer moved on, I pretty much had decided to enroll at one of the Illinois schools and play basketball. However. in September one day prior to 'Freshman Week , at the last moment, I called Coach Stanley and I arrived on the Beloit campus on the afternoon of the college starting  'Freshman Week".  I filled out an application for the college and I enrolled. I had a good experience at Beloit and it was an outstanding delight to play for Coach Stanley.                                                            
 
I was very proud to have had the pleasure of experiencing and participating in the most outstanding era of the basketball program at Beloit College and to play with some of the 'great guys' of the program. Coach Stanley developed fabulous basketball players, but his real achievement was to mentor them to become gentlemen!
 
Frank -   Some Stanley-era tidbits:  
1 -  When there was a timeout during a game, all of those five in the game at the time would all come over and STAND during the timeout. We never sat down.
2 -  At practice - just one COACH - Coach Stanley.  NO Assistants!
3 -  At games -just one COACH -Coach Stanley.  NO Assistants!