Beloit College

It was early December of my Senior year in high school and I was all set to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but I continued to receive phone calls from Coach Knapton and assistant Coach Alan Buss. I had a love for competitive basketball and I was very aware that I would not be able to fulfill that passion in any other capacity than intermural if I attended a Big Ten school. I made a decision after Christmas that year that I would reassess and choose a school where I could combine academic pursuits but also play NCAA basketball. I looked at number of schools. It came down to Lawrence University, the University of Chicago and UW-Platteville, but it was my visit to the Beloit College campus on a frozen February morning that forever changed my life. I wanted to be a part of a championship program. Their
were few programs in the NCAA that won as consistently as Coach Knapton’s Beloit College teams. I felt a synergy amongst the team and a commitment to excellence within the program. Coach Knapton was impressive to speak with in person, but his team first mentality struck me with great clarity from our first meeting and has stayed with me from that moment on. It was no accident that his teams were the model of grace, selflessness and humility. The ballet of basketball that would frustrate so many Midwest Conference opponents only thrived with a stable of young student-athletes willing to model humility, discipline and togetherness. It required a group that became an extension of the coach and obsessed with the detail of the weight pushing off on a high foot during an elbow back cut or the stepping with the outside foot when reversing the ball at the point. I learned that by working hard and committing to the minutiae, that by giving up the ball and thus our ego, that that WE would become part of something larger, that WE would have the chance to do something special and most importantly, WE would do it together.

When considering Beloit, I appreciated the storied history and the resulting connection from the many alumni that came back for various weekends. I felt part of a family with Buccaneers I never played with like Ken Kenzimak, KC Johnson, Tim Leslie, Mark Smith, Evans Popanickalou, Doug Noyes, or John Erickson stopping by the locker room to congratulate us after a game. A few years later, friends I did
play with like Pat Brachman, Paul Thielke, Scott Schleich, Jon Renzelman, Jim Matel, Erik Phelps, Jon Anderson, Brian Vanderpal and Ken Muth continued to do the same. I felt a connection to history the first time I met Johnny Orr and he took me to dinner spending hours talking about his time at Beloit, over a meal at the Butterfly Club. Casually spinning yarns about recruiting wars or big games when he was the head coach at Michigan and later Iowa State. I loved hearing from our professors the next morning after a big game versus Saint Norbert. I remember Professor Adams telling me that I “didn’t play my best game but it was still a better performance than the quiz you took on Monday”, or Dean Flanagan reminding us to lay low this weekend with a Big Ripon game looming on Tuesday.

Most importantly, I loved the many amazing classmates I had at Beloit College. The brilliant, caring and interesting friends I made on campus: most that never shot a basketball in their life. My freshmen year at Brannon hall, a deck of cards, a lounge pillow, an accommodating RA, and thankfully many inaccurately thrown tennis balls. I am still filled with love these many years later reminiscing about the many wonderful teammates that I am fortunate to call friends. I am honored to have been a part of conference championship teams with Beloit legends Mark Sobczak and Erik Quamme to have seen the model of selflessness and hard work from Suhda Puhlvari (Quamme), Heather Maynard (Thom) Dave Kaneshiro, Josh Rosen, Gary Grocholski and Andy Greene and Tim McKearn.

Beloit College is a beacon for an incredibly diverse group of eclectic, clever and curious students. I am grateful these decades later that Coach Knapton chose to persistently shine that light.