Lucky TK Basketball History

My Improbable Path to the NBA

Despite having never played basketball until I was 18, I was indeed fortunate to compete for four years in college.  Even flukier, I was drafted and signed to a professional contract in the NBA after college.

To assume that I had aspirations in my early years of being a professional basketball player would be entirely incorrect. At best, my goal would have been to be an over-the-road truck driver or a baseball player, outgrowths of familiar surroundings.  Rather, the path to signing a professional basketball contract was littered with a combination of unforeseen and unplanned circumstances and an emergent awareness that I had dormant athletic abilities that were better suited to a ball and a hoop instead of a glove and a bat. 

Extremely Lucky

Some people might say that “I did it myself” or “I am a self-made man/woman.” That description does not fit for me. Unmodified luck played a major role in any success I have ever had in sports or career undertakings, although I do acknowledge possessing a pretty good sense of opportunity recognition when I saw it.

A Chronology of My Trajectory

Playing sports in my early years was restricted by geography and logistics.  Baseball was simpler because until I was 13, our house was adjacent to the town’s only ball field. While living there, I watched older boys and men playing during the spring and summer. The field was also the gathering place for boys my age to play pick-up games. After we moved to Braidwood’s east side, a baseball team was organized for boys age thirteen and fourteen. This was my first time playing on an organized team.

Team basketball, however, required a gym and a sponsoring school. By attending the new Saint Rose school in the third grade, I found it necessary to ride in a bus over the four miles. Practice and games were always after school, so joining the team was not possible. As a result, playing this sport was restricted to the backyard basketball.

Joliet Catholic High School

Going to Joliet Catholic High School continued my bus commute during my first two years, and it was only during my junior year that I was able to use a car (I was now 16) for a few trips for extracurricular activities. This enabled me to join the band, the newspaper, the yearbook, and the baseball team.

I knew that basketball wasn’t even a remote possibility because all the players already had many years of experience. My lone foray into playing in high school was when an intramural tournament was initiated, and a few classmates formed a team. We played two games and I became aware for the first time that I had some talent for the game.

In the meantime, I had solid success playing baseball my final two years. I led the team in hitting my junior year and also did very well as a senior. Our team was good enough that we had a scrimmage game against the Lewis College baseball team. Although I didn’t have much luck batting against a flame-throwing college pitcher, the catcher was the Lewis coach, Gordie Gillespie, who saw a flicker of baseball talent in this tall, skinny kid which prompted him to offer a small baseball scholarship.

Wow! This was my first brush with a lucky circumstance. 

Had I gone to Braidwood high school after my junior year (which I wanted to do), I may have been a baseball and basketball player on a very small stage. Would I have ever been offered an athletic scholarship to any college? Probably not. Would I have gone to college at all? Unknown and unpredictable. Mom somehow had an insight that going to Joliet Catholic meant that there were other possibilities for her son contrary to my wishes to stay in Braidwood.

Lewis College: 1st Year

My first year at Lewis College began as a long-distance commute of 25 miles. Fortunately, I had two baseball buddies who enrolled with me and lived in Joliet. Bill Mrozek, a pitcher, and Tom Walker, a catcher, both had played on the Catholic High team. We were average students; my grades being slightly better than theirs.

When basketball tryouts were announced, the three of us decided to try out.  None of us made the team; an outcome that was easily predicted. After all, we had never even played high school basketball.  We still had baseball in the Spring.

However, Tom had a Joliet friend who organized a park-league team and could add another player. Ed Serdar was the friend and I agreed. I had time in the evenings and could stay overnight at Tom’s house if I wanted to. Ed’s team actually was in three leagues: Joliet and Lockport park districts and the CYO league. Tom, Bill, and I also played a few games in the intramural league at Lewis. I actually spent more basketball time during that first semester than library time.

Somehow, playing ball three to four nights a week and going to school worked out and I did ok in my grades that semester. Bill and Tom didn’t fare quite so well, and they dropped out of school. 

Also not doing well academically were two Lewis basketball players who became ineligible for the spring semester. Going into the second half of the basketball season short-handed, the two coaches, Gordie Gillespie and his assistant, Pat Callahan, asked me to join the team. They could use another practice player.

This was another break for me, unlucky for the two ineligible guys. Had these two made grades, I wouldn’t have been asked to join the team.

Now on the team, I no longer played any basketball outside of Lewis. I had a basketball coach for the first time in my life. And what a coach! Coach Gordie Gillespie, a future member of 18 halls-of-fame, was also the Lewis baseball coach, athletic director, and a faculty member teaching several P.E. courses.  In addition, he was the Joliet Catholic High School football coach and he taught two courses.  

In addition to all of these duties, Gordie spent time with me before, during, and after practice. Obviously, he saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. At the time, I wasn’t aware that I was his protégé, a real work in process.

I was being mentored and coached by an amazing man who had all of these jobs plus supporting a family of seven children.

Lewis: Years 2,3,4

By my sophomore year, I had established myself as a college student/athlete, having been on the basketball team and enjoying a good year in baseball.  My academic progress was slow and steady, but I didn’t break any records for grades. Once I had changed my major from business to English, I did well in my major but struggled with Spanish. With a few breaks from two faculty members, and one summer school class, I made it through all four years. I did well in the courses I liked, not so well in those I didn’t. My athletic discipline greatly surpassed my academic discipline. Luck had prevailed in my academic trials.

Athletically, sophomore year was my breakout year in basketball.  I was consistently a high scorer and proved to be a good shot-blocker on defense. Our starting team, comprised of juniors and one sophomore (me), qualified for the post-season tournament and lost, but we proved that we had excellent chances the next year. Our baseball team also improved significantly with the addition of new recruits.

My 3rd and 4th years were extraordinarily successful in both baseball and basketball. Our basketball team qualified for the post-season tournament and we beat the top seed, Illinois State University, in their gym and then lost the national qualifying game the next night. Once again, I was a scoring leader, but our hopes were not so good for our team the next year since four of our starters were graduating. In baseball, we were beginning to become an outstanding team.

In my senior year, the baseball team was the best it had ever been, but the basketball team struggled to win half of the games. With the addition of Ed Spiezio and transfer student, Tom Dedin, our baseball team ended up 3rd in the nation. As a four-year starting first baseman, I enjoyed my best year in baseball. My basketball stats were very good, again leading the team in scoring and having three 30+ games.  

Any success that I had in basketball was due in a small part to the athletic talent that I was born with ( I was now 6’5” tall, could jump a foot over the rim, and could make well over 50% of my shots),  while the major part was due to lucky breaks and the misfortune of others.  

To give myself exclusive credit for excellence on the basketball court would be a great mistake.  Had I not gone to Joliet Catholic; had I not had friends who invited me to play park-league ball; had two players not become ineligible; had I had any other coach:  I would never have been able to play college basketball and sign a professional contract. I had many breaks.  

After College

During my last semester at Lewis, in 1962, I was surprised to learn that I was selected as a “Small Catholic College All-American.”  I was also shocked that the new Chicago NBA basketball team, the Packers, had made me their 13^thround draft pick.  The Packers were in dire need for athletic talent and thought that Tom Kennedy might be a possibility for professional basketball. My future had, I thought, been planned for me, and It didn’t include professional basketball.

I was engaged to be married to Dolores on June 30, and a job teaching and coaching was waiting for me at Roncalli High School in Aurora, Illinois in September.  Because of these commitments, I turned down an initial offer from the newly named Zephyrs (former Packers) and went about my plans. Then in July, the Zephyrs General Manager, Frank Lane, made another call to me.

Lane convinced me that being a professional basketball player would ordinarily be a dream for most young guys and to deny this opportunity was something I would later regret. After talking it over with my new bride, I considered giving it a shot depending on a conversation with my new high school principal, Brother Steven.  Considering the unlikely prospect that I would actually make the Zephyrs team, Brother took the odds-on likely gamble to keep the job open assuming I would be cut. I would give pro basketball a shot.

During the rest of that summer, I worked at the Boys Club in Joliet, played baseball with Nielsen’s semi-pro baseball team, and spent time with the Zephyrs basketball camps for Chicago kids.  At the end of summer, I boarded the team bus for Burlington, Wisconsin and practiced with the team.  At the end of the week, I learned that I hadn’t made the cut, and got a ride with several other “former players” back to Chicago. I was not unhappy at all.  I was married, and I had a job teaching and coaching in Aurora.

Looking back at my state of mind that summer of 1962, I can see that I lacked the zeal for playing professional basketball.  I was excited to be married, having a family, and embarking on a career in education. I also realized that my physical size and talents didn’t quite measure up to my Zephyr teammates. If I had played one or two years, my life would have been unalterably changed. Being with the Zephyrs that summer was a memorable experience, one that assured me that I had made the right move.  Becoming brief friends and teammates with some quality players, two who became an NBA All-Stars, proved to be a peak experience. 

Many Years after College

Obviously, sports have been an extremely important facet in my life.  After my college years, I coached basketball, baseball, and soccer on the high school and college levels, some while being a teacher and college administrator and spanning over a 55-year period.  A singular highlight was to be an assistant baseball coach on the college level with my former coach, mentor and friend, Gordon Gillespie. Finally, in 2014, my uniform #14 was retired and is now hanging in the Lewis gym.

Although sports have been an integral part of my life, I realize that sports are secondary to the most important life priorities.  I was extremely lucky to have opportunities that most people didn’t have.  These opportunities paved a path that expedited a career over a half century in secondary and higher education. I have been extremely lucky in this regard.

Beyond sports, another priority is even higher on the list.  After leaving the Zephyrs, my wife and I have seen the addition of five children and fourteen grandchildren. As I write these words, the family is healthy and striving to make the world a better place. 

Am I lucky, or what?