You never know who will spring into your life and make such a remarkable impact that it determines your destiny. I have written three blogs that capture my journey with the man who would literally change the lives of thousands of men and women. Similar stories about him have been told or written by many others, so I don’t consider myself special in that regard. But in all that time, Gordie Gillespie made me feel that I was the best, most special person he had ever known. Such was the effect that he made on each one of us.
Part 2 of 3: Lewis College, 1958
Coach Creates a Basketball Player
My first semester in college was fairly uneventful, and I managed to survive the academic rigors confronting a new student. I was not an academic superstar, but my grades would be good enough to stay in school and be on the baseball team in the spring. As a commuter student from Braidwood, my time on the campus was limited to classrooms and shooting basketballs in the tiny gym between classes. One of my Catholic High classmates would join me and then invite me to play in basketball leagues in Joliet, Lockport, and intramurals in the evenings. There were several nights per week when I would stay at his house overnight rather than drive the 30-miles back home.
Park district games tend to have undisciplined, uncoached guys who play hard and love the game. One guy gets a sponsor, recruits players (usually his buddies), and becomes the “coach” by default. In my case, it was Ed “Snake” Serdar who was in charge of our team.
On one October evening, Coach Gillespie and his assistant, Pat Callahan, conducted basketball tryouts and, on a lark, my buddy and I became walk-on candidates. As could be predicted, nothing would come of it and I was summarily eliminated. Only one of the candidates was selected from our group of perhaps 20 players. (Chuck Schwarz, a future teammate in baseball.) My future would be as a baseball player. No surprises here.
That future would be changed significantly as a result of the poor academic performance of two varsity basketball players in December and my improvement as a basketball player with “coach” Serdar. The Lewis basketball team apparently needed a scrimmage player to fill in for the two ineligible guys and as a result I was recruited for the spring semester.
It was a chance to be included on an organized and professionally coached basketball team, a brand-new experience. As an undisciplined novice to the game, I had no idea how it would be under a college coach and spend full practices on drills and individual skill development.
Gordie Gillespie, Assistant Coach Pat Callahan, and my new teammates were extremely patient with me for the rest of my freshman basketball year. My lack of fundamentals was to be expected. I was the greenest rookie my teammates had ever experienced since all of them had played at a high level in their primary and secondary schools while I had never played in either grade or high school. The only advantage was that I hadn’t had enough playing and practicing experience to develop bad habits that would need to be unlearned.
Coach Gillespie’s patience with me seemed to wain early in my sophomore year before our first game. All of our practices were in the evening because Coach had football practice in the afternoon at Joliet Catholic and I now realize that he was probably tired and frustrated when I didn’t seem to understand. In fact, I had never before been the target of intense vocal criticism. Intense at least in my mind.
At one point during a scrimmage, his continued criticism caused me to wave my hand at him as if to say, “stop it.” He ran after me and said, “Don’t ever do that again!” I had disrespected the man I would respect more than any other man except my own father.
And I never did that again. I just didn’t understand why he seemed intent on attacking and correcting me far more than any other player. After practice, I asked teammate Ed Finn why Coach was doing this to me. Ed’s response surprised me when he said, “He thinks that you could be good. He doesn’t do that to guys without your potential.” I actually never thought that I was that talented.
By the end of my senior year, Gordie Gillespie had made me a basketball player who was good enough to become a “Small Catholic College All-American” and drafted with the Chicago NBA team, the Packers which would be renamed the Zephyrs. Under Gordie, I was also the four-year starting first baseman for the baseball team that finished 3rd in the NAIA national tournament in 1962.
I would like to think that Coach Gillespie saw himself in me, as he did with so many other student athletes. Many of us came from somewhat similar family and economic backgrounds. We were young, first generation college boys, rough replicas of a once youthful Gordie, who might succeed if given the chance and the right guidance. Gordie’s high school and college coaches were extraordinary role models who had given him opportunities that he valued highly. He never forgot that lesson and continued it with thousands of other young men and women.
Fortunately, my linkage with Coach Gillespie would continue after college in the Ernie Banks Baseball School and at Lewis as baseball and soccer coach plus intramural co-director. My coaching career with Gordie continued for five years before I was asked to become the Dean of Students. The background I had working with an increasingly diverse population prompted the top Lewis administrators to find a dean who got along with, and was respected by, Black and White students.
For the next six years, my University administrative duties continued as Dean of Students and then Vice-President of University Services. Shortly after a new president was appointed, I decided to seek another job in higher education. The College of St. Francis in Joliet became my next employer.
When Gordie left Lewis to go to St. Francis in 1976, the Lewis spirit seemed to die for me. It wasn’t the same and St. Francis had a special appeal. Once again, he was building an athletic program from nearly scratch and it would be good to be with him in the same location. My main job was in administration but for one year I succeeded him as the women’s basketball coach. Succeeding the Coach in anything was no small task.
Braidwood Beginnings 
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