Sports has always played a big part in my life. Basketball, baseball and golf would be my favorite sports to either play or watch. But likely no sport has played a bigger part than that of Illinois State University (ISU) Men’s Basketball.
I like to walk 5-6 miles a day. I started walking during the pandemic in 2020, when we were “locked down”. A part of that walk included a call to my Dad, who was 84 years old, and we were not able to see each other in person during that period.

These days, a typical walk will take me past Illinois State’s Gregory Street Tennis Courts and Weibring Golf Club, named after the school’s greatest golfer D.A. Weibring. Occasionally, I will walk down Adelaide Street where the ISU men’s baseball field, named Duffy Bass Field is located.After that, there is the women’s soccer field, Adelaide Street Field and the women’s softball Marian Kneer Softball Stadium.

My walk then takes me to Hancock Stadium, the football stadium, and two buildings that I have spent countless hours in – Horton Field House and CEFCU Arena, formerly known as Redbird Arena. Let me briefly share about my love affair with ISU men’s basketball.
Our family moved to Normal from Chicago in 1961. The organization where my Dad worked put him through ISU. At that time, family members of ISU students could attend all sports free. As a result, I grew up going to many ISU football and basketball games. At one time, Horton Field House had huge north end bleachers, which would expand capacity to about 7,300. A special memory was in 1967 when the team had a record of 25-3. The February 4 game that year was against Southwest Missouri State University, which ISU won 77-76. I remember my Dad holding my five-month-old sister as we sat well up into those somewhat rickety bleachers, which were rocking during that exciting game.
ISU was a small college team at that time – today we would consider them Division II – and had some very good teams during the 1960’s. They would move to Division I when they hired Will Robinson as the first African-American head coach in NCAA Division I history in 1970. Doug Collins, ISU’s greatest men’s basketball player ever, played for Robinson. I am an introvert and rarely do anything by myself, but as a junior in high school, I got a season ticket at Horton Field House to see Collins play his senior year. I would later attend ISU and attend many games during that period.
In 1983, after recovering from major surgery, my wife Tammy began working for ISU men’s basketball coach Bob Donewald in the men’s basketball office. We attended all of the home games, and got to travel to a few road games with the team. I even got the privilege of sitting in a few film sessions with the coaches.
My Mom died unexpectedly in 1996. My brother and I decided to get season tickets at the new Redbird Arena (which they moved to from Horton Field House in 1989) to spend time with Dad during that difficult time.
Fast forward to 2022, Illinois State hired Ryan Pedan as their new men’s basketball coach. My brother Mike and I attended several games to watch a local player who was the nephew of our brother-in-law play. The team improved each of the following two seasons, as we again attended a number of games. The outlook for the 2025-26 season is very promising, and we are once again season ticket holders.
As I walk between Horton Field House and CEFCU Arena, I’m now in my late 60’s, and memories from all those years flood over me. This makes me think of the Beatles song “In My Life”, which includes the lines:

There are places I’ll remember
All my life, though some have changed.
Some forever, not for better;
Some have gone and some remain.

All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall.
Some are dead and some are living,
In my life I’ve loved them all.

Thanks for letting me share my decades long love affair with ISU men’s basketball. Do you have places that bring back sweet memories to you? Please share them.