#jeff lanham

Last Wednesday morning, we presented the first-ever Bevo Francis Award to Davenport’s Dominez Burnett.  It was a wonderful morning for all involved....a special time for Dominez, the legacy of Bevo Francis and the game of college basketball.

In order to make this day a reality, however, a lot of people put forth a lot of time and effort.  As such, I’d like to tip my cap and offer a sincere “thank you” to many people....

Tyler Price serves as the Sports Information Director for Small College Basketball.  (He’s also the SID and Assistant Athletic Director for Baker University in Baldwin City, KS).  Tyler has spent a crazy amount of time updating the Bevo Francis Award page, shooting and editing videos, writing press releases, etc.  Many thanks, Tyler.....

Rick Waggener is phenomenal in terms of creating videos (and just a great guy, too).  Rick created the video of the finalists, which is fantastic (here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvsoEbPWOzs&feature=youtu.be). Also, Rick created the quick video that introduced Dominez at the winner of the Bevo Francis Award.  Here’s that video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N_OyBdBsIo

Brad Peterson, owner of ProGraphs (www.prographs.com) took the time to customize the physical award that we presented to Dominez at the ceremony. While I’m biased, it’s a fantastic piece.  (Below is a photo of Dominez with the award).  Many thanks, Brad!

Certainly, I thank Jeff Lanham and the good folks at the University of Rio Grande for sponsoring the award to help us keep the legacy of the great Bevo Francis alive.  President Michelle Johnston has been tremendously supportive of our efforts, and her support is greatly appreciated.  Additionally, Rio Grande has obtained the support of Sheward-Fulks Insurance to help make the Bevo Francis Award a reality.

Additionally, Jeff Lanham (and his Dad, Art Lanham, former basketball coach at Rio Grande) took the drive from Southwest Ohio to Grand Rapids, MI, to help present the award to Dominez.  It’s hard to express what this means to the people at Rio Grande, especially those that have been around for a while, and those that appreciate the great history of Bevo Francis and the Rio Grande teams from the early 1950′s.  Jeff Lanham summed it up quite well and succinctly in a subsequent text that read, “No doubt my proudest day as the Rio AD!!!!”.

Also, as a special guest, we were very proud and honored to have Don Vylnalek join us.  Don is 80-years-old now, and he played on the 1953-54 team with Bevo Francis.  Don was a heck of a player himself, as he was a role player on that Rio team, yet transferred to Doane (NE) and became an All American. It was a thrill to hear him recount what it was like to play with the most famous player in the world during that time.  Thank you, Don, for taking the time to join us for the presentation of the Bevo Francis Award.  In his follow up note, it really made me feel a sense of pride when he wrote, “Bevo would have been proud.”

Thank you to the good folks at Davenport University for creating the environment to make this such a special ceremony.  Thank you to President Pappas and Coach Burt Paddock for taking the time to say a few words about what Dominez has meant to the Davenport community.  I certainly enjoyed listening to Coach Paddock’s personal stories.....

Thank you to our entire committee that took hours and hours out of their busy schedule to research players, provide feedback, watch video and spend time on conference calls.  I think that it’s worth noting that every single coach that I asked to be a part of the Bevo Francis Award Committee said “yes”.  Here’s a list of the committee:   Tobin Anderson - St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.), Drew Diener - Rockhurst (Mo.), Gerald Holmes - Bloomfield (N.J.), Gary Stewart - Stevenson (Md.), Ken Ammann - Concordia (Calif.), J.J. Nekoloff - ODAC/NCAA DIII National Championship, Scott McClary - Muhlenberg, Dannton Jackson - Xavier (La.), Arlen Galloway - Wentworth (Mass.), Tony Dominguez- Western Washington, Chris Briggs - Georgetown (Ky.), Bill Dreikosen - Rocky Mountain (Mont.), Pat Cunningham - Trinity (Texas), Klint Pleasant - Rochester (Mich.), Ryan Kane - Ripon (Wisc.), Mike McGrath - University of Chicago.

(Above, from left to right: Davenport Head Coach Burt Paddock, Rio Grande Athletic Director Jeff Lanham, Bevo Francis Award winner Dominez Burnett, Small College Basketball Founder John McCarthy and former Rio Grande player, Don Vyhnalek).

........finally, and importantly, I want to thank Dominez Burnett.  I had asked Coach Burt Paddock to ask Dominez to do a little research on Bevo Francis, and Dominez was fantastic in his speech.  I hope that you take the time to watch the award presentation on video (It’s on our website: www.smallcollegebasketball.com).  It’s lengthy.  If you have time, watch the whole thing.  If you have limited time, I encourage you to fast forward to the speech by Dominez towards the end.  

As you may know, I am very familiar with the story of Bevo Francis and those Rio Grande teams from the early 1950′s.  I’ve read many articles and a book or two about it.  I’ve watched videos, and I’ve spent a lot of time with Jeff Lanham and Ken French (men’s basketball coach at Rio Grande) talking about the story of Bevo Francis.  I even had the honor of spending a bit of time with Bevo Francis and Coach Newt Oliver.  As such, I’ve written a lot about Bevo Francis, done radio shows about the story, etc.  

I tell you this to tell you that I missed a quote that Dominez picked up in his research.....and it was tremendously significant, and in my opinion, was the highlight of his speech (and probably the whole morning).  When Bevo left professional basketball, turning down the NBA, he moved back home to a farm in Ohio to be with his wife and son.  He got a job in a steel factory.  When asked why he turned down the NBA to move back home to a farm to get a job in a steel factory, he said, “I can always get another job.  I cannot always get another family.”  

The Bevo Francis Classic is this weekend at the University of Rio Grande.  If you're a basketball historian and/or a basketball junkie, you probably know the story of the great Bevo Francis. 

Rather than recount the whole, detailed story (Bevo Francis has been the subject of a documentary, multiple national media videos, books, etc.), I'll simply post a couple of links, and let you know why this story means so much to me, personally.

In short, Bevo Francis was a sky young boy who was 6'9" and was one of the great shooters and scorers in the history of college basketball.  Bevo, by most accounts, can be credited with saving a school (Rio Grande) from bankruptcy, as he became the most famous basketball player in the world and drew huge, sold out crowds around the country.....and generated enough money and publicity for the tiny school in Rio Grande, Ohio, that they were able to avoid bankruptcy, pay the professors and keep the school alive.

......

It was the mid-1980's, and I was a sophomore in high school in Northeast Ohio.  One of the most influential persons in my life was my 5th & 6th grade basketball coach, Mr. Finn.  Later, I asked him to be my sponsor for Confirmation.  As I got into high school, he took me on my first college recruiting visit.  We went with our senior star, Gary Boyes.  I was along for the ride, but hopefully would be in a position in a couple of years to have the opportunity to play college basketball.

And so we went to visit Rio Grande.  I don't remember a whole lot, but I remember sitting with Coach John Lawhorn, the Head Coach at Rio at the time.  We sat at the original Bob Evans restaurant (Bob Evans was started in Rio Grande).  .....and it was on that visit that I first learned about Bevo Francis.  It was like a fairy tale.  The story was so amazing that it seemed like it must have been made up.  But it wasn't.  It was real.  Bevo really scored 116 points in a game.  And 113 in another.  The team really went 39-0.  He really did average 50 a game as a freshman.  Rio really did sell out Madison Square Garden and the Boston Garden in his sophomore year.  They really did beat Wake Forest, the defending ACC Champs.  The really did beat Miami.  And Arizona State.  And on and on.....

I was mezmorized.  And I still am.

.........

Fast forward about 25 years, roughly, from my first visit to Rio Grande as a sophomore in high school.  The "Redmen" nickname has been changed to the "Redstorm", and Rio has now been hosting the Bevo Francis Classic for years.  Somehow - or for some reason - Rio Grande Athletic Director Jeff Lanham asks me to come to Rio Grande to speak at the opening banquet.  Bevo Francis is there.  Coach Newt Oliver is there.  I'm sitting at the head table, next to Bevo Francis!  It's like Christmas morning all over, and I'm like a little kid, just in a body that's now a bit older. 

..........

I had the opportunity to spend a bit of time with him that day, and we video taped a bit of our conversation afterwards.  You see, when I arrived in the NAIA National Office, I found out that Bevo Francis was not in the NAIA Hall of Fame.  Typically, I was told, nominations should some from the NAIA membership.  BUT Bevo Francis was not in the NAIA Hall of Fame!  How could this be?!  So I called Jeff Lanham, and we got the ball rolling.....and got Bevo Francis into the NAIA Hall of Fame.

..........

Funny how life works sometimes.....one day I'm that kid tagging along with the star high school player on a recruiting visit, learning about one of the greatest stories in the history of college basketball....and years later I'm invited back to that same school as a guest speaker, sitting next to the legend himself. 

..........  

Here's a link to the Bevo Page on Rio Grande's website: http://www.rioredstorm.com/schedule/13/12.php

Here are a few other links pertaining to the great Bevo Francis:

http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Francis_Bevo.html

http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2012-03-11/savior-basketball