Absolutely.
During the 1994-95 season my high school coach at Marist called Coach B to inquire about me becoming a manager. I kept stats for my high school team and knew I wanted to be involved in basketball at the college level as a manager. It was between DePaul and Loyola for me. My first Loyola game was over winter break vs Miami-Ohio that season at Alumni Gym. I was sold on the great atmosphere of the old gym. I still remember the smell of Ron Lee's popcorn.
In July 1995 I started my official duties as manager. He welcomed me into his program even though I was just a dorky work study kid. Coach (and his staff) gave me so many responsibilities at such a young age. Besides basketball related stuff (rebounding, blocking with the yellow pads, videotaping from the balcony, etc.) I was able to do office work and connect with adults. I did his expense reports from recruiting trips (he loved Bob Evans) and helped with film exchange with other programs. I met so many different young assistant coaches from around the business as most assistants handle the film exchange. Coach B and his staff (I have to mention how great his assistants were too...Adelman, Eck, Mitchem) gave the managers the opportunity to work the film exchange program.
Coach B let me work his summer basketball camps, travel to road games to places such as Denver (I know that home and home series does not sit well with many here), Puerto Rico, Los Angeles, all the MCC cities, etc. Traveling the country at that age on the university's dime was the best part of being a manager. Through all of this I learned work ethic. I was a commuter student my first three years until Coach Farmer and AD Schwarz gave me a partial athletic scholarship for room and board. As a commuter student I spent many nights sleeping in Coach B's office--which he may or may have not have ever knew (watching C band on the old satellite on top of Alumni Gym). I was intrigued by that satellite dish!
Family was very important to Coach B. I saw how proud he was of his young children (Sammy--who played for him at Incarnate Word and Amanda) as well as his wife Brenda. I would often pick the family up from their house in Skokie and take them to Alumni Gym for games.
Many of you on here do not know the true Coach B. It was often said that you had to be in his "inner circle", which I was. That obviously turned off people. I don't know why that was...but I guess it is better than someone being phony. So I understand why he may not be loved by everyone here, but he is to me. I do remember him interacting with fans in places such as at the Holiday Inn Cleveland bar during Tom Brennan’s road trips). He inherited a team with a poor record and academic performance. He turned around the basketball program and grades of the student-athletes. He was fired after a 15 win season with a great recruit all lined up for the 1998-99 season. Loyola would have challenged for the top spot in the MCC for the 98-99 season if he wasn't fired. I know why he was fired....(or the reason they wanted to use). I was there but I don't want to share it here. I remember the Score calling me as a 20 year old kid at my house asking for a comment and confirmation on a rumor on why he was fired. It was not fair and I will leave it at that. For me I knew I did not want to go into college coaching after seeing what happened to him. Loyola waited until early April to fire him as well. Thankfully the next Coach was just as nice to me and a true gentleman (Larry Farmer) who was the coach for my senior year. Coach B coached at Trinity in Texas the year after leaving Loyola. I remember him calling me in my office in Alumni Gym asking for some of his old plays that he left in the office. After one season at Trinity he was out of coaching for a long time doing sales in Texas. He eventually landed at Incarnate Word which transitioned to D1. His team beat Nebraska a few years ago and he went to the CIT (his team was not yet eligible for the NCAA Tournament as a provisional team). We exchanged Christmas cards over the years and I called him when I passed the bar exam in 2002. I wish I visited him when in San Antonio for the Final Four in 2018. He was just fired from Incarnate Word at the time and I regret not calling him.
Funny stories I will remember are: 1. when he got so mad during a game that he threw the talcum powder on the court and I went to get it up before he got a technical foul. 2. During a practice the clock went off and buzzed so loud. I was running the clock but wasn't there to turn the horn off because I was on the other side of the gym. He was screaming and said the next day he heard the horn all night in his sleep.
The most telling story of his character: one of the first events at Gentile in Nov. 1996 was a meet and greet with Steve Kerr. My parents came and we were sitting at the top of the gym. He walked up to say hi to my parents and left his event and all the people surrounding him and Kerr. My parents felt so special and welcomed. So he left big donors to see his sophomore manager’s parents who were not donating any money. Maybe the inner circle is more important on a human level than cuddling up to donors and why I view him differently than others. This story shows the true Coach B.
So.....to the best dressed coach we ever had at Loyola (Mark Shale clothing from Water Tower), rest in peace and God Bless. Porter is a close 2nd with clothing! Prayers to his wife and children who are still in their 20's without a father.
Last edited by ramblermgr9599 on Wed May 20, 2020 9:01 am, edited 2 times in total.
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