#ken french

[pookiestheoneliveson]

Ken French Uncensored series (8 photos)

[smallcollegebasketball]

Check out the Small College Basketball Podcast, hosted by Chris Cottrell, with one of the really good guys in our game, Coach Ken French.

[smallcollegebasketball]

News & Notes from Small College Basketball

News & Notes from Small College Basketball:

- William Jewell Coach Larry Holley recently reached 900 career wins.  900!  Remarkable.  Here’s the story:  http://www.jewellcardinals.com/news/2018/1/11/mens-basketball-holley-earns-900th-career-win-in-victory-over-rockhurst.aspx?path=mbball

- Grinnell wins for the 1,000th time in program history:  https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/2018/01/13/grinnells-circus-like-system-leads-programs-1-000th-victory-helps-shape-modern-basketball/1017346001/

- LSU-Alexandria and Coach Larry Cordaro become the quickest program and coach to reach 100 victories in NAIA history (113 games):  http://www.lsuagenerals.com/article/975.php

- Bellarmine has now won 52 straight home games at Knights Hall.  Playing in the tough GLVC, this is quite an accomplishment.

- Congratulations and a huge “shout out” to Rio Grande Coach Ken French for organizing “The Show” for NAIA Division II basketball.  With his efforts, the event has really taken off, and now (November of 2017) consists of 12 men’s teams and 6 women’s teams that play a total of 20 games in Kingsport, TN.  Well done, Ken French!

-  Congratulations to Cabrini’s Tyheim Monroe for becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer!  Earlier this season, he became the school AND conference all-time rebounding leader.  For the season, Monroe is averaging 22.1 ppg and 17 rpg.

- Cornerstone’s Kyle Steigenga is on the verge of breaking the school’s scoring record AND the collegiate scoring record for the state of Michigan (which was set two years ago by Bevo Francis Award winner Dominez Burnett from Davenport).  After 19 games this season, Steigenga sits at 2,701 career points.

[smallcollegebasketball]

The Experience of Presenting the Bevo Francis Award

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.”  

It was at this point that Dominez said, “I didn’t grow up with a father-figure kinda deal.  I have four special women in my life.”  And then he paused, got choked up, and said, “They sacrificed for me, and I don’t know if I can ever repay them.”  .....and then he broke down.....