Jorgensen memories remain for Huskies

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SYCAMORE - Old fishing tales have nothing on the Tom Jorgensen reunion. The sixth annual reunion of Jorgensen, the Northern Illinois University men's basketball coach from 1966-73 and his players, coaches and friends took place on Saturday with a golf outing in the morning and dinner at Johnny's Charhouse in Sycamore. The stories and memories the players swap every reunion get bigger and better every time. “We're all All-Americans now,” Jerry Zielinski, a former NIU forward, said with a laugh. The one thing that actually does grow over time is the love and respect Jorgenson's former players have for him. In what might be the best tribute to Jorgenson, it's not one story, one game or one moment that defines what Jorgensen means to each of the former Huskies. Ask any of his players what Jorgensen means to them, and the same look comes across all their faces. It's a words-can't-possibly-describe it type of expression. They set down their drinks. They take a few moments to get it just right. Some well up with tears and have to take an extra second to get composed. For some, it was basketball-related. “Jorgy gave us an opportunity to play the game,” Don Russell said. For others, it was Jorgensen's commitment to education. “Jorgy just has a personal touch,” Nate Mason, a former NIU point guard (1967-70) said. “He's real sincere and he told me he would do everything in his power that I would graduate. Most of us did graduate and that's not something you always see.” For Zielinski, it was just an opportunity. “He took a kid from a real small town (Hennepin, Ill.,) and gave him a chance,” Zielinski said. Jorgensen said he was “so proud” of everyone for coming out to see him and their former teammates. One of the most successful coaches in NIU history, Jorgensen . The 1971-72 team averaged 95.2 points per game. The star player on a team that featured four players that played at the pro level was a 6-9 sophomore forward named Jim Bradley. Bradley averaged 22.9 points and 15.9 rebounds per game. “He's maybe one of the best college basketball players ever,” Jorgensen said. “I am still amazed myself at what he could do. He was such a skilled player. His skills were so good he didn't need to press himself mentally. His skills were phenomenal.” The game that anyone who knows anything about NIU basketball history remembers most was an 85-71 victory against No. 5 Indiana on Jan. 4, 1972. Zielinski said he remembers the game well, but he remembers the night before even better. A typically cold, early-January night ended with practice at Chick Evans Field House. Zielinski and the rest of his teammates left and saw something they had never seen before. There were about 200 students, camped out outside the gym and waiting to get tickets. “That's the moment where I thought ‘This is real,'” Zielinski said. The Jorgensen reunion, which used to take place every five years and then every three, will now run every two years. The road to this now bi-annual reunion started with the kids Jorgensen recruited all those years ago. “We recruited a lot of great kids too,” Jorgenson said. “You don't know when you recruit if you are going to get a good kid or a kid that's not so good, and we were fortunate to get a lot of good kids. We had a wonderful run.”