Several months ago I received in the mail an invitation from the Butler Alumni Office to attend the 2002 Butler University hall of Fame Dinner. The dinner was to honor eight new inductees including one Edmund C. Schilling father of the Wright State basketball coach, a star basketball player for Butler in the 1960's and a good friend.

It sounded like a good time except they wanted fifty bucks to attend. It is rare that anyone gets fifty greenbacks out of me. So I called my good friend Butler Sports Information Director Jim McGrath and told him I needed a media pass for the event. I asked if he could secure one and to make a long story short he came through as he usually does.

Little Coach Ed (WSU Coach) tipped me off that my usual nacho cheese-stained sweatshirt would probably not be appreciated, so I wore a coat and tie. I walked up with cigar and the lady at the sign-in table started frowning. I quickly told her that the Big Chill said, "I could smoke at the dinner." She said "so what... he is not in the Hall of Fame for another hour, so put out the cigar." So out went the cigar and everyone but me was happy.

Soon after I arrived Big Chill was introducing me around. It was great! I met former players, family friends and at one point he took me over to meet Butler Athletic Director John Parry. We talked for about ten minutes. Talked about the conference, Butler Basketball and the Bracketbusters. He is a class act like almost everyone involved with Butler Athletics.

The event was held at the Reilly Room in the Atherton Union on the campus of Butler University. There were about 150 people who attended the reception and dinner. The meal was actually pretty tasty. Beef was served with some kind of gravy on it. After getting the gravy off it turned out to be pretty good. There was also a salad I passed on and some veggies that I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. For desert it was German Chocolate cake. I did manage to con the server into giving me a second dinner when I convinced her the empty seat next to me should have been taken by a man who couldn't make it and he wanted me to eat his dinner too. All in all the meal gets 3 ? belches out of five on my CigarBoy yum yum scale.

Butler basketball color commentator Ralph Reiff was the MC for the evening. John Parry introduced him and popped back up toward the end of the induction ceremony. Reiff told a little about each inductee and called a presenter up to actually hand the plaque to each inductee.

First up were actually a couple of non-athletes, Jean and Robert Wildman. They were being recognized with a Hall of Fame Special service Award for their decades of support for the Bulldog teams as well as Butler Athletic Department. Presenting their award was former Athletic Director and Football coach Bill Sylvester.

Next Jim Ringer presented T. Ralph London with his plaque. Ralph was one of the few football players to ever start on defense as a freshman. By the time he was a sophomore he was starting on offense and defense. A three-time All-conference tackle he was named team captain his sophomore year. In a touching dedication Ralph dedicated his award to his parents and his brother who was killed at the age of twenty-one on a Navy sub in World War II.

Assistant Athletic Director Don Benbow presented class of 1966 grad David Sanders. As a basketball player for Tony Hinkle he set the Butler single season scoring record 536 points in 1964-65. Dave was the leading scorer and rebounder in 1964-65, for which earned All-Conference honors for the second time, as well as Bulldog MVP. He finished his career with 1103 points. When David got to the podium he pulled out a list of all his Butler memories that when he unrolled it was literally thirty feet long. As the crowd laughed he explained that he wouldn't actually read the whole list. He did provide a very funny top 10 list of his favorite Butler memories. His top 10 list did clear up one lingering misconception from his playing days. That would be that he never passed the ball. "Not true, I always passed the ball on the inbound," said David to the roars of laughter from the crowd

Next up was Ed Schilling who was presented by Lee Grimm. As a basketball player Ed broke Sanders single season scoring record by two points with 538 points (averaging 20.7 points per game) in 1965-66. He was the leading scorer and rebounder in 1965-66 for Butler earning All-Conference honors. Named the captain of the Bulldogs the next year, Ed was once again the leading scorer during the season that saw Coach Hiinkle garner his 500th career victory. Following his career at Butler, Ed continued his leadership in the coaching ranks. Recently he was named to Butler's 1960's All-Decade Team. While he introduced his family he explained how his wife Ina (Cross) was a Butler cheerleader. He introduced his son Ed the Wright State Coach to a long applause, as marrying a Butler Cheerleader (Shawn Dulligan) and her father Dick Dulligan as a 1998 Butler Hall of Fame inductee. It was apparent to everyone that they were quite a Butler family.

Former Butler track star John Kessler was presented by Thom Burleson, who himself was a Hall of Famer. He earned eight varsity letters in track and cross-country. In, 1976, he qualified for and participated in the NCAA Division I National Championships at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. At one time, he held the Butler records for the two-mile, three-mile and 5000-meter runs as well as the 5000- meter steeple chase. He was also a member of many Butler school record relay teams. In 1976 he was named the team MVP. He looked like he was still in shape to run a record two-mile run.

Billy Lynch presented David Swihart his plaque. Dave was an All-Conference selection in football all four years he played at Butler. Twice he was named conference lineman of the year. By the time he graduated, his 112 receptions and 1634 career receiving yards ranked him second all-time at Butler. His marks still rank sixth best all-time at Butler. He dedicated his award to his mother, who raised six kids, to Butler Hall of Famer Billy Lynch and his parents Bill and Sally Lynch.

Basketball star Wayne Burris was presented his award by Tom Redman. Wayne finished as the second all-time leading scorer. An All-conference player multiple years, he was named Conference Player of the year as a senior in 1977. The Bulldog captain also ranks seventh all-time in career assists. Selected as a member of the 1970's All-Decade Team for Butler, Wayne also showed his strength in the class-room, being named Butler's Top Male Student in 1977. He drew laughs from the crowd when he introduced his son as a future Bulldog. He recognized his basketball coach George Theofanis and his high school coach Don Thomas who was present. He said, "other than free throws you do nothing in basketball without your teammates. Team is very important at Butler."

Finally Hall of Famer Barb Skinner presented the plaque to Rene' Evans Skinner. A three sport star who played the big three woman's sports....volleyball, softball and basketball. Named volleyball captain for two of her four seasons at Butler. Rene' twice earned volleyball MVP honors. Her outstanding contributions continued as captain of Barb Greenburg softball team where she captured softball MVP honors. She talked of working with her dad and how he always encouraged her. Rene' cited Barb Greenburg as the most important person for her at Butler.

One thing that became evident as the night wound down was that there was a real sense of family at Butler and for just one night I had the privilege to be a small part of it.

MORE PICTURES:
Ralph Reiff
David Sanders
The Schillings: Ed Sr. (left), and Wright State head coach Ed Jr.
Ed Sr. and his wife, Ida
John Kessler
David Swihart
Wayne Burris

EDITOR'S NOTE: I apologize if I've misspelled any names or misidentified anyone. Please feel free to send me corrections.

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