In the fall of 1968 I was one of two first-year students on the men’s basketball team at EMU. My memory is that I played a few minutes in two or three games prior to the Christmas break. The coach was Art Mullet and he had learned that I was planning to transfer to the University of Iowa the following year to study pharmacy. Concurrently he knew of a local Turner Ashby player who wanted to enroll at EMU after the holidays. Coach Mullet contacted me during the holidays to ask me to turn in my uniform after returning to campus. Given that I was not playing much and that I didn’t plan to return for my sophomore year, I was not surprised.
Twenty-five years later I was a candidate for the presidency at Hesston College. During the campus visit weekend I went to Yost Center to watch a basketball game and immediately saw Coach Mullet in the stands, now the athletic director and baseball coach at Hesston. He greeted me with, “I think that I know you from the past but I can’t quite remember where.” I responded with a smile, “Yes, you cut me from the basketball team at EMU in ’68. And, now I may be here as your president!” We had a strong relationship for those 10 years and I was particularly pleased that our son, Steve, played two years of baseball under Coach Mullet. I thoroughly enjoyed telling the story to athletic recruits.
In my later years at Hesston I joined Phil Richards to broadcast basketball games over the internet. At half time of a game, Mullet was running a three-point shooting contest for the students with a $5 prize for anyone who made a shot. I stepped out of the stands, dressed in a suit and tie, having not put my hands on a ball for years. From under the basket Mullet threw me a bounce pass, I took just one shot from three-point distance near the sideline and it was nothing but net! The students were yelling just as Pat walked onto the floor not having seen what happened (and not sure I was telling her the truth!). The next morning I sent an email to Coach Luke Hartman and Mullet, suggesting that I still had my game and with three years of college eligibility left I was available if needed. Within a few weeks I received a very nice uniform with “Druber” on the back of the jersey.
In 1994 I came to EMU. I told this story at an athletic event. Leo Heatwole, EMU graduate (in my class as a freshman) and native of the area, added yet another ironic twist the entire 35 year saga. It turns out that Leo had been assigned to defend me when Iowa Mennonite played Eastern Mennonite High School at the Mennonite high school basketball classic in Ohio during the Christmas break of our senior years. Leo claims that his coach, Ron Koppenhaver, was on his case during the game for not defending me well. I do recall that IMS won the classic that year!
One year later Leo told Coach Mullet about a very strong local player at Turner Ashby who would like to enroll in January. Roy Keller did enroll, wore “my” uniform, and had a stellar career at EMU, no doubt much better than mine would have been had I stayed at EMU (which I should have done for academic reasons, but not to play basketball). Of course, Leo had no idea that his suggestion to Coach Mullet that Keller was available would result in my losing a spot on the team, but he did manage to get me off the floor
