Okay, let’s play Jeopardy.

Answer: Bill Bradley

Question: What noted Princeton graduate/Rhodes Scholar/ United States Senator/professional basketball star played a role in bringing a future Colby College coaching legend to Maine in the fall of 1961.

Dick Whitmore told the story with a smile. “The Princeton basketball coach had expressed interest in my playing for Princeton. Just before I headed down there for a visit, the coach called to report that a player higher on their recruiting list had decided to come to Princeton, so that he could no longer support my application.” That player was, yes, Bill Bradley.

What a difference that twist of fate made to Bowdoin (Dick’s alma mater) to Colby (where he compiled a spectacular 41-year record as head coach), to the lives of the hundreds of young people he has influenced; and to the entire state of Maine.

Dick, who majored in Latin and minored in history at Bowdoin, cites three men who influenced him greatly in college. Latin professor Nate Dane (“He saved me.”); basketball coach Ray Bicknell (“He taught me how to do things right.” ); and history professor Ernst Helmreich (“He showed me how strategies on the battlefield were like strategies on the basketball court.”) Incidentally, Dick was a freshman at Bowdoin when Bill Cohen, who later served as a United States senator, played for the Bowdoin team. “I thought I was hot stuff and tried to drive through him. It was like hitting a brick wall, and Cohen said to me, ‘Welcome to college basketball.’”

After graduation, Dick compiled fine teaching/coaching records at MSAD#16 in Hallowell and at Morse High in Bath. “In 1968, Brud Stover (Bowdoin Class of 1957), contacted me about the coaching position at Morse. In two years I learned about the wonders of a great city, and the passion of a basketball community. With mentors like Brud and fellow basketball guru Chuck Marchatti, some significant results came about.”

Dick got hired by Colby in 1971 to take the head coaching job when he was only 26 years old.  Dick stayed on for a remarkable 41 years. He compiled a stellar career record of 637-236; won numerous ECAC Championships; took several teams to the NCAA Division 3 tournament; and coached 13 All Americans, including his son Kevin.

Dick earned numerous Coach of the Year awards along the way, and eventually gained entry into the Archbishop Williams (his high school alma mater) Hall of Fame; the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame; the New England Basketball Hall of Fame; and the Maine Sports Hall of Fame. He spurned offers to move to the Division I coaching ranks, preferring to stay in Maine

Although Dick retired in 2011, he’s still going strong, still changing lives. He teaches courses on Leadership at Thomas College in Waterville. He helps out at his son-in-law’s sea food market in Scarborough. He serves as chairman of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame. He stays in constant contact with most of his former players And he enjoys life with Mary Kay, his wife of 52 years whom he calls, “the lifeblood of everything.”

Oh, one more thing. Dick is still coaching, but this time at a different level for a different gender. He’s the volunteer assistant coach at South Portland High School, where two of his granddaughters are standouts. “I don’t sit on the bench during games out of respect for the head coach,” he says, “but I do go to practices, and I do make suggestions at halftime.”

When asked what it was like to coach his granddaughters, Dick said, “If there is a heaven, this is it for me.”  His youngest granddaughter is now in fourth grade and he vows to help coach her team, “even if I have to go out there in a wheelchair.”

What advice would Dick have for young people today? “Take a hard look at yourself and your values. Then go live a life true to those values.”  Not bad advice from one fine coach.

On a personal note, Dick and I were in the same fraternity at Bowdoin — Zeta Psi — and we each played end on the fraternity’s touch football team. One Saturday we went up to Colby to play a game against the Zeta Psi house there. I reminded him that I made the winning catch at the game. I admit now, though, that the other team was no doubt guarding Dick much more closely than me, as he was a far more imposing threat.

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns. [email protected].