• The Beloit College men’s basketball team made history on February 3rd, 2005, when they played on ESPN2. This game was the first NCAA Division III, non-championship game to ever to be nationally televised. Over 1 million viewers in 425,000 homes across the country tuned in to watch the Buccaneers beat Grinnell College.

• Josh Hinz, Class of 2005, was featured on ESPN’s Cold Pizza for his record breaking performance of 36 rebounds in a single game. Hinz also scored 50 points to go along with his rebounding performance.

• Ted Serafini, Class of 2005, placed his name and the name of Beloit College in the NCAA record book when he tied a NCAA record with four blocked kicks. Ted blocked 3 extra points, and one blocked punt against St. Norbert. This record places Ted amongst all football players at the Division I, IA, Division II, and Division III level.

• Michael Jordan did the opening coin toss for a Beloit College home football game during the 1985 season. Jordan and the Chicago Bulls used the athletic facilities for their preseason training before the 1985 season. The Bulls showcased their talents in Beloit’s Marvin Fieldhouse in 1985 and again in 1986.

• Beloit College ’s logo, a Buccaneer head, caused a nationwide stir in the mid 1990’s when we battled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL for the rights to use the logo. Beloit’s president at the time, Vic Ferrall, offered to play Tampa Bay in a football game for the rights to the logo. Eventually, Tampa Bay backed off and later changed its logo to the current one it now displays on its helmet.

• USA Olympic gold is an honor that Ron Bontemps earned as a 1952 captain of the Olympic basketball team. Bontemps, a 1951 graduate of BeloitCollege has been inducted into the BC Athletic Hall of Honor held the all-time leading scoring record for 55 years.

• Stacy Schmidt-May led the nation in free throw percentage at 91.7% in her senior season at Beloit College. Stacy has been inducted into the Athletic Hall of Honor and still holds the all-time leading scoring record.

• An exciting punt return play by Beloit College football player, Mike Brechler earned recognition by ESPN as the play of the year and the nationally acclaimed ESPY Award in 1993.

• Beloit College graduates have made an impact on the Big Ten and the Milwaukee Bucks. Buccaneer teammates John Erickson and John Orr are bothmembers of the Class of 1949 and the Athletic Hall of Honor. John Erickson went on to be a successful coach at the University of Wisconsin while John Orr with the University of Michigan. Erickson was the general manger of the Milwaukee Bucks when they drafted the legendary Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

• Leland (Larry) MacPhail, class of 1910 and Athletic Hall of Honor inductee, introduced night baseball to the major leagues in 1935. He was the general manager and/or owner of the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, and New York Yankees.

• The late Bernard (Boob) Darling, Class of 1928 and Athletic Hall of Honor member, played on three Green Bay Packer Championship teams (1929, 30 & 31) before becoming a Big Ten official.

• Bill Knapton, Head Men’s Basketball Coach from 1957-1997, compiled some staggering statistics.  Besides 557 career victories, he also led theBuccaneers to 31 winning seasons, including 20 straight from 1976 to 1996; his teams won 345 Midwest Conference games and ten MWC Championships, including a stretch of three straight from 1980-83 and four titles in five years; and his teams earned nine NCAA Division III Tournament berths, including five straight from 1978-83.

Knapton also had a strong influence on the game of basketball as a whole. He served on the NCAA Basketball Rules Committee from 1981-86, during which time the three-point shot was introduced.  Knapton originally voted no for the three-point arc and the measure was defeated when the voting ended in a 6-6 tie.  The following year, Knapton changed his vote to yes and the measure passed 7-5, thus Knapton and Beloit College are noted for the incorporation of the three-point shot into game.

Knapton was also on the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) Board of Directors from 1986 to his retirement, including serving as the Board President in 1994-95.  Among the high-profile coaches on the Board during his presidency were Michigan’s Johnny Orr, a Beloit College alum, Louisville’s Denny Crum, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Purdue’s Gene Keady and Kansas’ (now North Carolina’s) Roy Williams.