Men’s Basketball: Church still relishes career

Men’s Basketball: Church still relishes career

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • January 20, 2011

In a matter of a few days, Dean Church went from an all-conference guard on USL’s basketball team to selling toys for a department store in his home state of Kentucky.

Church had played two years for then-coach Beryl Shipley before abruptly leaving school a few weeks into the fall semester in 1962. The 6-foot guard soon realized his mistake and convinced Shipley to allow him to re-enroll that following spring and play his final two seasons of eligibility.

"It was just foolishness on my part and being homesick," said the 68-year-old Church, now retired and living in Luling. "I was home for only a couple of hours before realizing that you really can’t go home again. It was the most stupid thing I’ve done in my life."

The second chance paid off for both Church and Shipley. Church eventually became USL’s first All-American and first NBA draft pick among a slew of other accomplishments and led the program to their first NAIA National Tournament berth as a senior in 1964-65.

Church and Shipley will be reunited with a host of other former Cajun players, coaches, trainers and personnel from seven different decades Friday and Saturday for the UL Men’s Basketball Reunion in Lafayette.

"This reunion is going to be special," he said. "I created a lot of friendships over the years."

Church fondly remembers his days as a college basketball player in Lafayette.

Recruited out of Ashland, Ky., Church was the second member of his family to play for Shipley. (Older brother, Don, played for then-SLI in the late-1950s.) After averaging three points per game as a freshman for a team that was ranked in the top 10 of the final NAIA poll in 1960-61, Church boosted his scoring to 13.2 points in his second year and was a second-team All-Gulf States Conference selection.

Church left school the following fall prior to the start of the 1962-63 season. That ended up being the only losing season in Shipley’s 16 years at USL. While out of school, Church actually improved his scoring while playing in a local basketball league in his hometown.

"Sitting out a year helped me out tremendously because when I got back to school, I had more confidence in my game," Church said. "I felt that I would be able to score more than I had in my first two years."

He certainly did.

Church averaged at least 20 points and was the Gulf States Conference Player of the Year and a first-team NAIA All-American in 1964 and ’65. As a junior in 1964, he scored 20.1 points per game to lead USL to its first Gulf States Conference title.

The following year, Church pumped in 23.36 points per game and was a first-team Associated Press Little College All-American for the NAIA District 27 Tournament champions. USL also competed in the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo.

Church set single-season school records for points (701), points per game (23.36) and free-throw shooting (.832) as a senior in 1964-65. (He is now fifth, ninth and fifth, respectively, in those categories.)

By the end of his career, Church was third in school history with 1,546 points behind Ed McCauley (1,596 points from 1952-55) and Tim Thompson (1,587 points from 1958-61). He is now 12th all-time in career scoring at the school. Church still holds the single-game school mark with 17 consecutive free throws made against ULM on Jan. 8, 1965.

Church was later inducted into the USL Hall of Fame and Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame.

"It was unbelievable," Church said of his time at USL. "We had some great years there. To be the school’s first All-American is as big as it can get. I certainly wasn’t the best that ever played there, but I’m definitely very proud of that honor."

The Philadelphia 76ers selected Church in the 10th round of the 1965 NBA draft, but he never played for the team. Church worked one year for the Goodyear Tire Company in Akron, Ohio, and played for Goodyear’s AAU team, the Akron Wingfoots, before returning to Louisiana the following year.

"I was very fortunate to be successful in college, but I didn’t have the physical skills to be a good pro player," Church said. "I was slow and couldn’t jump."

In life after basketball, Church spent 33 years with Avondale Shipyards before retiring as vice president and chief administrative officer in January 2000.

He credits all of his success to getting a second chance from Shipley in the mid-1960s.

"If it hadn’t been for him, I’d be digging ditches right now," said Church, who later had Shipley as the best man in his wedding. "I’ve had a good life, and it’s all because of Beryl Shipley."

Athletic Network Footnote: Click here for Dean’s Athletic Network Profile http://athleticnetwork.net/site.php?pageID=55&profID=10517