On April 23, Steve Beverly, associate professor of communication arts, is being inducted into Union’s Sports Hall of Fame for his years of calling Union’s basketball games.
I sat down with Beverly to talk about one of his favorite memories from his time calling Lady Bulldog basketball.
Do you have a specific memory from your years of calling games for Union that you love?
“For me, [there was] obviously when Mark Campbell won his first national championship in NAIA basketball back in 2005. It was really an electric night down at Oman Arena. We started the season— we won our first 17 games, but [then] we went through a slump in the latter third of the regular season, and we lost five in a row. And a lot of people were getting down on things and wondering if we had lost our edge. The first loss was to Lyon College, a school we almost never lost to, and [then] we lost five games in a row and we lost the conference championship to Freed-Hardeman University. And so, people were really down, and they were thinking, ‘Are we going to be able to get through this?’ Some were even thinking, ‘Will we go out of the first round of the national tournament?’ — which we had never done. I remember Mark telling me in the post-game interview, ‘But we’re getting better, and I just have a good feeling about this team going into the national tournament.’
But here it was 2005, and I was sitting next to coach Blackstock, our former women’s coach and the athletic director. It was one of the rare games I was sitting out, and we were watching another game. Coach Blackstock looked at me— and he was as savvy about anything that had to do with basketball because he was such a great coach— and he said, “I really believe we could win this tournament; if we don’t make a lot of stupid mistakes.” Well sure enough, we get to Friday night, and we’re playing the University of North Georgia. They were relentless. The game started going back-and-forth, and there was electricity in the arena. We end up going to overtime. They actually had a shot at the buzzer at the end of regulation. And that ball hit the iron, and I’m calling the game saying, ‘North Georgia for the win…No!’ Because it just seemed to hang there on the rim, and then it just bounced out. In the overtime we end up winning by four.
We get to Saturday night, and we’re playing another tough opponent. There was no honey and lemon, there was no cure for how bad my voice was, but there was no way you were going to keep me from calling Union’s game that night. We played a relatively calm game, and we ended up winning by 15 points against Vanguard University. We win the game 85-70, and that was the night that I just finally drank the Kool-Aid and thought, ‘Okay, we could win this thing.’ We end up playing Point Loma Nazarene University from San Diego, and they played a half-court trap defense against their previous opponent. I got a little scared, but Campbell scouted them really well. Campbell employed the same kind of defense on them; we did the half-court trap and forced them to have a lot of turnovers, and we end up winning the game by 18 points.
So here we go, we’re in the National Championship game, but we’re playing Oklahoma City University. They had won four straight national championships between 1999 and 2002. They were unquestionably the most disliked team in this community. When Oklahoma City played, it didn’t matter if they were playing against Union’s most hated rival, people would pull for the hated rival. I was scared to death because it was Oklahoma City, and they had been in the championships for seven straight years in a row. Well sure enough, we’re leading at half time. And when you’re calling a tournament game with NAIA, it’s supposed to be a neutral call. We have a 12-point lead at half time, and we keep pressing in the second half. With eight minutes left, Oklahoma City made their run, and we let up off the gas. We started playing to not lose rather than being aggressive like we were in the first 32 minutes of the game. Well sure enough, I’m telling you I still get chills when I think about it, we get down to a point where they had closed the gap with twenty seconds [to] a score of 85-83. They’re full court pressing us all over the place, and finally they foul one of our guards, who was not a very reliable free throw shooter, and there’s eight seconds left. Her name was Ena Daniels, people loved her on campus, but she was not a reliable free throw shooter. Ena goes to the line, and it seemed like she bounced that ball on the free throw line forever. I’m thinking, ‘Please put this through,’ and she did, so it’s 86-83. And she’s got another one, and I’m thinking, ‘Please put this one through, so they don’t have a chance at tying us with a three-point shot.’ The ball seemed to hang in the air forever. It finally goes through. She knocked both of them dead, and I let fly, ‘YES!’ It’s 87-83, and they try to throw a monster pass down the floor. It’s out of bounds, and I started letting it fly. I do the countdown on the air, and I start doing it as heavy as I ever had. It was so emotional because it was Oklahoma City. It was a broadcaster’s dream game.”
How did it feel to call Campbell’s first national championship win at Union?
“I don’t think there is anything like a coach’s first championship. But Campbell had been through so much stress that season, and to see him achieve a pinnacle accomplishment was probably as good as it ever gets. To be on that call for four of Campbell’s five national championships was a blessing, but that first one was such a great memory because so many of the fans couldn’t stand Oklahoma City.”
You have been calling basketball games for a quarter of a century. What was your takeaway from spending all those years calling college basketball games?
“When I think back over the nearly 800 games I called, I was so blessed because of the fact that we had winning programs. I had a broadcaster from another school come up to me one time and say, ‘I wish I could just trade with you for one year, just to see what the experience is like to call games for a winning program.’ To have had the chance to call so many championships and to see some of these athletes mature over the years, it’s a treat.”
