#BillBradley October 29

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October 2026 several of us are going to take on the 30-Day Celebrity Alma Mater Coach4aday Challenge. Each day we will identify a celebrity and share where they attended college. For Day 29 it is on BILL BRADLEY.

In 2019 I listened to Jim Collins talk about the author John McPhee on a podcast. John McPhee wrote a book called “A Sense of Where You Are” in 1965 about my childhood hero Bill Bradley.

I grew up in Morristown, New Jersey and at age 11 I found my hero. He was only ten years older than me, and he wasn’t from NJ but became synonymous with the Garden State. Bill Bradley played college basketball in New Jersey at Princeton University (1961-1965). I discovered basketball during Bradley sophomore year of college. I was nine playing in a league at the Neighborhood House on Flagler St. trying to get the ball to the rim and Bill Bradley was leading the country in scoring just down US 202/206 from my hometown.

In 1965 Bill Bradley turned down the NBA to pursue a graduate degree as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. He would join the NY Knicks in 1967 and win two NBA Championships furthering cementing his legacy as my hero.

After his NBA career he was elected as US Senator in New Jersey. He served from 1979 to 1997. He ran for President in 2000.

In 2009 while I was serving as Director of Athletics I got to meet Senator Bradley spoke at UNC Pembroke. I even got him to autograph a photo I cherish.

Celebrity Alma Mater Coach4aday Challenge Guidelines

Day 29-Bill Bradley -Princeton University

Celebrity: Bill Bradley

Alma Mater; Princeton University

Why They’re Famous: All-American Basketball Player -Rhodes Scholar-US Senator and Presidential Candidate

College Connection: All-time leading scorer in Princeton history despite only playing 3 years

Interesting Fact; Turned down the NBA after college to complete a Rhodes Scholarship.