Dennie Bridges is retiring as Illinois Wesleyan's athletic director this summer. (Photo courtesy www.iwusports.com)
By WJBC Staff
BLOOMINGTON – Illinois Wesleyan athletic director Dennie Bridges, who coached the Titans’ men’s basketball team to 667 wins over a 36-year span, will be honored with the dedication of “Dennie Bridges Court” at Shirk Center on Saturday.
The event will take place at halftime of the Titans’ final regular season game, a 7 p.m. “Seniors’ Day” contest against Elmhurst. A number of former players, including seven-time NBA all-star and 1977 IWU graduate Jack Sikma, will be on hand at the game.
Bridges, who will retire from the university in July as its longest-serving athletic director, led IWU to a national Division III championship in 1997 and third place finishes in 1996 and 2001.
His teams had a 667-319 record from 1965 to 2001 with 17 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships, 14 NCAA Division III tournament appearances and seven NAIA national tournament appearances.
“The naming of the court in Dennie’s honor is a well-deserved tribute to his long and successful career at Illinois Wesleyan,” said IWU President Richard Wilson. “His dedication and commitment as a coach, teacher and administrator have served as a model for many athletes and friends across the country, in this community and at this university.”
From 1957 to 1961, playing at Memorial Gymnasium (now the Hansen Student Center), Bridges was a four-year letterman and all-conference player in basketball.
Coaching for 29 seasons (1965-94) at Fred Young Fieldhouse, his teams won 285 games in the building (285-71) and in the first seven years of the Shirk Center, Bridges’s IWU squads won 93 of 98 home games.
