Purdue's 'Great Mentor' dies

I knew it was going to be his last Boilermaker basketball game in Mackey Arena.

We both knew it.

But an hour or so before the Senior Day game with Wisconsin, Bob Holloway was the same as he ever was. Despite the pain of an insidious illness, Holloway was far more concerned about the Boilermakers' NCAA seeding and the threat Purdue faced on that Sunday evening as the the Badgers had been playing well of late. Luckily, the Boilermakers put on one more good show for one of their greatest supporters in a 14-point win.

It ended up being the curtain call for Holloway in Mackey as he died in the wee hours of Friday morning after a bout with cancer. He was 91.

I was fortunate enough to have known Holloway for nearly 50 years as he was a close friend of my dad's. And the Bob Holloway I knew in 1966, when I first met him, was the same guy as when I last saw him on March 7: Soft spoken, thoughtful and passionate about his Boilermakers.

On this day, there would be no talk of the dreaded disease. He would rather discuss whether Caleb Swanigan still had a chance to win the Big Ten rebounding title.

"I have seen some good ones," Holloway said in his raspy voice. "And he is near the top of the list."

In his day, Bob Holloway was about as successful a business person as one can get. He was always tough, but always fair. He built a small empire in the hotel and hospitality business in northern Kentucky that was a means to an end.

That end?

To spend a lifetime being close to Purdue sports. And it was athletics that gave Holloway an outlet for an outpouring of emotion and passion for his alma mater.

"You would have never known that Mr. Holloway was as well off as he was," said Ralph Taylor, the former Boilermaker basketball forward and current radio analyst on the Purdue radio network who knew Holloway (and still used "Mr." as a constant show of respect) dating back to his days on the Boilermaker varsity from 1967-69. "He never flaunted his good fortune. He always treated people the way he wanted to be treated. He was a great mentor in that way."

Holloway would make it a point to walk down from his seats (about 10 rows) to talk to Taylor before just about every broadcast. And despite his condition, he made the walk to the broadcast position next to the team bench one last time on Senior Day.

"After my playing days were done, I figured I would never hear from him again," Taylor said. "But it was just the opposite. He took the time to offer friendly advice and just be a great friend."

Holloway was an emotional man, as he was during our final interview in March and was over a decade ago during the dedication of the Doris Z. Holloway Pool at the Purdue Aquatics Center. The tears flowed steadily when he told those in attendance why that project was so important to him.

His beloved wife Doris, who died in 2005, meant the world to him. At the time of the pool opening, Doris was struggling with her health; the fact the pool was named in her honor was poignant.

But it was more than that for Bob Holloway — it was just another way he could give back to the school and athletic program that has meant so much to him.

Holloway shared his treasure, but it far from defined his relationship with the Gold and Black.

His name is on the gym that the nationally ranked volleyball team calls home. And he made significant donations to tennis, wrestling, basketball and football.

But, for Bob Holloway, it went much deeper than financial gifts.

The bond with Purdue began in the final years of World War II. At that time, Holloway, like so many men of that era, was just looking for an opportunity.

“The Navy sent me to Purdue in 1944, and I knew nothing about it,” Holloway said in March, before the game against Wisconsin. “It was just a wonderful, wonderful thing that happened to me, being able to come to Purdue.

“I feel like I owe Purdue 50 cents of every dollar I’ve ever made. That’s how much I love this university.”

Holloway’s love for Purdue sports started when he was sports editor of the student newspaper, The Exponent.

“That is where it all got started with me, the need to know the story of Purdue athletics,” Holloway said.

Little did he know then, but he would play a key role in creating the story of Purdue, not only writing about it.

Back in the days when it was legal in the eyes of the NCAA, Holloway was one of Purdue’s key gentlemen recruiters, spending many of his weekends eyeing talent from his area — and hoping to steer it to West Lafayette.

His passion for it was evident.

“Basketball coach George King came to watch Tyrone (Bedford) play,” Holloway said. “Tyrone was the best I had seen.”

Bedford, seated nearby as Holloway told the story in March, watched as the tears again flowed from Holloway.

“Tyrone was from an orphan’s home, but he was a great student,” Holloway continued, struggling at times to get the words out. “He got his degree (and) has been successful in business. Not many guys could do what Tyrone did.”

Bedford, a small forward who wore No. 13 like John Wooden and Glenn Robinson, could run the floor on King’s racehorse basketball team that made it all the way to the NCAA title game.

He is grateful for Holloway and the friendship that endured 50 years.

“I was in the children’s home for five years as my parents were both gone by eighth grade, my mother in seventh grade and my father a year later,” said Bedford, a native of Louisville who owns a limousine company in the Bay Area. “Bob came down to recruit me and I had never heard of Purdue, and I didn’t want to go to U of L. I broke my leg senior year of high school, but he stuck with me. Purdue stuck with me and I am forever grateful for that.

“He has always been my mentor in business and in life, and he has always been there for me.“

Taylor, too, remembered meeting Holloway for the first time back in 1966 when he traveled to Louisville to watch Bedford play. Taylor, star forward Herman Gilliam and assistant coach Bob King made the three-hour trip.

"Herman was from the south and I was from the north, and you have to remember this was Louisville in the mid-1960s," said Taylor, who recalled the recruiting trip that was legal in those days. "Yet Mr. Holloway transcended the tension of the time and made us feel very comfortable in his home. I consider my relationship with him over the years as life-changing."

Holloway served as a pipeline to several players from the area. Bob Baltzell was a running back on Purdue’s first Rose Bowl team. Mike Northington was a four-year regular, becoming the first freshman in Big Ten history to score five touchdowns in a game, a feat he accomplished against Iowa in 1973.

Wayne Walls, who was from across the river in Jeffersonville, Ind., was a four-year starter for Coach Fred Schaus. Holloway also helped in landing four-year starting safety Pat Harris and Cris Dishman, who was a defensive back on the Peach Bowl team in 1984 before enjoying a long stretch of success in the NFL.

What was Holloway’s secret when looking for talent?

“I just went to the schools and asked the coaches who are the best two players?” Holloway said. “I would check on players, then ask to send film up to Purdue. Then I bring the kids to campus. In those days, you could take them to dinner.”

In all, Holloway said he sent 35 players to Purdue’s sports teams. That meant more to him than having his name on the building that comprises a big part of the Boilermakers’ athletic complex.

“I have had the best life being involved with Purdue sports all these years,” Holloway said. “It has given me so much more than I have given it.”

But on this bittersweet day for all the people who knew Holloway, the consensus is the reverse is true. Because few in the history of the program have given more to the program.