The mere mention of Jason Alsene’s name made Hakim Williams’ eyes light up. Moments earlier, Williams had helped the Illinois Wesleyan men’s basketball team dispatch rival Augustana, 82-52. A senior guard, Williams contributed 10 points, four rebounds and three assists as the No. 5 nationally ranked Titans continued their outstanding season.
Now, his night at Shirk Center was getting even better.
“Oh yeah, J Money!” he said when asked about Alsene. “He’s just like a brother, man. He’s like a part of the team. We treat him as such. We don’t exclude him from anything.”
Nearby, Alsene held small bags of sliced apples, delivering one to each of his beloved Titans. It is a ritual, win or lose.
The apples are courtesy of Alsene’s parents, Tammy and Ben. Their 30-year-old son eagerly hands them out, but to a man, from head coach Ron Rose on down, the Titans will tell you he gives them a lot more than postgame snacks.
He stands on the baseline during warmups, retrieving balls for Titan shooters. He is near the end of the bench during games, keeping his own unofficial scoring totals. He stands in or near the team huddle during timeouts.
The Titans are his “guys.”
“You know, I think a lot about Titan basketball,” Rose said. “It pales in comparison to Jason. He thinks about it 24-7.”
Alsene was born missing a valve in his heart. At three days old, a stent was put in. At 10 months, he underwent open heart surgery. Two days later, he suffered a massive stroke.
The long-term effects have been a weakened left side of his body, multiple heart procedures, cognitive delays and intermittent seizures. He qualifies as “special needs” in the medical community. To Williams and the Titans, he is simply special.
“I love him to death … him and the whole family,” Williams said. “My freshman year, we got introduced to Jason and ever since then, he’s had my phone number. I talk to him every Monday at 8 o’clock (p.m.). We have our set time.”
Rose calls Alsene “part of the fabric of Titan basketball,” saying he provides “perspective, joy, excitement.”
“He’s always excited to see you,” Rose said. “You always get a fist-bump … sometimes a hard fist-bump … and a hug. He lives life the way we all should.”
Alsene participates in Special Olympics and on Jan. 19, he played in a district basketball tournament at Shirk Center. His team won twice to qualify for the state tournament.
Among those cheering him were 16 IWU basketball players and their coaches, as well as some members of the Titan women’s basketball and volleyball teams.
Likely, many will be there in March for the state tournament held at Shirk Center and Illinois State’s Horton Field House.
“I think maybe Jason’s favorite day of the year is when he gets to play basketball with his friends and Titan basketball players come to it,” said Ben Alsene, an IWU grad in his 42nd season as the men’s basketball public address announcer. “If he scores, they cheer loudly and he runs to the other end with his thumb up, giving them the thumbs up.”
Trey Bazzell enjoys such moments. The IWU senior guard said Alsene also points to the Titans from under the basket after scoring.
“He makes sure we saw him,” Bazzell said. “We’re always ready to watch him play. With how much he likes to watch us play, when he plays we want to show up and support him.”
Williams called it “a blessing to be able to repay that favor to him because he’s at every one of our games, literally.”
“He’s family, and that’s what you do with family,” Williams said.
Alsene sends text messages to the Titans after games (he has all their numbers). Following victories, his message reads, “Good job. Big win.”
When he sent a text thanking them for attending his Special Olympics games, IWU senior center Harrison Wilmsen replied, “Good job Jason. Big win.”
Alsene wears No. 12 on his Special Olympics team in honor of Titan senior Nick Roper. He had his best friend on the team choose Wilmsen’s No. 20.
That’s how much he cherishes the Titans’ seniors of Roper, Wilmsen, Williams, Bazzell, Marko Anderson and Shane Miller.
“Those six guys are really special,” Ben Alsene said. “All six of them, I can think of a very special thing they have done for Jason.
“His life is Illinois Wesleyan basketball. Jason would give up a lot of things before he would give up Illinois Wesleyan basketball.”
A case could be made it’s in his blood. His grandfather and Ben’s father, Ed Alsene, was IWU’s first sports information director from 1965 to 1988.
Ben’s first memory of an IWU athletic event was a football win over Illinois State in 1965. His father went to every football and basketball game in those days, so on Saturdays, “That’s what our family did,” Ben said.
“You packed the car and Mom packed a lunch and we drove to Elmhurst and Kenosha and wherever,” he added. “Illinois Wesleyan in general and Illinois Wesleyan athletics have just always been part of our lives. It’s extended down from Dad in 1965 to still today with, in particular, Jason.”
Jason’s connection with Titan basketball began in earnest in 2006, when seniors Steve Schweer, Adam Dauksas, Keelan Amelianovich, Jason Fisher, Matt Arnold and twins Chris and Cory Jones embraced him as part of the team.
Dauksas, a star guard, later shared this with Ben Alsene:
“He said he and Schweer and the two Joneses, before they went into the gym every day, they would get in a circle and say, ‘You know, Jason would give anything to play in this game today. So let’s not take for granted our opportunity to play in this game.'"
The bond with the program grew from there. Former Titan Alex O’Neill said following his senior year, “I’m a better person because I know Jason Alsene.” Another, John Koschnitzky, said, “The great thing about Jason is he loves us all unconditionally. It doesn’t matter whether we missed all our shots, made all our shots or didn’t play.”
Three years ago, senior Pete Lambesis said, “Jase, even though I won’t be a player next year, can I still have Tuesdays at 8:30 (to talk by phone)?”
It’s enough to make parents proud, and Tammy and Ben Alsene are. Their son had a checkup recently and the Melody Valve placed in his heart 10 years ago is still functioning well.
Partial Grand Mal seizures are the primary day-to-day concern, but with new medication those have decreased from roughly 300 per year to about 100 last year.
Rose, in his 19th season, calls him “one of a kind” and insists the Titans get more from their relationship than Jason.
“That’s wonderful to hear, but there’s no way they’re getting more,” Ben Alsene said. “It’s Jason’s reason for living.”
