It’s been more than 50 years since Illinois State basketball legend Doug Collins spent his days practicing in the North Gym at Horton Field House, but one memory in particular became a life lesson for the man who would go on to become an All-American and — ultimately — a basketball Hall of Famer.
Collins recalls coach Will Robinson’s daily ritual of ordering his players to run 50 laps around the court of ISU’s practice facility before that day’s lesson from the coach. One day, Robinson didn’t watch the players run laps, but appeared later and asked how many players didn’t run around each of the chairs positioned on the four corners of the court.
With players heads sunken, the coach explained that day’s lesson was about shortcuts in life.
“He said, ‘Practice is over because if you are going to cut corners like that, we’re going to get beat in the most difficult times. I just want you to remember there’s no shortcuts in life.’”
“That has stood with me forever. ... I’ve never cut a corner in anything I’ve done,” Collins said during a virtual interview with media.
That gym will now be forever linked to Collins.
ISU has announced it’s been renamed the Doug and Kathy Collins Gymnasium. ISU’s athletic leadership office in CEFCU Arena also will be renamed The Doug and Kathy Collins Athletics Leadership Suite in honor the legendary basketball player, coach and broadcaster, and his wife whom he met 53 years ago at ISU.
ISU’s board of trustees approved the name changes during its meeting on Friday.
ISU Athletics said the name changes come in conjunction with an investment into the Redbird men’s basketball program; it did not disclose the investment.
For his part Collins, tried to separate the financial giving from the naming dedications.
“I don’t want there to be any misconceptions about how this came to be. This was not predicated on the gift that we gave the school,” he said. “We just want to make sure that it’s not like we are paying to get things named after us.”
In February, ISU approved the naming the North Gym court The Lynch Family Court.
How they met
Collins said he and Kathy became friends when he drove her to her boyfriend’s football games while they were attending ISU. He said after Kathy and the boyfriend broke up, he told the ex-boyfriend he would ask her out after the basketball season if they didn’t get back together.
Collins said he ran into Kathy leaving Watterson Towers the day after he set a school scoring record. “I’d been out that night celebrating with my buddies so as I was going in and she was leaving. I said, ‘We’re getting ready to go play volleyball. Do you want to go play volleyball? She goes, ‘Yeah.’ We’ve been together ever since.”
Kathy confirmed the story and added her town detail.
“We were very much friends first,” she said. “When I saw him [the day after setting the record] I ran over the hugged him and said, ‘Congratulations.’
“You should never have hugged me,” he responded with a quip. “She should never have done that.”
North Gym
Collins said the North Gym, the only place where the Redbirds practiced at the time, was a “sanctuary” for him.
“It’s where I could go and I could always find a peaceful place regarding what was going on in my life,” he said.
The gym also was transformative in his physical development, as he grew 3-4 inches and added 20 pounds during his freshman year.
“My whole life changed,” he said.
Collins said he still makes regular visits to the gym to watch the men’s basketball team practice and to build and maintain relationships with student-athletes.
“You get so nervous, is that guy even going to be on our team next year. Is somebody going to come in and take them through the [transfer] portal and give them extra money and everything. That’s why I think relationships really matter," he said.
College system 'broken'
Collins thinks the college athletics model is “broken,” and that players should not be allowed more than one transfer without being required to sit out a year. The NCAA relaxed transfer rules last year on the heels of litigation that transfer restrictions violated anti-trust rules.
Collins said he still follows the game closely and doesn’t want to be thought of as a “crabby, crotchety old guy,” but feels allowing unlimited transfers is bad for the game, especially for mid-major programs like ISU.
“I think we rushed into it without any guardrails. And once you get something in, it’s hard to change it,” he said, adding he understands student-athletes’ desires wanting to switch schools after watching their coaches change jobs — often with few consequences.
“I don’t think it’s a good look when a coach has a 4- or 5-year deal and he gets an extension and he leaves. Of course, the players should have the opportunity to do that as well,” he said, adding coaches will need to adapt or get out.
“If you’re going to try to fight the system, it’s not going to work,” said Collins, the most decorated athlete in ISU history. The Olympian and three-time All-American still holds several program records, including career and single-season scoring.
Collins said he hopes the new recognitions [the court at CEFCU Arena also is named after him], don’t cause anyone fatigue over hearing their names.
“I want it to be that people don’t get tired of hearing our names, that we’re just excited every time we get a chance to come down to school, that we are just at home,” he said.
