For over 25 years, staff and faculty from Taylor University, along with the occasional student or community member, have met on Wednesday and Friday mornings to play basketball together.
While some of the faces have changed over the years, it has been a constant for many members.
Skip Trudeau, vice president for student development and intercollegiate athletics, has been a consistent member since he arrived at Taylor in 2000.
“There was a group of guys, all Taylor employees, and … we would play instead of having lunch,” Trudeau said.
After about ten years of playing at noon during the day, Trudeau proposed an alternative. They would meet at 6:00 a.m. and play until 7:00 a.m.
He proposed this because it would take him about an hour to cool down from playing basketball. So with the early mornings, he and the rest of the players get a chance to shower and get ready for the day.
For Trudeau, the reason he continues to play, outside of his love of basketball, is to spend time with people from all areas of campus that he normally would not get to be with.
“It's a great exercise, great fellowship and we have a blast,” Trudeau said.
While Trudeau has been consistent for years, he is just now returning from having a stress fracture in his foot, which had prevented him from being on the court for about five months.
There have been many people throughout the years who have helped spread the word about early-morning basketball.
Mark Lora, senior director of strategic analytics and insights, has taken over the role of the emailer. He sends an email the night before each meet to see if they can get at least eight players.
Lora has been at Taylor since 2015, and playing basketball with his friends has been one of the many things he looks forward to throughout his week
“It's a wonderful quality of life and an activity at a small college to be able to have pick-up basketball,” Lora said.
One thing that keeps Lora playing is the enjoyment he finds in creating friendships while being active.
One of the many friendships Lora has created through basketball is with Scott Barrett, coordinator of accessibility and disability resources.
“It's because we're both tall and have to guard each other, because no one else is tall in this group. So we have guarded each other for nine straight years, two days a week, 40 weeks a year,” Lora said, “And those are hours that we spend together and we're laughing while we’re playing.”
Barrett started working at Taylor nine years ago and knew there were basketball groups at other universities.
He was still surprised by how quickly he started playing here, however.
“When I came here, a friend played and actually took me here to play basketball the first morning I worked at Taylor, and ever since then, I've been joining the group when I can on Wednesdays and Fridays,” Barrett said.
Barrett believes sports are a universal language and is thankful for his opportunity to form friendships on the basketball court.
He looks forward to being able to meet and connect with more people through basketball.
“Being able to have fun and be in a relationship with people while you're doing something, I think grows those connections, and so it's a good chance to connect with people,” Barrett said
All the players hope that if anyone wants to join them on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6:00 a.m. at the KSAC they feel welcomed and invited.
