Dale Greenlee still believes in miracles

Here is the Where Are They Now? story I wrote on Dale Greenlee in March 2000 for Jayhawk Insider. We had a great interview. It's always a thrill to talk to one of your childhood heroes, and that's what happened to me on this night. I was so elated and humbled when Dale wrote me a thank-you card about the article after it was published. That meant so much to me! I have his card posted on my wall at home; it serves as daily inspiration. Thank you for your kindness Dale and for sharing your stories and memories with me. I will always be grateful to you for that!

By David Garfield

The miracle game is indelibly etched in Dale Greenlee’s mind.

Greenlee, the former Kansas standout guard, will never forget KU’s stunning comeback overtime win (93-90) against Oral Roberts on March 16, 1974. The victory gave Kansas a berth in the Final Four against Marquette.

KU trailed 77-68 with 4:49 left in regulation before rallying and beating ORU on its home floor (Mabee Center). Greenlee, who finished with 18 points, made a layup and some key free throws to help send the game into overtime.

“Teams just didn’t come back like that,” Greenlee said of the era without a time clock and no three-pointers. “I’d look at (Tom) Kivisto. He’d look at me. We’d look at Roger (Morningstar), and Danny (Knight) and Rick (Suttle) and Norm (Cook). We didn’t feel we were out of the game. We figured we’d do what we had to do to get back in it.”

Destiny was on KU’s side as well. A sign painted on the Mabee Center floor said: “Expect a miracle.”

And KU did all year.

“We pretty much had a season when we’d come back a lot,” said Greenlee, now the branch manager for Simco Controls in Indianapolis, Ind.   

It was a miracle year (KU went 23-7 and won the Big Eight championship) for a team that finished just 8-18 the previous season. The Jayhawks, who had all five returning starters back in 1974, were bolstered with the addition of junior college transfer Roger Morningstar and super frosh Norm Cook.

“It seemed that there was no one player that had a real consistent year (1972-73),” Greenlee said about one of the greatest turnarounds in NCAA history. “I bet coach (Ted Owens) had 20 different lineups trying to find a combination. ... My junior year (73-74), early on in the season we pretty much had a set starting five. We knew who we were.”

KU, which had five people in double figures (Knight led the team at 12.4 ppg), had a strong identity and was a “really tight group. We kind of watched out for each other. Coach once said, ‘We played like brothers.' No one really cared who scored.”

 

Greenlee finished third on the team in scoring at 11.8 and led the team in field goal percentage (49.9). One Big Eight coach actually called him the “league’s best pure shooter.” With Kivisto dishing assists at the point (school-record 18 against Nebraska on Dec. 29, 1973) and Greenlee at shooting guard, the two formed one of the best backcourts in the conference and arguably the smartest tandem in the country.  

Greenlee (a high school valedictorian in a graduating class of 700 at Guilford High School in Rockford, Ill.) and Kivisto were named Academic All-Big Eight that year. 

“I’ve always felt if players are smart, it just makes the game so much better,” Greenlee said. “We’re able to pick up things quicker, run the offense better and change defenses up.”

And then there were those unforgettable off the court memories. Greenlee recalls the time Suttle came late to practice one day. As punishment, the team made Suttle sing his high school song.

“He said, ‘I don’t know it,’ so we said, ‘Pick a song.’ He leaves the room and comes in singing “Hello Dolly.” Here’s Rick, 6’11, and he’s waving a handkerchief like Louis Armstrong. He had us roaring. He always kept you loose.”

Kansas, which lost to Marquette in the Final Four, struggled to find its identity without Kivisto at the beginning of 1974-75. However, KU (19-8) did win its last eight of nine games before losing to Notre Dame, 77-71, in the first round of the Midwest Regional.  

“I’ve not been much of a Notre Dame fan since,” Greenlee said.  “Doherty (Matt, the former KU assistant and current Fighting Irish head coach) is making it tough. We’re almost big Notre Dame fans now. ... I’m almost having to revise my 25 years of hatred.”

After graduating with a business degree in 1975, Greenlee spent a year working at Lawrence Savings before returning to his native Illinois. He’s been employed in industrial distribution since then for three different companies, most recently Simco Controls in Indianapolis, Ind. (his family to Indianapolis in 1990). Greenlee, who loves being involved in the goal-oriented side of sales and management, constantly uses sports analogies to his employees and reflects back to KU’s stunning win against Oral Roberts 26 years ago. 

“You never give up,” he said. “There are always situations that look hopeless, but if you keep working hard, good things will happen.”

A basketball junkie, Greenlee is growing accustomed to living in Big Ten country. His oldest daughter, Mandy, is a cheerleader at Indiana and youngest daughter, Julie, plays soccer at Purdue. In fact, Mandy asked her dad a few years ago if he’d like her to attend Kansas.

“It would have been nice, but distance wise, it’s very nice having both of my girls within an hour and a half of home. It gives my wife and I a chance to go to all of their activities.”

Greenlee’s family is very dear to him. His wife, Linda, is currently battling cancer and “doing fantastic.” Greenlee, who was a tough and fierce competitor at Kansas, calls Linda “probably the strongest person I’ve ever known.”

 “It’s not something, obviously, anybody would choose to do (radiation and chemotherapy), but when you do it, you face it with a positive attitude and just beat it like you would Kansas State or Oral Roberts.”

He adds softly: “We believe in miracles.”

A Closer Look at Dale Greenlee:

Years at KU : 1971-75

Career Notables: Member of 1974 Final Four team....Academic All-Big Eight in 1974 and ‘75...89.6 free throw percentage in ‘74 ranks No. 2 in KU history...No. 3 all-time career free throw percentage leader at 83.2.

Education: B.S. Business Administration, 1975

Family: Wife, Linda; daughters, Mandy, 21 and Julie, 19

Since Leaving KU: Greenlee spent a year working at Lawrence Savings before moving to native Illinois. He’s been employed in industrial distribution for three companies, most recently Simco Controls in Indianapolis. His family moved to Indiana in 1990.

Currently: Greenlee is branch manager for Simco Controls.

Hobbies: Basketball and golf.

Favorite KU memories:  “Beating K-State for the conference championship two years in a row (1974 and ‘75).”...Going to the Final Four in 1974: “We were thrilled to be there.”...Playing against legendary coaches like John Wooden, Bobby Knight and Adolph Rupp.

On the Jayhawks Today: “Roy Williams has done a fantastic job. ... KU graduates their players; it’s a quality program. There’s probably five major colleges that have that type of tradition.”