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30 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 3 f Garland and Bob Purkisher," Schell- hase said. "Had the NBA been 30-plus teams as it is today, Garland would have been a pro. And Purkhiser could really shoot it." As fate would have it, Garland and Purkhiser both enjoyed successful ca- reers playing overseas. Unfortunately, however, both died in 1982: Garland of cancer and Purkhiser in an auto acci- dent. "It was tragic that both of those guys died so young," Schellhase said. "They were good friends of mine." Schellhase believed the experience with King in King's first season at Pur- due really helped launch his desire to coach. So did his relationship with George King's assistant Bob King (no relation). But Eddy advised Schellhase against going into coaching. Schell- hase earned a degree in industrial management while becoming the Boilermakers' first bas- ketball Academic All-American. Schellhase witnessed George King's desire and ability to recruit. King knew he had to upgrade the talent, and spent a lot of time doing it, and the process really shaped him as a coach, becoming his trademark. It also had an effect on Schellhase. "I think they spent half of my senior year trying to re- cruit Rick Mount to Purdue," said Schellhase with a chuck- le. "But it worked and before long we were playing in the Final Four and filling up our new arena." Yet, when Schellhase's pro career was cut short in Chicago, he didn't turn immediately to coaching. He had a short stint as a commodities trader before returning to Purdue as a graduate assistant. "I didn't like the lifestyle of the commodities business, which was too much fast living," Schellhase said. "I figured out what I wanted to do was coach basketball." While he ended his fledgling career in commodities, he stayed true to his hard-charging roots when it came to being part of the world of basketball. He returned to Purdue and passed an incredible 40 credit hours in one calendar year, earning his teaching and coaching degree. He eventually earned a Master's degree in physical education from Purdue in 1972, all the while helping out King and freshman coach Dave Toney as an assistant on the freshman basketball team. And it didn't take long for Schell- hase to have an impact on his players. "We called it the 'Schelly smile,' " recalled Randy Shields, who was a for- ward on the freshman team in 1970- 71, two years before freshman became eligible for varsity competition, and played for Schellhase. "When you got into shooting contests or drills, he would give you that look with a grin, and you knew you were in trouble. "He played to win and he instilled a work ethic in us that was pure Boilermaker. He was proud to be part of the Purdue program and he made us feel that way too." Once into coaching, Schellhase was eager to become a head coach at the college level. It happened relatively quickly. After spending one season as an assistant at North Dakota State in Fargo, N.D., a head coaching opportunity came up at Moorhead State just across the Red River in Minnesota. Schellhase jumped at the opportunity. He coached Moorhead to a couple of championships and parlayed those winnings into an opportunity as the head coach at Indiana State in 1982. He was excited to be re- turning to his home state but knew that restoring the Sycamores to the Final Four level of success they had enjoyed three years earlier with Larry Bird was a huge challenge. "I learned quickly that Indiana State was in the wrong league," Schellhase said. "The talent we had when Bird was here was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. We couldn't compete with the likes of teams in the Missouri Valley THE SCHELLHASE FILE S Two-time All-American (1965, 1966) S National scoring champion (32.5 ppg) S Academic All-American (1965) S Three-time All-Big Ten and Team MVP (1964-66) S First-round NBA draft pick (1966) Purdue Schellhase led the charge of Boilermak- er student-athletes to make it to Purdue from Evansville, a group that includes Bob Griese, baseball standout Terry Wedgewood and football standout Steve Nurrenburn.