Dennie Bridges To Announce Retirement as IWU Head Coach
by Bob Quillman, 3/28/01
After 667 victories, 17 CCIW championships, 3 trips to the NCAA Division 3 Final Four, and 1 national championship, Illinois Wesleyan head basketball coach Dennie Bridges is stepping down. He will make the official announcement today at an 11:30am press conference at the Shirk Center.
Over a brilliant 36 year coaching career at his alma mater, Bridges compiled a 667-319 (.676) overall record, including an amazing 421-129 (.765) in the CCIW. His final game was a 76-73 comeback victory over Ohio Northern in the Division 3 Final Four consolation game in Salem, Virginia on March 17.
Bridges, a native of Anchor, Il. (25 miles east of Bloomington) attended Illinois Wesleyan from 1957 to 1961. At IWU he was a four-year letterman and starter in basketball and baseball and a three-year football letterman (and all conference quarterback). Bridges was a two-year captain on the basketball team and was voted most valuable player and all-conference his senior season. After graduation in 1961 he coached at Plainfield High School for 4 years before taking over as head coach of the Titans in 1965, replacing legendary coach Jack Horenberger.
A tremendous recruiter, Bridges' biggest catch came in 1973 when he lured St. Anne H.S. product Jack Sikma to Wesleyan. Sikma had scholarship offers from Bradley, DePaul, Kansas, Purdue, and Illinois, among other Division 1 schools. The 6'11 center led the Titans to conference championships in 1975, 1976, and 1977. He is the all-time leading scorer (2272 points) and rebounder (1405) in school history. Sikma was the 8th overall pick in the '77 NBA draft and started on Seattle's 1979 NBA championship team.
Other CCIW "Most Outstanding Player" winners coached by Bridges include Tom Gramkow (1970), Greg Yess (1982), Blaise Bugajski (1984), Jeff Kuehl (1989), David Caldwell (1991), John Lipic (1994), Chris Simich (1995), Bryan Crabtree (1997), Brent Niebrugge (1998), and Korey Coon (1999, 2000).
On the heels of his 1995-96 team's Division III 3rd place tournament finish, the best finish ever for an IWU team in a national playoff, the 1996-97 team won the national title and finished with a 29-2 record, the best since the 1935-36 team was 20-0. IWU has played in the NCAA tournament 14 times in 18 years of association with the NCAA. Bridges coached Illinois Wesleyan teams into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national tourney seven times, before moving to the NCAA in 1983.
Bridges 421 CCIW wins is the most in conference history. Jim Borcherding of Augustana (1970-1984) is second, some 233 victories behind, 188. With Bridges retirement, the winningest active coach in the CCIW is now Bosko Djurickovic with 160 wins. To eclipse Bridges' total, it would take Djurickovic almost 19 consecutive undefeated (14-0) CCIW seasons.
Bridges and his wife, Rita, have three grown children, all former IWU student-athletes. Angela Romani '85, a four-year regular in tennis, and her husband, Tim, live in Denver, Colo., with their two children - Alyssa (born in January 1990) and Carly (May 1992). Steve '86, a four-year baseball and football letterman, was a second-team Academic All-American in football once and a third-team selection in baseball twice. With a law degree from the University of Illinois, he is the director of business development for Ignite Sports Media in Chicago. Eric '87, a four-year basketball regular, has an MBA degree from the University of Iowa, and is employed in Bloomington by State Farm Insurance. Eric and his wife, April, are the parents of two children.
Between Bridges and his predecessor, Jack Horenberger, Illinois Wesleyan has had just two coaches in the last 57 years.
Bridges will continue to serve as Illinois Wesleyan's Athletic Director. The search for a coaching replacement has already begun.
Recent Sporting News Article Featuring IWU & Coach Bridges