In honor of the Olympics, here’s a bit of history and a reflection of my personal interest in documenting the “essence of champions” of Terry Connor, the athletic director at Thomas More College. This is part of a series I’ve been writing for 10 years.
March 2016
It came the week before the NCAA Division III women’s basketball tournament weekend, held at the Connor Convocation Center, featuring TMU’s undefeated team.
Judy Harris
Arriving on campus early, I expected to find athletic director Terry Connor in his tracksuit, completing a personal workout before the official day began. But on this day, Terry’s only training equipment consisted of a broom and dustpan sweeping lint, dust, and debris from the rows of bleachers. From afar, the stands looked fine.
Another coach called out from the banister, happy to help. Terry said he was almost done and thanked him. As Terry approached the last steps of the last section, I noticed him swaying on his feet and holding the phone to his ear. Something was wrong. A repairman arrived within minutes.
Terry’s clean-up had multiple purposes, gradually checking the condition of the area to ensure safety and cleanliness standards for the many fans who would fill the venue that weekend.
Summer 2024
Last week, the TMU Men’s Basketball coaching staff, Head Coach Justin Ray and Associate Coach Spencer Berlekamp hosted a four-day basketball camp for young aspiring basketball players. Members of our Men’s Basketball team assisted in the camp. It was a very fun week, well planned and executed down to the last detail. We hope you had a very relaxing weekend.
Terry Conner of TMU
When I stopped by the campus on Saturday, there was something going on in the gym: 14 local high school boys basketball teams were playing a dual game.
The steps were cleared and the gym floor was lined with 40 folding chairs arranged back-to-back down the middle to serve as team benches. TMU players filled several roles at the umpire’s table, and coaches Ray and Berlekamp operated the scoring machine.
Once the game was over, the TMU coaches were as polite as ever and enjoyed chatting with the local coaches as everyone but our two coaches headed home.
The job at hand was to dismantle the previous set-up, with Berlekamp loading the chairs, one by one, onto the empty racks and rolling up all the carpeted floor mats.
Coach Ray was taking care of the umpires’ tables and equipment.
An indoor track is also planned, where families could watch the games.
A relaxing weekend? They had goals and work to do.
• • • •
At Thomas More, the essence of a champion isn’t only evident when we collect trophies and rings at the end of the season — it’s seen every day in our coaches’ personal and professional commitment to their sport, their student-athletes and to supporting each other.
The best thing about the TMU team is the entire coaching staff.
The leadership of Terry Conner, Jeff Hetzer and Lindsay Egan shows how it’s done.
Judy Harris is a longtime elementary and college teacher well established in Northern Kentucky. A graduate of Thomas More College, she began her career there in 1980 and played a key role in teacher education, introducing students to domestic and international travel experiences. She has traveled and studied extensively abroad. She enjoys retirement but keeps in daily contact with her college students.
