BELOIT — Beloiter Mike Vance confirmed some sad news coming from St. Ann, Missouri, a small city located near St. Louis.
James Lindsey had passed away there on Jan. 2 at the age of 73.
“In his last month, we talked on the phone every day,” Vance said. “We were best friends since kindergarten. But then I kept calling and he wasn’t picking up. I called his daughter Asia to ask if anything was wrong. She went to his home. He’d had another stroke and she called hospice. I never talked to him again.
“I’m still dealing with that.”
No less an authority than Beloit’s favorite son, Jim Caldwell, once referred to Lindsey as the city’s best-ever basketball player.
Vance agrees.
“I’m a little biased because he was my best friend, but I think he was the best,” Vance said. “I heard Jim (Caldwell) once asked Bernie Barkin who the best player he ever coached was and he said it was Jim Lindsey.”
Lindsey was a quick-as-lightning 5-foot-11 All-State guard for Barkin’s state runnerup Beloit Memorial team in 1967-68.
Hall of Fame head basketball coach Ken Anderson at UW-Eau Claire recruited amazing athletes such as Mike Ratliff, Frank Schade and Beloit’s own Tony Carr. But of all his recruits over a 27-year-career, Anderson said his most important may well have been Lindsey.
“Lindsey was perhaps the greatest athlete I ever recruited because he was responsible for starting everything that happened here,” Anderson said in an interview for an article on the former Knight in 2016, the year he was inducted into the Beloit Historical Society Elliott-Perring Sports Hall of Fame. “You ask the other players from that team that put us on the map — Tom Jackson, Mike Ratliff, Duke Nash. They all came because James came here. He was the catalyst to get that group that went 93-14 over four years.”
Lindsey appreciated Anderson’s recognition.
“I was the first (recruit) to announce I was going there and I think Coach Anderson used that,” he said in 2016.
When Anderson brought recruits on campus, Lindsey said he scrimmaged with them and helped lure them to Eau Claire.
He is likely one of the most underappreciated athletes in Beloit basketball history because he playing on one of its most overlooked teams. The 1968 team finished state runnerup with many of the players who would win it all the following season thanks to Lamont Weaver’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the State.”
Otha Williams played on that team, with the likes of Weaver, Bruce Brown, Chuck Loft and Dave Kilgore. He saw Gary Hubka, Bill Hanzlik, Carr, Kyle Weaver and all the superb players who came later. He also believes Lindsey ranks No. 1.
“We lived on the same street and both went to Merrill School,” he said. “He’s certainly one of the top five players in Beloit and I think he may be the best all-around player. He was cat-quick. The two fastest players I ever saw were Lindsey and Jerry Kenney.”
Williams said Lindsey helped build Barkin’s program.
“I really think James helped change Bernie’s fortunes at Beloit,” Williams said. “James got the younger guys coming to the open gyms. He had that kind of influence. I always thought of him as the glue that helped keep things together. His stats in high school and college bore that out.”
Opponents appreciated his skill as well.
After Beloit pounded Barneveld in a 1968 regional final, 92-57, opposing coach Gerald Zabloski said, “We think Beloit has the horses to go all the way to the state championship. Jim Lindsey has to be the greatest player in the state. He really did a job on us. How can you stop that kid?”
Beloit knocked off Iowa-Grant (60-49) and Madison East (80-56) in the sectionals to head to the state tournament for the first time since 1963. Lindsey had a team-high 16 points in a 60-54 win over Brookfield East. A 72-60 win over Kimberly put the Knights into the finals against Manitowoc. The Knights led 29-26 at halftime, but their shooting fell off in the second half of a 63-51 loss.
“When I went to Eau Claire my first roommate was a starting guard off that Manitowoc team that beat us,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey was a unanimous selection to the all-tournament team, with teammate Bob Polglaze joining him on the First Team. The duo cleaned up at the school’s awards banquet that spring. Polglaze received the Reichstein Award as the top senior athlete while Lindsey came away with the rest of the honors. He received the “W” Club medal, the Daily News Prep of the Year Trophy, the Big Eight Conference Senior of the Year trophy and Associated Press and UPI All-State basketball certificates.
Lindsey was never shy about working hard.
“In the summer I’d go to the playground in the morning and do everything left-handed on the court,” he said. “In the afternoon I’d do everything right-handed. At night, I’d use both. I played three times a day. On Saturdays, (Beloit College Coach) Bill Knapton would let me go over to the field house and play in games there. I really appreciated that experience.”
At Eau Claire, Lindsey averaged 20 points for an-all freshmen starting lineup, earning all-conference honors. After picking up transfer Schade the following year, Lindsey’s role changed from scorer to playmaker and his assist total jumped from 45 to 136.
“Not every player can change their role like that,” Anderson said. “He came in as a top scorer, but our personnel changed so he became the best playmaker in the conference. He made everyone around him better.”
Lindsey’s sophomore year the Blugolds went 24-2. That was followed by 26-2 and 29-2. From 1969-72 the Blugolds went 47-1 in the Wisconsin State University Conference and won three consecutive league titles. They also qualified for the 32-team NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City three straight years.
Eau Claire lost in the second round in 1970, the quarterfinals in 1971 and reached the title game in 1972. In both 1970 and 1972, the Blugolds lost to Kentucky State, which won three straight national titles behind 7-foot Elmore Smith and Travis Grant, both future NBA players.
Lindsey ended up scoring 1,012 career points at UW-EC, dishing out 470 assists and grabbing over 400 rebounds.
He was an obvious selection to the Beloit Sports Hall of Fame. Due to health issues, he was unable to appear at the 2016 induction ceremony. Vance said he had offered to visit him recently. Lindsey told him not to come.
“Jim had experienced a number of health problems and the bottom line was that he didn’t want to be remembered like that,” Vance said.
The Hall of Famer preferred people remember him as that speedy jumping jack leading the Purple Knights and Blugolds to victory. That legend is timeless. RIP Mr. Lindsey.
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