Covenant News

1979 Team: Where are they now?

(June 6, 2003) - A listing of varsity and junior varsity players, coaches and staff from the 1978-79 North Park men's basketball program, which won its second straight NCAA Division title.:

• Rus Bradburd, a junior varsity player in 1978 and a reserve on the 1979 title team, now coaches the Tralee Tigers in a professional basketball league in Ireland. He had previously coached at New Mexico State University and the University of Texas El Paso and had been a basketball scout for a time. A physical education major in college, he recently earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from New Mexico State and has become a fiction writer as well.
• Jim Boures, a reserve on the 1979 team, could not be reached. His whereabouts are unknown.
• Jim Clausen, a reserve on the first title team, became a starting forward and an Academic All-America player at the school before graduating in 1981. He lives in Minneapolis and attends Bethlehem Covenant Church. A sales engineer in the audio/visual industry, he and his wife, Lynette, have three children.
• Wally Coots, a graduate assistant coach for North Park's 1978-79 championship teams, served as a longtime Covenant youth pastor before recently moving to Kenya, where he teaches at an international school and a bible college under the auspices of Africa Inland Mission. He and his wife, Donna, have two children.
• Bosko Djurickovic, an assistant coach for the 1978-80 national championship teams at North Park, eventually served as head coach of the Vikings and won national titles in 1985 and 1987. He is now the head basketball coach at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Carthage finished third in last season's Division III national championships. He and his wife, Rebecca, have three children and live in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
• Andy Farrissey, a reserve on the 1979 national title team at North Park, is a physical education teacher and a track and field and football coach at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire. A resident of Lake in the Hills, Illinois, he and his wife, Laura, have two children.
• Keith French was the sixth man for North Park's 1979-80 title teams and was eventually drafted by the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association after his senior year. He left the school with a nursing degree and served in that profession for five years. He now works for Merck and Company, serving in marketing for the company's sales headquarters in Philadelphia. He lives in Audubon, Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Carol, have three children.
• Grant Grastorf, a starter on North Park's 1979 and 1980 title teams, currently works in sales for an electronics company in Hoffman Estates. He lives in Naperville. He and wife Ann have four children.
• Gregg Gierke, a reserve for North Park's 1978-80 title teams, served as an assistant coach for the 1981 squad before graduating from North Park. He now coaches at Florida Community College in Jacksonville, Florida. He and his wife, Jeanne, have three children and live in Jacksonville.
• Modzel "Bud" Greer, a star forward on North Park's 1978-80 championship teams, played professional basketball in Europe for a time and now coaches in Holland. Once drafted by the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association, he was one of the better players in Holland during the 1990s, starting in Haarlem from 1991-96, according to eurobasket.com records. Greer may have been best known in Europe for his performance with the RICOH Astronauts in Amsterdam (also known as Finish Profiles Amsterdam), helping his team make the league finals in 1995-96 and win the league title in 1996-97. According to team records, Greer's basket during the waning moments of the final game helped the Astronauts beat perennial power Den Bosch. Greer finished his playing career with a team in Amsterdam in 1998-99. He later became an assistant coach with the NTNT Haaglanden Tornados and briefly served as the team's head coach before the team folded due to financial troubles.
• Scott Groot was a reserve guard for the 1979 and 1980 title teams and a starter on NCAA playoff teams in 1981 and 1982. He also played football and baseball at the school before graduating. A former All-Conference quarterback at North Park, Groot currently serves as sales manager at Allstate Insurance, based in North Carolina. He and his wife, Karen, have three children.
• Michael Harper, an All-America center with North Park's 1978-80 title teams, now owns a State Farm Agency in Portland, Oregon. After playing with the Portland Trailblazers of the National Basketball Association, he began working for the team in community relations. Harper has played for a Trailblazer alumni team for many years and has continued his community work, serving the Arthritis Foundation of Oregon and his local Rotary Club, among other places. Married to wife, Lisa, Harper is the father of three children. They reside in West Linn, Oregon.
• Tom Leiding, a manager during the 1979 season, now serves as vice president for Transilwrap, a plastic manufacturer. He lives in Barrington, Illinois, with his wife, Toni, and three children.
• Dennis Mahone, a reserve on the 1979 title team, is living in Maywood, Illinois, his hometown.
• Mike Martin, a reserve on the 1979 title team, could not be reached. His whereabouts are unknown.
• Dan McCarrell coached the Vikings to the school's first three Division III national titles. A 1961 graduate of North Park, he eventually coached 17 years at the school. During the 1978-80 national title years, his teams were a combined 83-10. After leaving Chicago, McCarrell spent 17 years as coach for Minnesota State University of Mankato before retiring. He won 579 games during his college coaching career. He currently lives in Mankato and attends the North Mankato Covenant Church with his wife, JoAnne.
• Brian McCaskey was a trainer for North Park during the team's 1979 championship. A 1982 graduate of North Park, he is currently director of business development for the Chicago Bears professional football team. He and his wife, Barbara, have two children and live in Island Lake, Illinois.
• Bill Murphy, a reserve for North Park's 1979 and 1980 title teams, lives in Evanston, Illinois.
• Jerry Noreen, a reserve on North Park's title teams in 1978-79, works for a cable company headquartered in the Twin Cities. He and his wife, Karen, have two children. They live in Minneapolis.
• Tim Naughton, a trainer for the 1979-80 title teams, became an All-Conference baseball player at North Park and helped the Vikings win a conference title. He lives in the Chicago area, according to classmates.
• Dennis Prikkel was the Director of Sports Information at North Park for the school's five national championships. He now works for the Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Foundation. He and his wife, Christy, have two children and attend Northwest Covenant Church in Mount Prospect.
• Mike Sexton, a junior varsity player in 1978 and a varsity reserve in 1979, now lives in Rolling Meadows with his wife and six children. He works in a family business.
• Michael Thomas, the point guard for North Park's 1978-80 title teams and MVP of the 1980 Final Four, became the Vikings' career scoring, steals and assists leader before graduating in 1981. He entered the military after being cut from the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association. He currently serves in Fort Riley, Kansas, having played for All-Army basketball teams for part of his 20-year career. He and his wife, Lisa, live in Junction City, Kansas.
• George Touras, a reserve during North Park's 1979 and 1980 championship seasons, is executive vice president for Equity Properties & Development, LLC in Chicago. He lives in Lincolnwood with his wife, Lynn.
• John Wojdyla, a team manager during the 1978-80 seasons, currently lives in Chicago and sells export and import freight for a local company.

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