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Bagley a study in determination
By Peter May, Globe Staff, 07/24/98
The basic marketing summer school course at Boston College was only a few sessions old
last month when the e-mails starting flowing to professor Nick Nugent.
The student in the front row, the one with the beard sprinkled with gray specks, looked
familiar to many in the class of 46. Nugent got a chuckle as he read one e-mail that cut right to
the point: ''Is it Bags or not?''
It was.
As a basketball player at Boston College and in the NBA, John Bagley was impossible to
ignore for a variety of reasons, ranging from height (small) to weight (large) to ability
(plenty). He's no less noticeable now, back at BC in search of his undergraduate degree after
a 16-year hiatus. Nugent, a longtime Celtics fan, and many of the 3,484 students enrolled in
BC's summer school recognized him instantly.
Bagley left Boston College in 1982 after his junior year, 12 courses shy of a sociology
degree. He'll complete three courses this summer and hopes to have his degree by this time
next year. He is living in Hyde Park with his sister Patricia, a third-grade teacher in the
Boston school system, and his nephew Samir. He has left his two children, their mother, and
his life running a printing business in Elgin, Ill., to come back and finish what he began as a
recruit out of Bridgeport, Conn., in 1980.
''To me, if I was going to go back to school, this is where I wanted to go,'' he said. ''It's all
right here. It's to be done.''
Bagley is following in the footsteps of BC teammate Jay Murphy and Bruin Steve Heinze,
both of whom picked up their degrees in May. ''I'm really jealous of Jay,'' Bagley said.
''He's at the end. That's where I want to be.''
Bagley, 38, deliberately reentered academia at a slow pace, recognizing it would take him a
while to get reacquainted.
''He had been out of the system for a while, and you could sense that early on,'' Nugent
said. ''He was a little shaky on the midterm, but he ended up getting an A-minus. It was a
pleasure to have him in my class. He has a real good sense for the way business works.''
Bagley said the adjustment has been eased by the lack of distractions, be they business,
family, or basketball. He is a student with a capital S. While he does hang out at the gym to
talk to the coaches and players, he understands why he is here.
''I have an opportunity to come back and I can really put in the time I'd like to put into it,''
Bagley said. ''Being back opens up many worlds. I think of biology, chemistry, and math,
areas I excelled in coming into college. I've always had an interest in that. When you come
back, you realize the more information you get, the better you can be of service.''
Asked if it was harder for him this time around, he said, ''Some things are. But not
everything. Having the enthusiasm is not hard. When I find myself in the library researching
stuff, there's a newfound excitement, kind of a rejuvenation. I'm truly excited. The only
thing I find [hard] is that you only have so many classes, so many hours, so it's pretty
intense. You try to make everything fit, and it gets a little challenging at times.''
While at BC the first time around, Bagley said he was a committed student who nonetheless
realized after his sophomore year that he was destined for the NBA. ''I knew things were
going to happen [in basketball] and I really began to push myself in that area,'' he said. He
was named the Big East Player of the Year in 1981 and led the Eagles in scoring in each of
his three seasons. He came out early and was taken 12th overall by Cleveland.
Over the next 12 years, Bagley played 665 games for the Cavaliers, Nets, Celtics, and
Hawks. But he never made it back to BC in the offseason to take a course or two. ''My book
was filled every summer with things to do for youth,'' he said, mentioning a foundation in
Bridgeport and the Bagley Bunch in New Jersey, which helped kids in the inner city. He
hasn't been in the league since a cameo (13 minutes over three games) for Atlanta in
December 1993.
The NBA encourages all its players to go back to school to get their degrees. The league has a
program, run by Northeastern's Center for the Study of Sport in Society, which helps roster
players continue their schoolwork during the season. Last season, according to center director
Richard Lapchick, there were 101 roster players in the program.
Bagley's objective is still to coach, although he understands that won't happen until, or
possibly unless, he does get a degree. Two years ago, Quinnipiac College in Hamden,
Conn., announced it was going Division 1. Bagley talked to the school's athletic director,
former BC track coach Jack McDonald, about taking over the basketball program. Bagley
said the message he got from McDonald was that a degree was a prerequisite.
''I understand that,'' Bagley said. ''You're dealing with young men, and institutions want to
make sure you set an example, be a role model.''
McDonald recalled advising Bagley to get his degree but added that not having one wouldn't
eliminate him as a candidate. Quinnipiac eventually hired Joe DeSantis, who had been a Big
East assistant at St. John's and Pittsburgh.
''In our business, you're as much an educator as a coach, so it's helpful to have a degree,''
McDonald said. ''But John also didn't have any experience in Division 1, and I think that
was more the reason.''
While preferring to coach at the collegiate level, Bagley nevertheless made calls to former
teammates Kevin McHale (Minnesota) and Larry Bird (Indiana) to inquire about coaching
possibilities with the Timberwolves and Pacers. He called Golden State general manager
Garry St. Jean, who was with Bagley in New Jersey. Nothing materialized.
He also called Rick Pitino to inquire about the recently filled assistant's opening with the
Celtics.
''I could think of no other team that I would want to be involved with. It would have been
super,'' Bagley said of the Celtics, with whom he spent four up-and-down seasons. ''I was
discouraged a little at first. I really felt like I was the type of person a coach would love to
have.''
Frank Catapano, Bagley's longtime agent, said his client was one of the smartest people he
has ever represented and would be a strong coaching candidate. ''As a player, he combined
the physical and the intellectual,'' Catapano said. ''Most guys have one or the other.''
Bagley's game plan is to help the BC basketball program this season, absorbing what he can
from the coaches while imparting what he knows to the players. It sounds like the ideal
trade-off, and it's one he will gladly make before and after he hits the books.
That still comes first.
This story ran on page E01 of the Boston Globe on 07/24/98.
© Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company.