May 1, 2006
During their pitching careers at Illinois State, Steve Hecker (1999-01) and Kyle Zaleski (2001-04) were known as winners on the mound. So it's a bit ironic to suggest that their biggest `victories' at Illinois State came years after they threw their final pitches as Redbirds. But it would be accurate ... because Hecker and Zaleski get the biggest wins of their lives this month, as they receive their Illinois State bachelor's degrees.
Hecker and Zaleski each departed Illinois State after their eligibility ended to follow a dream of being a professional baseball player. In 2005, each recognized the need to return to Illinois State and fulfill that other dream--a college degree. However, having earned the miniscule salaries historically paid to minor league ballplayers, neither had the funds to return to school.
That's where Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance and Certification Cindy Harris came in. She heard from Hecker first, and offered him the opportunity to apply to the NCAA Division I Degree-Completion Program. It was established under the leadership of former NCAA Executive Director Dr. Cedric Dempsey with funds from the $6 billion CBS-TV NCAA Men's Basketball Championship television contract signed earlier this decade. The program helps student-athletes who have exhausted their competitive eligibility and are within 30 hours of graduation.
"A few years ago, the NCAA made a commitment to creating this program, which directly benefits former student-athletes who want to return to campus and graduate," said Harris, who had previously helped two Redbird softball student-athletes finish their degrees with funding from the degree-completion program. "We felt strongly that Steve would qualify."
But he didn't. The NCAA denied Hecker's application because, it said, there were too many applicants and the organization couldn't help them all. Harris suspects Hecker might have fallen below the bar because his wife, Jessica, is employed by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance in Normal.
Harris was disappointed, but not defeated, and the Heckers still didn't have the money for Steve to return to Illinois State.
"I was so impressed with Steve as a person," said Harris. "He had a great attitude about the whole process--even when I was telling him the NCAA had turned him down. We just had to find a way to help him."
So Harris did some more research and found a source--actually, the same source, but a different program.
It's called the Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund. Distributed by the NCAA to conference offices, the funds are available to assist student-athletes with broadly-defined individual needs. After consulting with Senior Associate Athletics Director Larry Lyons--the chief business and finance officer for Redbird Athletics--Harris decided to give the opportunity fund a try through the Missouri Valley Conference office. It worked and Hecker was able to return to school for the Fall, 2005 semester.
"The programs are a little different in that the degree-completion program comes directly from the NCAA and the conference distributes the opportunity fund, but we are just thrilled that we were able to come through for Steve," said Harris.
Hecker, who pitched in the St. Louis Cardinals' organization for four seasons and now is recovering from his second shoulder surgery in two years, can't say enough for the work done by Harris and her assistant, Nancy Guither, to help him come back to school.
"I knew when I came here (in 1998) that Illinois State had a great reputation for really caring about athletes," said Hecker, now 27 years old. "I'd been gone for so long, though, I expected that they would have forgotten me. But the way Cindy and Nancy cared about me and wanted to help me--it was way above and beyond what I expected. It really says a lot about Illinois State."
Since Hecker, who was 14-6 in three seasons at Illinois State after transferring from the University of Memphis, started undergraduate school in 1997, his 2006 business degree doesn't raise the rates on any of the `scorecards' kept on student-athlete graduation percentages for Illinois State.
Harris couldn't care less.
"This is a lot more important than how anyone calculates graduation rates," said Harris. "Here's a young man who wanted to finish his degree and we were able to find a way to help him. That's what really counts. That's why we're here."
Hecker told Zaleski about the degree-completion program. Needing just 12 hours to finish, Zaleski applied last fall and was accepted. His resume was impressive. During his four years at Illinois State, Zaleski had a 14-12 record, received the 2003 Duffy Bass Endowed Scholarship named for the legendary Redbird baseball coach and showed leadership off the field in community service.
"Like Steve, Kyle worked very hard to complete the application process," said Harris. "Because the degree-completion fund provided essential educational expenses, there were no financial hurdles to him finishing and Kyle could focus totally on his classes. It's a `win-win' for sure."
A business major focusing on entrepreneurship and small business management at Illinois State, Zaleski already has operated his own pitching clinics and wants to eventually own and manage his own baseball training facility--a goal he shares with his friend and former teammate, Hecker.
"Hecker and I were teammates on the Joliet Jackhammers (of the independent Northern League)," said Zaleski. "He told me about the (degree-completion) program and that's why I applied. So I have him, and Cindy Harris and Nancy (Guither) to thank. I owe Cindy and Nancy a ton because I wasn't on campus when I applied. They were incredible; I could not have done it without them."
After graduation, Zaleski will join his college coach, Jim Brownlee, as an Illinois State alum. Brownlee is impressed by what his former pitcher's success says about how much Illinois State cares about student-athletes.
"It says something great about our athletic program that, not only do we provide student-athletes with fifth-year aid after their eligibility expires, but that we also are ready to help whenever our student-athletes are ready to finish," said Brownlee. "Because of the professional baseball draft, baseball is in a different position (than most sports).
"But things like this prove that Illinois State is committed to graduating student-athletes. In my 30 years of coaching, the most important thing is still when a guy graduates."
Harris agrees.
"No matter how long it takes or what kind of obstacles come up, our goal never changes," said Harris. "We want every Illinois State student-athlete to earn a degree. That's the goal."
And this year's `winning pitchers' include Zaleski and Hecker.
