Thompson to Sign Book Before ISU Games

AMES, Iowa ? You knew that Gary Thompson had an incredible story to tell. No Iowa State athletics figure has had a longer run in the limelight. He rose from humble beginnings in Roland to become one of the greatest high school athletes in Iowa history as “The Roland Rocket.” His athletics career as Iowa State's first two-sport All-American prefaced a successful run in business and on television as a basketball color commentator.

Thompson's love and appreciation of Iowa State has never wavered. Now, by donating the proceeds from the sale of his biography, “Gary Thompson: All-American” to Iowa State athletics, the former ISU great continues to give back what he has received from the Cyclone community. The book's writer is former Des Moines Register columnist Chuck Offenberger, whose “Iowa Boy” column graced the pages of the paper from 1977-98.

Gary Thompson: All-American will be on sale at a table on the south concourse with Thompson and Offenburger there to autograph the book an hour before and after Saturday's Iowa State 1 p.m. men's basketball against Oregon State in Hilton Coliseum. Thompson will also be in Hilton for an hour before Tuesday's 8 p.m. tipoff against Drake.

“Gary would be the first to tell you that he has led a charmed life and is grateful to the people of the Iowa ,” Offenburger said. “Before writing the book, I didn't realize what kind of impact Gary's story as a high schooler had throughout the state. I also didn't know of the tragedy and challenges he and his wife Janet had to overcome in their lives.”

Thompson's high school team put the town Roland on the basketball map. In March 1951, Thompson's small Roland High School team upset big city Waterloo West in the state quarterfinals in Iowa City, 43-40. In the semifinals, now with most of the state and tournament crowd on the Roland bandwagon, the Rockets stunned Des Moines East, 46-37.

Roland had a significant number of fans with Norwegian, Lutheran fans who filled the Iowa Fieldhouse with chants of “Me-ska-vinna, Me-ska-vinna.” When asked what they meant it was explained that the phrase is Norwegian for “We Shall Win.”

The win over Des Moines East set up a state final showdown between Roland, a school with 73 students (40 boys) and Davenport High School with 2,710 students (1,335 boys). Davenport prevailed in the final three minutes but a legend was born. Thompson didn't immediately cotton to the all the attention.

“I was never wrapped up in the accolades,” Thompson said. “I just loved playing basketball. People would come to me and say ?you did this or you did that.' But, I loved the game and I loved the people I met through the game.”

Thompson ended up at Iowa State. What he did there, including a 39-37 win over Kansas and big center Wilt Chamberlain in 1957 was perhaps summed up best by longtime Cyclone sports information director Harry Burrell on the conclusion of Thompson's collegiate career.

“Over the years, Gary has scored more points in one game, 40, more in one season, 475 and more in his career, 1,253, than any other Cyclone cager” Burrell wrote. “And in between those major marks, he holds records for the most points by guards, the most baskets, the most free throws, the most this, the most that ? in fact, you name it and Gary Thompson has the most of it.”

The book also chronicles the love story between Thompson and his wife of 53 years, Janet.

“The kids from smaller towns would meet at Skateland in Ames,” Offenburger said. “That is where Gary met Janet Sydnes of Huxley.”

Their courtship lasted until the two married after Gary's sophomore year at Iowa State.

“Fortunately Janet kept the letters written between the two of them starting in high school,” Offenburger said. “The correspondence tells the story of two teenagers very much in love in a 1950s kind of way.”

The couple's life, while blessed and strengthened by their personal faith, was tested early on by tragedy just two weeks before their August 14, 1955 wedding.

Janet's 22-year-old sister Darlene, slated to be her younger sister's maid of honor, and Darlene's steady 22-year-old boyfriend Hollis Fosse, a former high school teammate of Gary's who was to be his best man, were killed in a car accident along with another former Roland teammate, Stan Tjernagel, 20, on Highway 69 north of Ames on July 27, 1955.

“My mother said that the wedding should go on,” Janet Thompson said. “My sister Helen became the matron of honor and Arnie Gaarde (Thompson's Iowa State basketball teammate) became Gary's best man.”

Thompson adored his Iowa State coach Bill Strannigan. But Strannigan was not excited about his star player getting married with two years of college remaining. Earlier in year, Strannigan had met with Thompson about the coach's reservations.

“I asked Gary about what transpired in that meeting,” Offenburger said. “He said ?I respected my coach and listened to him. Then I still got married.'”

The book also details a world of college athletics far afield from today.

“The teams played in the ISU Armory, which was a ROTC building and didn't have locker rooms,” Offenburger said. “The teams dressed at State Gym, then boarded a small bus together for the ride to the Armory. After the game, both teams took the bus back to State Gym to shower.”

Thompson said those short bus rides were quiet ones.

“We had our game faces on,” Thompson said. “There was no talking. At most, you might look at someone you knew and give a slight smile.”

After the teams warmed up in the Armory, a dirt-floored hanger with a temporary floor, the players would have to wash their hands right before the game because of the tillage that came up between the floors pieces.

Ultimately, “Gary Thompson: All-American” is a fascinating journey through five decades of Iowa State athletics, told through Offenberger by the man many feel is the premier ambassador of Iowa State University and its athletics teams. It is a story told by an individual who while being one of the nation's top collegiate basketball players, still ran to State Gym after a quick lunch to do his daily chore of mopping the floor of State Gym.

Iowa State's share of the books sales will be higher thanks to Roy Reiman, who graduated from ISU the same year Thompson did, 1957. Reiman, the magazine publisher and entrepreneur, donated editing and designing resources to keep the cost of the book lower than it might otherwise have been.

“Roy's help made all the difference in the world,” Thompson said. “His people donated their time to make a huge difference in the quality of the book itself.”

The Reimans are longtime supporters of Iowa State. In 1996, they endowed the Reiman Scholars in Entrepreneurship program, which enables students interested in entrepreneurial careers to perform summer internships with start-up companies. A gift to ISU in 1993 launched construction of the Reiman Gardens, ISU's horticulture gardens.

In 2005 Thompson, a charter member of the Iowa State Letterwinners' Hall of Fame, told broadcast partner Jay Randolph the source behind his loyalty to his alma mater.

“Jay, I'll repeat what I said here 48 years ago when they retired my number,” Thompson said. “Iowa State has given me more than I've been able to give back. But I'm going to keep trying to catch up!”

After a lifetime deflecting the light of his achievements onto Iowa State and by donating the proceeds of his autobiography to ISU athletics, he has surely caught up with the school he loves.

Iowa State University Athletics

Thompson to Sign Book Before ISU Games

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