By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter
Many people bring a framed photograph of their family to the office as a reminder of what motivates them the most in life. When things get stressful on the job, a simple peek at the portrait can do wonders to combat workplace adversity.
For Terry Connor, a photograph isn’t necessary when he arrives at work each day on the Thomas More College campus. That’s because the building in which his office is located bears the name of his father, the late Jim Connor, an iconic figure in Northern Kentucky sports.
Now entering his 19th year as Thomas More’s athletic director, Terry Connor only has to stroll outside the Connor Convocation Center and look around to appreciate what drives him to succeed.
Terry Connor
“Those people that made this building (Connor Convocation Center) a reality, I am indebted to them as I have spent the last 20 years living a dream.”
The son has more than upheld the legacy of excellence as Thomas More’s athletic director, as evidenced by the 57 Presidents’ Athletic Conference championships won by the Saints during the 13 years they competed in that league. Thomas More’s women’s basketball team also won back-to-back Division III national championships in 2015 and ’16, though the NCAA later forced the Saints to vacate the ’15 title due to an eligibility issue.
Since Terry Connor assumed the role of athletic director, Thomas More has established itself as a regular participant in the NCAA Division III Tournament in multiple sports. And beginning in 2019-20, Thomas More will return to the NAIA as a member of the Mid-South Conference.
That will allow Thomas More to renew old rivalries with in-state opponents Georgetown (Ky.), Pikeville, the Cumberlands, Campbellsville and others. It will also complete a full-circle sports journey for Terry Connor, who actually played baseball for his father as an NAIA member.
“When we started to explore the NAIA and possibly heading back there, the memories from all the games with Georgetown, Cumberland, Pikeville, Campbellsville all came back and I had to take a step back for minute,” Connor said. “There are a tremendous amount of memories from those days that I share with my family and alums here. It will be interesting to transition back to the NAIA after so many years in Division III, but having played in the NAIA and watched it for so many years, I am very excited about our future.”
He’s also grateful to the past, which includes an education in sports very few can appreciate — being the son of a legendary coach and administrator.
NO DOUBT HE WOULD MAKE ATHLETICS A CAREER
From the time he was a kid, Terry Connor knew his career path would include sports. That’s only natural, given his father enjoyed success as a coach at both the college and high school levels.
Jim Connor (left) is an iconic figure in Northern Kentucky sports. His son Terry (right) has also enjoyed tremendous success as athletic director at Thomas More College and works in the building named after his father.
After graduating from St. Henry High School, Terry Connor enrolled at Thomas More and played baseball for his father. The son learned many lessons in the process.
“I loved playing for my dad. It was tough, but I feel like it made me work harder and love playing even more,” he said. “The pressure to succeed was there because I did not want to disappoint him. It only reaffirmed my wanting to go into athletics as a coach and administrator.
“His discipline was something I loved. Dad was very tough, but he cared about his players and would do anything for them. I’ve tried to carry that with me throughout my journey as a coach and an athletic director.”
Jim Connor had enjoyed a standout career as an athlete at Newport High School, where he graduated in 1940. After a playing career at both St. Bernard Junior College in Alabama and Villa Madonna (now Thomas More), Connor later emerged as a highly respected coach in baseball and basketball at both Newport Catholic and Boone County.
He also coached baseball at Bellarmine and served as the athletic director from 1966-70, and was later inducted into school’s Hall of Fame. Of course, his name is synonymous with Thomas More athletics, given he coached men’s basketball and baseball in addition to serving as athletic director from 1979-90.
Jim Connor also owns the distinction of being the final Thomas More basketball coach to defeat Northern Kentucky University for the coveted “Long Rifle” traveling trophy that went to the winner in that annual series that was discontinued in the 1990s. With Connor guiding the underdogs, Thomas More upset NKU, 61-52, on Feb. 14, 1981, in Regents Hall.
‘DO YOU WANT TO HEAR SOMETHING?’
But the elder Connor was always glad to offer sports advice to his son, but never in an overbearing way. “He would never say much,” Terry Connor recalled of his days of playing baseball and basketball at St. Henry. “It was either ‘nice job’ or ‘tough day,’ and that was about it. He did that through high school when he had the chance to watch me play.
Jim Connor shown coaching third base during his final season at Thomas More in 1990.
The son did just that while a baseball player at Thomas More, earning honorable mention accolades on the NAIA All-District 32 Team his senior year in 1990. A first baseman, Connor batted .297 with four doubles, one home run and 17 runs batted in his final year.
He also experienced a moment at the end of his final collegiate game that few athletes can relate to — his father’s last contest as a coach. That occurred during a doubleheader against visiting Bethel (Tenn.) College on April 25, 1990.
“We already knew it because Dad had announced it earlier that it was his final year coaching,” Connor said. “It made the last time out on the field that much more emotional for me. I was a senior, so it was the end of my career, too. But it was also Dad’s final game as a coach.”
Thomas More rewarded their retiring coach with a 12-2 victory in the second game of that doubleheader. Mike Harris tossed a one-hitter for Thomas More in the elder Connor’s final game as coach.
“Mike Harris was the winning pitcher and he should get the game ball,” Jim Connor told The Kentucky Post newspaper after that final contest in 1990. “But (Mike) said, “Coach, I want you to have it.’ Things like that mean an awful lot.”
Terry Connor, in his final game that day as well, understood how his teammates felt. “Right before we went out for the second game, one of our guys said, ‘We owe this one to Coach,’ and I think everybody knew that,” he said after his father concluded his coaching career with a win.
TWO SUCCESSFUL LEGACIES, ONE FAMILY
While his playing career might have ended, Terry Connor’s journey as a coach and administrator at Thomas More had just started.
He spent eight years as the men’s basketball head coach from 1998-2006, the final six of those seasons also serving as athletic director. He was promoted as Thomas More’s first full-time athletic director in 2006 and has watched the program flourish both academically and athletically under his leadership. Connor, however, refused to take any credit.
“It’s the people that have coached here and who are currently coaching here, along with all of our past and present student-athletes,” Connor said. “What those coaches and student-athletes have accomplished is a tribute to their hard work, perseverance and dedication to a truly great institution.”
Thomas More baseball head coach Jeff Hetzer, who was Terry Connor’s first hire in 2000, has won 470 games — the most in school history — in 18 years.
He also serves as Thomas More’s associate athletic director and works closely with Connor within the department.
“The biggest thing about Terry is that he understands where we’re coming from as coaches,” said Hetzer, who guided Thomas More to five PAC championships and six NCAA Tournament appearances in the past nine years. “He knows about the trials and tribulations we go through in recruiting, dealing with kids and everything else. He’s a sounding board, and it’s awesome to have someone like him who has walked in your shoes as a coach.
“Terry makes that effort to be at all home games for all of the teams, even if they overlap. He’s an awesome boss in that regard. The players know he’s very supportive of all the programs.”
Hetzer also has an idea of what has made Connor such a successful college administrator, and much of it has do to with that key word — family.
“He’s created a family atmosphere within our department, and that’s not just talk,” Hetzer said. “We have the staff go to lunch together a lot of times, and things like that have helped contribute to a great working atmosphere. It’s a direct reflection of Terry.
“He’s very personable, family-oriented and it’s a reason we’ve been able to maintain the continuity in our staff. That’s tough to do at the Division III level, but the coaches and staff see the support they receive here at Thomas More. It’s a great place to work and coach, and much of that credit goes to Terry.”
It should also come as no surprise that the Connor family legacy at Thomas More includes several generations. In addition to his two kids who are current student-athletes, Connor pointed out that his wife, Michelle, as well as his sister, mother, and three brothers also graduated from Thomas More.
“We have a lot of great memories,” said Connor, noting he graduated from Thomas More in the same class as his mother. “Mom graduated from Thomas More the same year I did. She went back much later, but she earned her degree.”
For the Connor family, athletics and academics have combined for a legacy of success at Thomas More. And one day, perhaps another on-campus athletics facility will be named after the son who followed his father’s large footsteps and blazed his own trail of tremendous accomplishments as a coach and administrator.
Contact Don Owen at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport
