The NBA Summer League is a great place to discover players from smaller schools who you may not have heard of before. Haywood Highsmith is on the Heat’s roster after being named 2018 D-2 national POY at Wheeling Jesuit University, and the Clippers’ Jay Scrubb was 2020 NJCAA D-1 national POY at John A. Logan College. If they need inspiration from past players who made the leap from a small college to the NBA they can look to the career of Del Beshore. A 3-time All-American at California University of Pennsylvania, Del played 68 games for Chicago in 1980 while more famous teammates such as Scott May (54 games) and Artis Gilmore (48 games) played far fewer. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Del about being a great scorer and playing pro basketball.
You were born/raised in Pennsylvania: what made you choose California University of Pennsylvania? They were the only school that really recruited me out of high school: I was 5’8”/130 pounds and only 17 years old. I visited Westchester because my brother had played there but I was not really familiar with California. They were 1 of the only schools at the time that offered computer science as a major, which I liked.
You were a 5’11” PG: did you see your size as an advantage or disadvantage on the court? It was a disadvantage in terms of physical size: I would have loved to be 6’3” but you are dealt a certain hand and go with what you got. It was an era where things started to trend big with guys like Marvin Webster/Jack Sikma, and even 6’8” PGs like Magic Johnson. In a 4-guard scheme there was not a lot of prevalence for small guards. I had a good career but did not get drafted so then I went out to Los Angeles for Summer League.
You were a 3-time All-American and received the 1978 Cal Presidents Athletic Award: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? As a freshman I was fortunate to walk into a situation where I started after the senior captain got injured. My confidence started to grow, as did I: I went from 5’8” to 5’10”! Those accolades were confidence-builders that made me want to keep winning other accolades: each year I had the goal of making all-league but got sick as a sophomore. I was way stronger as a junior: I had bulked up to 160 pounds and was even dunking the ball. Every summer I tried to get stronger and got to attend camps with guys like Walt Frazier/Billy Cunningham where I was competing against D-1 players. I actually beat Frazier in a game of 1-on-1, then lost to him for the rest of the week, but finally got to play against him in the NBA several years later.
You won 3 conference scoring titles and set a school record with 1869 career PTS: what is the secret to being a great scorer? We were an up-tempo team: our coach’s philosophy was to fast-break off of a make/miss and try to get 20% more shots than an average team. I shot from long distance but we did not have the 3-PT line back then. We still were able to average almost 100 PPG back in the 1970s. I was a better ball-handler/passer than a shooter. In the NBA I was mostly a distributor but in Italy I was expected to score a lot and I became a much better shooters against zone/box-and-1 defenses.
After going undrafted in 1978 you played 68 games for Chicago in 1979-80: what was it like playing with a Hall of Famer like Artis Gilmore and for a Hall of Famer like Jerry Sloan? It was great! Don Nelson gave me my 1st shot with the Bucks and brought me into summer camp. I got a lot of playing time in the preseason including 3 games vs. Chicago. I was the 12th man on an 11-man roster and ended up getting waived. I was picked in the 1st round by Fresno in a new league called the Western Basketball Association. Nelson called me up and asked me to rejoin his roster to replace an injured player, and I was part of the team for the Bucks’ home-opener. A 2-for-1 trade involving the backup point guard was supposed to open up a full-time roster spot when I was called back, but an injury to a player involved in the trade nullified the trade so I played the balance of the year in Fresno. The reason I made the Bulls was because guys like Artis liked to play with me for a very simple reason: I got the ball to them.
You later played in Italy: what is the biggest difference between basketball in the US vs. basketball overseas? At that time there were bigger/stronger athletes in the US, but the Europeans were more skilled at shooting the ball. It was a slugfest at 1st so it took a while for the 3-PT line to start being used more. In Europe the lane was angled out so centers played in the high-post rather than the low-post and shot the ball from the outside. I was drafted by Dallas in the expansion draft…but they drafted about 13 other guards and told me that I would probably not make the team. I ended up in training camp with the Lakers the following year because they needed a backup PG for Magic: I played well in the preseason and was the last guy cut. Magic hurt his knee but they picked up Eddie Jordan instead so I went to Italy. I played with some guys in Italy who could have definitely been role players in the NBA and some other guys who were just D-2 players.
In 1984 you were a player-coach for the Wyoming Wildcatters of the CBA: what was the best part of the dual gigs, and what was the not-so-best part? I was an assistant coach so that I could make more money: there were limits on how much money you could make as just a player. I sat out for a year and signed a deal to play in Italy but after an ownership change I played in the Summer League and ended up in Casper, WY. My wife and I were living in Fresno and Casper was the closest CBA franchise. We had a good year and lost to an Albany team coached by a guy named Phil Jackson in the Finals. I was later offered a high school teacher/coach position in Fresno and ended up starting a new career. I was not making all the play calls but was able to offer a lot of insight on the other players. I led the league in minutes played so it was more of a title than a responsibility.
You led the CBA in STL in 1984 and AST in 1985: how did you balance your passing with your defense? There were a lot of “tweeners” in the CBA: all of the good forwards/centers could go to Europe and make more money. There were a lot of good guards from 5’10”-6’5” so you could get away with playing smaller lineups.
You later became an assistant coach at Fresno Pacific University and a computer teacher/technology coordinator/head coach at Sanger High School: how did you like being a coach? I coached 12 years at the high school level and we had a lot of success. I took a year off and then 1 of my former assistants became head coach at Fresno Pacific and asked me to become his assistant, which allowed me to have more time to watch my kids grow up and play sports.
When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? That I played hard: I think that is why I made it to the NBA. I did everything I could do with what I was given so I was probably an overachiever.