Kildare proud of native son John Beasley
KILDARE, Texas — John Beasley, at 6 feet 9 nine inches tall, really did not need the attention for which he was asked to grant permission about 20 years ago.
Admirers wanted to place his name on signs at the north and south entry points to Kildare, his hometown.
“Welcome to Kildare Texas — Home of John Beasley,” the blue and white elegant signs would say.
The signs would be built, painted and installed by residents. They would be first-class in appearance and kept up over the years. They’ve now been refinished three times, the last time made with vinyl wrap so as to be permanently glossy.
The reason for the signs? Here they are. Try going slowly over Beasley’s achievements. They are Kildare’s most prominent feature these days.
High School Linden-Kildare
■ All-State two years
■ Texas High School Hall of Fame
■ Texas UIL All-Century Team 2010
College
■ Texas A&M University
■ Texas A&M Hall of Fame
■ All-American two years
■ SWC All-Time 75 Year Team
Professional
■ Dallas Chaparrals,
■ Utah Stars
■ All-Pro three years
■ MVP 1970 ABA All-Star Game
Kildarian twin brothers Don and Danny Simmons were mostly responsible for the signs. They had to get John’s permission, and, knowing how unassuming their friend had always been, they had to go back to basics — a close community, everyone’s having been reared by old-time, goodtime parents and Kildare’s First Baptist Church.
“Kildare deserves this sign,” Don Simmons said he reasoned with Beasley. “There’ll never be another achievement like this in this region. Another Kildare?”
No, not another Kildare for Beasley. He would always declare this as his hometown and correct others who thought otherwise.
“I’m from Kildare, Texas,” is all he would say.
Still, everyone would quickly jump to mention and include Linden-Kildare High, John’s high school team after Kildare and Linden districts combined schools. That had just happened in 1960, in time for Beasley as a sophomore to lead its team to the state championship. L-K went 32-0 that season.
“John would be interviewed by the media and when asked where he was from would always say ‘Kildare,’ not Linden or Linden-Kildare,” the Simmons twins said, unable to keep back the laughter when they added, “We sometimes would tell everyone we were from Kildare-Linden.”
Records
John Beasley created quite a career, starting with choosing Texas A&M University, where he would set several Southwest Conference basketball scoring records. He broke all existing records in both scoring and rebounding, according to the book “Where Have You Gone? Texas A&M Athletes” published in 2004 by Rusty Burson.
He’s in Texas A&M’s Hall of Fame, inducted in 1976, and received first team all-American honors in 1966, one of only two All-Americans in Aggies basketball history. He was two-time SWC Player of the Year with a career scoring average of 21.8 points and 10.8 rebounds.
To start his professional career, he was drafted in round five as the fifth pick by the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA. He eventually began playing with the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association, where in his first three seasons he averaged 19.1 points and 11.8 rebounds.
These performances earned him ABA All-Star appearances in his ’68,’69 and ’70 seasons. In the 1970 game, he was named MVP with a 19-point scoring and 14 rebound performance.
After playing four seasons with Dallas, he went to the San Antonio Spurs and then finished his pro career with three seasons at Utah.
He’s quoted in Burson’s book as saying one of his big memories was playing against Kareem AbdulJabbar of the Milwaukee Bucks in an all-star game.
“The game in 1970 came down to the wire. We had some awful good players in the ABA such as Julius Erving and Moses Malone. I was most proud of having made the all-star team, not especially so much as having a hot night and being named MVP.”
Today, at 76, Beasley lives near Athens on Cedar Creek Lake.
One of many best stories surrounding Beasley is how growing up in a tall family and a small town included the benefits of having a well-respected mother, father and family. Sam and Grace Beasley had only to make sure there was a basketball court in their front yard to know where their son John was.
Another factor looms large. John was recruited by Texas A&M coach Bob Rogers, who would make a weekly drive on Wednesdays from A&M to Kildare to see John and encourage him to become an Aggie.
“I went to the campus and saw all the spirit and knew that’s where I belonged,” John said.
Perhaps he would have agreed more quickly to the Simmons brothers’ plan for the signs if it had read, “Home of John Beasley, also an Aggie from Aggieland.”