NBA Hall of Famer Steve Nash ’96 is generally considered the best former Bronco basketball pro, but close observers would tell you that All-American Dennis Awtrey ’70 may have had a better college career.
As a pro, the otherwise gentle journeyman may be best known for punching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the jaw during a game. Awtrey recalls that when his pro career was winding down in 1981, he contacted Los Angeles Lakers coach Pat Riley, his former Phoenix Suns teammate, in the hopes he would consider him for a one-year contract as a backup center. “A couple of days later Pat tells me, “‘he [Jabbar] won’t play with you.’ ”
Awtrey knew his NBA days were numbered after getting picked up on a 10-day contract by the Portland Trailblazers, and he quickly lost his precarious spot on the bench to a 7’ 2” center from Iceland. After holding an array of jobs, including golf equipment company representative, selling commercial real estate, and teaching and coaching high school; Awtrey pulled his punches and returned to Oregon where he and his wife Peggy live happily in their idyllic home that they run as a bed and breakfast in the small town of Manzanita.