Impact Of A Scholarship: Bob Bodell

Despite growing up in the home state of the powerhouse Kentucky Wildcats, Bob Bodell knew the University of Maryland was the perfect setting to advance his basketball career.

But Maryland wasn’t always the clear choice for Bodell, who was originally heavily recruited by Davidson. Instead, it was the departure of then Davidson head coach Lefty Driesell to Maryland that brought Bodell to College Park in the first place.

Driesell was building a formidable NCAA basketball presence at Maryland, and Bodell is thankful to have been a part of its foundation. 

“I was in coach Driesell’s first-class when Maryland was trying to build a new program,” Bodell said. “It was, I’ll say, a unique experience. There was a lot of excitement about a new coach and new players coming in to help build a program. We were fortunate enough to be at the beginning of the process that did that.”

The Maryland basketball program was a promising opportunity for Bodell, a 6-foot-4 guard. While playing on scholarship was an honor for him, the ability to be a part of Maryland’s grand entrance to the national stage was even more exciting. 

His career at UMD was fruitful for both the program, his basketball career, and the lifelong connections he made while playing in red, white, black, and gold.

“Obviously, the scholarship helped. But I think it was more the opportunity to play for a major college in the ACC and build a program,” he said. “Maryland had not been at the top of the ACC for many years, and I think it was the opportunity to number one get a good education and, number two, play for a program that needed help. I thought it would benefit Maryland and me to go there.”

Signing onto Maryland basketball took a leap of faith for Bodell, who was excited by the prospect of playing for Maryland had to pivot from his recruitment by Davidson but was entering a largely unknown arena by choosing Maryland under a brand new head coach. 

It only took his recruiting trip to leave Bodell impressed with UMD’s campus, even with the rapidly changing landscape of his college destination with coach Driesell’s relocation.

“Coming from a small town in Kentucky, it was a pretty eye-opening experience,” he said of his first impressions of College Park. “The campus was fairly large, Cole Field House was a nice facility to play in, and it was a very positive experience when I first came here.”

Thanks to the entirety of the coaching staff and the fellow members of his recruiting class, Bodell’s years at UMD were successful and rewarding. 

“When [Coach Driesell] switched to Maryland, they kind of just switched me over to see if I wanted to do that. I thought it was a huge opportunity to come to Maryland,” Bodell said. “The assistant coaches were outstanding coaches in their own right, so we had a great group of coaches, and they recruited a really top-notch group to come in.

“We didn’t know what we were getting into when we first came here, but it fortunately for all of us turned out pretty well.”

Turn out well, it did. The 1970-71 season, Bodell’s second at Maryland, netted a 14-6 overall record. It was Maryland’s first winning tally since the 1965-66 season and just their third in the previous decade. The 1971-72 season was even more productive; The Terps rode a 27-5 record  through the postseason to win the National Invitation Tournament.

“We won the NIT my junior year, and that was when only 28 teams went to the NCAA tournament, and you had to win your conference tournament to go,” Bodell said in regards to the weight of an NIT championship.

Bodell’s final season at Maryland was his best as a player. He averaged 7.9 points, four assists, and 2.7 rebounds per game en route to Maryland’s 23-7 regular-season record and a trip to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament.

“The group that started out being some of [Driesell’s] first classes, we quickly became one of the top teams in the country,” Bodell said.

Bodell’s career opened many doors for him after his undergraduate stint in College Park. After trying his hand in professional ball, he transitioned into the professional world, thanks to his experiences on the basketball team at Maryland: but not without one more stop back home.

“I think that being on a successful team gave me an opportunity to try out for an NBA team, an ABA team, and travel in Europe when I didn’t make either one of those teams, basically to see Europe and do things professionally,” Bodell said. 

Upon returning to the United States, even more opportunities presented themselves to Bodell.

“Then I came back to Maryland and went to graduate school, and I got an MBA in finance from the business school. From a business standpoint, it was really huge. I was in sales in the Maryland area to start my business career, and having been on TV so much, a lot of people knew my name and actually knew my face from being on TV, and it opened a lot of doors.”

That recognition translated directly into a successful career post-basketball and graduate school. Bodell found that his experience on the basketball team, combined with the ability to receive a high level of education, opened many doors for him.

“Because of that, I think I was able to do more things business-wise, and it opened up more opportunities for me once I got into the business,” he said. “I had a pretty successful career in the mortgage banking industry, I’ve done some things that I’m proud of in the industry, and it’s a valuable industry to the country - putting people in houses.”

None of this, Bodell says, would have been possible without the opportunities Maryland afforded him. Even sweeter for him still was the privilege of playing basketball while under scholarship.

“Without a scholarship, you wouldn’t have the program that you have to recruit kids,” Bodell said. “That led me to go on to get my master’s [degree], and that was a stepping stone for me more professionally than athletically, as it turns out.”

“Even if you play in the NBA … or you play professionally in sports, you always have to fall back on the education you got. I think the scholarship is an opportunity.”

The Terps have remained a large part of Bodell’s life. His daughter, Bailey, attended the University and was a member of the women’s soccer team that made four NCAA Tournament appearances from 2009-12. Without his scholarship, it may not have opened the door for his daughter to become a soccer standout at nearby St John’s College High School and then at Maryland.

Looking back on his upbringing in a small Kentucky town, Bodell feels lucky to have had the opportunity to represent Maryland while under scholarship. 

“Basketball is a team sport, but it’s also individual. Each person wants to do as well as they can and go to the level they’re capable of going to. I think it was just an extra progression from high school, and to have the opportunity to go to college on a scholarship was a pretty big deal back then,” Bodell said.

This experience has driven Bodell’s involvement in giving back to the scholarship program since his graduation by becoming a board member of the M Club. He is working to ensure that future players have the same opportunities that he had is something he still keeps very much in mind.

“Because of [my experience with scholarship], I’ve gone back and been a member of the Terrapin Club ever since I’ve graduated,” he said. “To donate money and kind of to pay back a little bit of what happened for me.”