Jim Smith never had the chance to coach Bill Sexton.
The longtime Saint John's University basketball head coach did not arrive in Collegeville until 1964 – nine years after Sexton's college career came to an end.
But Smith certainly heard about him plenty.
"At that time, there was no bigger name in Saint John's basketball," Smith recalls. "He was the one everybody talked about."
With good reason of course. Sexton did not just rewrite the SJU record book during his time in Collegeville.
He essentially created it.
His 1,480 points made him the school's all-time scoring leader to that point, and the total still ranks fifth in school history.
He was the first Saint John's player to earn All-MIAC honors twice - in 1954 and 1955 - and he became the first Johnnie to be named an All-American when he was selected to the All-NAIA third team in 1954.
But his time in Collegeville almost came to an end before it got started.
The Jasper High School graduate actually began his college career playing football at South Dakota State in 1951, but lasted just 10 days there before leaving with the intention of joining the military.
But his father and a partner owned the lumber yard in Jasper and a customer had a son a year ahead of Sexton already at SJU.
"They got to talking and my Dad came home and asked me to pack a small bag," Sexton said. "We were going to go up and take a look at Saint John's.
"I'll be honest. At the time, I didn't even know where it was. But to make a long story short, by the end of the day up there, I was enrolled."
Sexton planned to play freshman football, but when the freshman season was canceled after about two weeks that fall, he faced an uncertain future. Because of his late enrollment, he was staying in Flynntown with then-SJU property room manager Ed Klein and his wife Vera instead of in the dormitories.
So he hadn't really gotten to know many people on campus.
"There was a note on the locker room door saying the season was canceled and we should turn in our equipment," said Sexton, who then stood around at 6-foot-3. "I was a phy-ed minor, so I had my own locker and gear. I walked up to the old gym, which felt like a palace to me coming from where I did. I was shooting baskets and (John) 'Buster' Hiller, who was the basketball coach at the time, came over to talk to me.
"His scholarship players had already started practice, and he asked me if I would join them. I ended up being the seventh or eighth man on the varsity.
"Looking back, it was divine providence. Because if that hadn't happened, I might have just gone home."
Instead, he stayed in Collegeville and became the Johnnies' first real superstar on the basketball court. Part of what made him so hard to stop was his mastery of the one-handed jump shot, then just coming into practice after overcoming disdain from many involved with the sport.
"Whitey Skoog, who played at the University of Minnesota (and later for the Minneapolis Lakers), shot it," Sexton said. "And our high school principal, who was the junior high coach, went up to see him play. From that point on, we shot one-handed free throws and practiced the one-handed jump shot.
"Over time, I picked it up. I was one of the first guys in probably all of Southwest Minnesota to shoot it. And when I got up to Saint John's, they used to have me demonstrate it to the incoming players."
Perhaps the highlight of Sexton's distinguished career came during the final game of his junior season in 1954. On that night, he scored 49 points in a victory over Macalester, a total that still stands as a single-game school record.
The performance also wrapped up that season's MIAC scoring title. He entered play leading Pat Costello of Saint Mary's by just three points.
"I don't recall much of the specifics from a lot of the big games I played in," he said. "I know the charts say I was 19-for-32 from the field and 11-for-11 from the free throw line.
"I guess it was one of those games when I just got going."
His senior year was equally spectacular as he finished with a team-best 511 points. But his final season was also marked by sadness as his father passed away at age 56 following a heart attack in February of 1955.
"He was everything to me," said Sexton, who also lost a brother to a car-train collision when he was still in high school.
"It really hit me hard," he added, his voice cracking with emotion even all these decades later. "Both my parents would come watch me play. They probably came to six or seven games a year, which was a big deal because it was a 200-mile drive one way.
"I had the best parents anyone ever could have had."
Sexton's involvement at Saint John's did not end with his graduation. In fact, it's only grown stronger in the decades that have followed.
He went on to a successful career in the insurance business, and served as a member of the school's Board of Regents from 1989-2001.
He and his family, meanwhile, are among the school's biggest donors. The current Sexton Commons on campus are named in honor of his parents, and the basketball court in Warner Palaestra bears his name.
A $10 million pledge in 2004 created the Joyce and William Sexton Family Endowed Scholarship, as well as supporting the Abbey Guest House project and SJU athletics.
In 2000, he received the Fr. Walter Reger Award for service to his alma mater – the SJU Alumni Association's highest honor.
"Saint John's has played such an important role in my family's life," Sexton said. "Two of our sons and a grandson are Johnnies - Jim (1981 and a regent from 2001-19), Mats (1991) and William Ornburg (2017). Even with the death of my dad and brother at too early an age, God has been very, very, very good to our family and provided us with an opportunity to give back."
