Knox College Athletics

When Bill Colby was a boy in Oelwein, Iowa, he turned to his mother as he was leaving home for the punt, pass and kick contest in Des Moines and said, "Don't worry about getting me a winter jacket this year because I'm going to win one today."  He did.  Later in his life, after his family moved to Illinois, he kept winning jackets – letter jackets – on successful junior high and senior high school teams in East Moline.  When he enrolled at Knox College in the fall of 1973, the teams he played for here won as well.  In fact, Bill Colby has been a winner at nearly everything he has done throughout the course of his life.
           
He lettered in basketball three times and baseball twice during the course of his inter-collegiate career.  He is remembered best as a fierce competitor.  If ever a player could effect the outcome of a game through sheer force of will, it was Bill Colby.  A three-year starter as a guard in basketball, Bill won the Arvid P. Zetterberg award, the K-Club award, and All-Conference honors his senior year.  The basketball team in his sophomore season were co-conference champions and invited to the NCAA Division III national tournament that year.  His senior year, along with co-captain and current Knox Athletic Director, Dan Calandro, his team won thirteen consecutive games and earned national ranking.  His basketball coach at Knox, Harley Knosher, has said, "Bill established the level of competitive intensity on the two best teams that I was privileged to coach."  On the baseball team he was a pitcher and outfielder where he utilized his great speed.
           
After graduating from Knox, Bill earned his law degree at the University of Kansas, finishing as valedictorian of his class.  He was the lead attorney in the landmark Cruzan "right to die" case argued before the United States Supreme Court 1989.  Bill received an honorary doctorate from Knox in 1995 when he returned to campus as our commencement speaker.  He now lives with his wife, Kelley, and four children in Prairie Village, Kansas.  He is currently writing a book about his experiences relating to the famous Nancy Cruzan case.