When young John Laskowski was seven years of age, his father took him to an Iowa vs Indiana basketball game. When Laskowski got up and cheered for the Iowa Hawkeyes, his father told him, “Son, you’re from Indiana…no matter where you live, you’ll always be a Hoosier.” 

Although Laskowski’s father passed away about a year afterward, this lesson stuck with John. Whether he was playing ball at Indiana, for the Chicago Bulls, or operating his Culver’s franchise, he always stayed humble and loyal to his home.

While playing basketball with the Hoosiers, Laskowski never saw himself as too big for his shoes. The South Bend native would spend all three years of his playing career at IU coming off the bench as the Hoosiers’ “sixth man.” A February 1975 Sports Illustrated issue was released, featuring Laskowski in the IU crimson scoring a …
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During his time as an Indiana Hoosiers swimmer in the early 1980s, Richard Dennen was very much in a solitary environment — just himself and the water. There was no denying his success after being team captain and placing 3rd at the Big Ten Championships. He has been able to take this, as well as his sense of hard work, into his profession: President, CEO, and founder of Oak Street Funding in Indianapolis. 

The 2014 Z.G. Clevenger Award winner says that he didn’t develop a passion for his work until he began working for himself. 

“It is much more satisfying to me,” says Dennen. “You get the return for your efforts; it’s not lost on someone else.”

Dennen also believes the work ethic of his teammates and himself on the pool deck were able to translate into the workplace. Being a high-achieving Big …
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