A Valparaiso University men’s basketball game is set to tip off at the Athletics-Recreation Center, and the team shares a fist bump.

This team is as veteran as they come as its four members have been together for as long as just about anyone in the country. This team has never slammed down a dunk, drilled a 3-pointer or secured a rebound. But without this team, four decades worth of on-court highlights would not have been possible. This team may not take the court, but just like the team that does, these team members have each other’s backs and use collaboration and teamwork to get the job done.

Fans’ attention may be on the team that is on the court, but to find this team hiding in plain sight, one need not look hard or far. Front and center for each men’s basketball game at the ARC, the scorer’s table crew is there. And now, this team’s captain is finishing out the final chapter of a historic run as official scorer Dot Nuechterlein, age 86, will retire at the end of the 2023-24 season after 40 years of holding the official book.

“It’s kind of like when you graduate from college,” Nuechterlein said. “You know you’re going to miss certain people and certain things, but you’ve completed a lot of what you hoped to finish. You’re satisfied with what you’ve done. That’s how I feel. It’s come to an end in one sense, but I’ll still be able to enjoy games as a spectator. Now, I’ll be able to yell at the refs. I don’t really feel bad or sad; it’s just time for a different stage. You always want to quit while you’re still ahead. I can still do this, but the time has come for somebody else to do it. There’s a feeling of satisfaction.”

Nuechterlein, who will be celebrated prior to the game vs. Indiana State on Wednesday, Feb. 21 as part of a pregame ceremony, began as the Valpo official scorer in 1984. She had a brief two-year hiatus from Valpo while living in New York, but continued to work as an official scorer at that time at Columbia University. Her love for keeping score began at a young age. 

“My dad took me to a Cleveland Indians baseball game when I was a child,” Nuechterlein said. “Our relatives all lived in Cleveland and we would go back every summer for a vacation. He taught me how to keep score for baseball games. In high school, I kept score for baseball and I learned how to do basketball because my boyfriend played and he always wanted to know his stats after the game. I always kept score when I was at a basketball game of any type.”

Nuechterlein first kept score of Valpo games in the old Hilltop Gymnasium, first in an unofficial capacity behind the team bench before she was presented with an opportunity to take on the official scorer’s role.

“Midway through the season, the guy who was the scorekeeper, Al Morrisson, announced that he would be leaving to take a job in St. Louis,” Nuechterlein said. “This was all of the sudden, so Tom Smith, who was the head coach at the time, asked if I would be willing to fill in until they found someone. I told Tom, ‘No, if you want me to do it, I’ll do it permanently,’ I wasn’t going to just fill in until they found someone. The first game that I did, assisting Al during his last game, was the dedication of the ARC against Notre Dame in December 1984.”

At that time, the 3-point line and the shot clock had not yet been implemented, as both of those changes to the sport came in Nuechterlein’s second year as official scorer. When she started, Nuechterlein did not have the black-and-white striped shirt used to designate the official scorer because they did not make them for women at that time. A trailblazer as a female official scorer in men’s basketball, Nuechterlein had a striped shirt special ordered for her.

“The very first game that I did, a referee came over the table and put his hands on the edge of the table and looked me square in the eyes and said, ‘Are you sure you can handle this?’ Nuechterlein said. “I said something like, ‘Watch me.’ Later, toward the end of the season, one of the referees that came in said, ‘We’ve heard about you, and they said you do a pretty good job.’ That made me even more determined that they were going to get used to seeing a woman in that role.”

A retired Valpo professor and an alum of the institution, Nuechterlein was a theology major during her undergraduate days and went on to complete a master’s in sociology. She taught sociology classes during her time as a faculty member on campus. During an era when the program was winning conference championships and making frequent NCAA Tournament appearances, Nuechterlein was an integral piece, often traveling on the bus with the team.

“Dot has been a dear friend and colleague,” Valpo Athletics Hall of Famer and legendary head men’s basketball coach Homer Drew said. “She was very competent at handling the official scorer’s book. I admired her toughness because she had to work with coaches, officials and with the opposing team’s person on the book. She had a very busy and very important job for us. She always handled it efficiently and with a lot of respect. It was a joy to have Dot around.”

In her first years, Nuechterlein was hired by head coach Tom Smith to tutor several student-athletes who were experiencing academic challenges. This was before the modern days where college athletic departments have academic support personnel on staff. During the Drew Era, Nuechterlein said she did not do tutoring, but was available to answer questions about the academic enterprise while traveling with the team.

“I really enjoyed having Dot on the bus for away games,” Drew said. “She taught a lot of courtesy and manners to our players by osmosis, just by being around. Our players would go out of their way to help Dot by carrying her luggage or opening a door for her. I can remember several times where we had players who were sick on the bus, and Dot was like a mother and took care of them. She did a lot for our program with her personality and the culture of our team at that time.”

Leading the scorer’s table team for 40 years is unique enough, but what makes this story even more special is that Nuechterlein has spent the majority of that time with the same three teammates on press row. Dave Hollenbeck and Dave DeBoer began their duties as game clock, shot clock and scoreboard operators in 1986, two years before Homer Drew’s arrival and two years after Nuechterlein filled out the official scorebook for the first time. A year after the two Daves came on board, John Bowker took over public address announcing responsibilities in 1987. The quartet has been together ever since.

“While each of us was tasked with our own jobs, a good table crew learns to help each other,” DeBoer said. “Who just subbed in for number 23? Who was that foul on? What was that call in the corner – I couldn’t see it? Do they have one or two timeouts left? So as we began working together – a journey that would last 36 plus years – we developed a trust and a friendship that was extremely rewarding.”

Until COVID-19, the table crew would meet with the officials in their dressing room prior to the start of the game. Those meetings were a source of developing friendships, and the Valpo table crew grew up with officials who went on to work Final Four games including Terry Wymer, Paul Szelc and Gene Steratore, now an NFL rules analyst for CBS.

“In those meetings, Dot would invariably get singled out as someone they were glad to see again,” DeBoer said. “Always distinctive with her white hair and gold shoes, she never went unnoticed. Early on, Dot established our practice of a fist bump between us just before tipoff. All of us felt pride in the work we did as a team, and we loved learning that we were thought of as the best table in the Mid-Con and then the Horizon and ultimately the highly-respected Missouri Valley Conference.”

Hollenbeck looks back fondly on the crew’s early days working together.

“There was certainly a learning curve at the beginning of our relationship,” he said. “We all had to learn how we function, how we work best and how to deal with pressure. Once we got over that hurdle, it was a pleasure and indeed something I look forward to. Dot is simultaneously easy to work with but at the same time demanding to work with. That makes for an interesting combination. She has the ability to bring out the best in the people she’s working with. I always look forward to having the opportunity to work with a woman who is so professional and so good at what she does. She deserves the opportunity to come to a basketball game and enjoy watching the action from the stands, but she will truly be missed at the scorer’s table.”

Bowker has not only worked next to Nuechterlein at the scorer’s table since 1987, but he spent much of that time living next to her as they were next-door-neighbors for 30 years. 

“Dot was always a great neighbor and friend,” Bowker said. “We all know each other and we’re all members of Immanuel Lutheran Church. I’m good friends with all of the table crew members’ spouses, and it’s always great to work with friends. She’s the consummate professional. Back in the 1970s and 1980s when the student-athletes didn’t have apartments to go to, Dot housed a number of the basketball players. It’s going to be different with her not being there to get hugs from the officials when they come over to see her. She has a very good reputation with the officials for knowing how to do her job and knowing what to do. Whoever is going to be doing it has some large shoes to fill.”

As games have turned into seasons and seasons have turned into decades, much has changed around the Valpo basketball program, but Nuechterlein has been there every step of the way. The players, coaches, arena and even the mascot have all changed at some point over the last four decades, but Dot has been a constant. She’s seen everything from Tom Smith to the Drew Dynasty to Matt Lottich to Roger Powell Jr. She’s marked down baskets for everyone from Gipson to Schmidt to Bryce to Lubos to Broekhoff to Alec to Krikke and now Cooper. Pinpointing one favorite memory from all those years and all those games may sound like a tall task to some, but if you know Valpo basketball at all, you already know Dot’s answer. March 13, 1998 – Valpo 70, No. 13 Ole Miss 69.

“My favorite was The Shot,” she said. “When I see that replayed on TV every year during the tournament, it’s played backward from the way I remember it because we were behind Bryce. I’m seeing it through different eyes from what I remember. That shot and everything leading up to it were just super. I got on the plane late that night to fly home, and I had a Valpo luggage tag. I lifted that piece of luggage into the top bin and the people sitting right under that bin said, ‘You’re from Valpo! We watched the game at a bar. The whole place was cheering for Valpo.’ I thought that was really fun and cool.”

Nuechterlein will keep score for two more games at the Athletics-Recreation Center – her celebration game on Feb. 21 vs. Indiana State and Senior Day on March 3 vs. Illinois State. When the final horn sounds to wrap up the 2023-24 season, her status as the active official scorer for Valpo basketball will be gone, but all the memories that she’s been a part of through all these years will carry on.

“I’m extremely grateful to people like (athletic directors) Bill Steinbrecher, Mark LaBarbera and now Charles (Small),” Nuechterlein said. “I appreciate their encouragement and support, especially from Bill in those early days. When some others thought it was strange to have a woman doing it, he didn’t. The coaches, staff members and all of the people who work behind the scenes or are prominent in the public eye have always been very supportive and welcoming. It’s been such a blessing for me. In these later years in my retirement, it’s been a fantastic hobby to be able to do as a retiree. I’m very thankful.”