Rich's collegiate athletic career began at Graceland in 1961. During his four years as a student athlete, he earned 13 Varsity letters in basketball, football, baseball, and track. In track, Harrop threw the javelin for a Conference record 192 feet. As a basketball player at Graceland, Rich was a two time 1st Team All Conference selection,whose name appears throughout the Graceland all time record list.
Rich's high point game was 41 points, then a school record. He graduated with the school's career scoring record at the time of 1411 points. Rich graduated from Graceland in 1965, earning the Silver Seal for Excellence in Athletic Achievements. His education was continued at Miami University, Oxford, OH where he earned his Master's Degree in Health and Physical Education.
Harrop was a Head Boys/Men's basketball coach for forty years. The first 25 years were spent at the high school level: Lamoni Community Schools (1965-1977) and Watkins Memorial High School in Pataskala,Ohio (1977-1990) In the fall of 1990 Rich found himself back at his alma mater, Graceland University, coaching the men's basketball team(1990 - 2005). Last year, Harrop came out of coaching retirement to serve as the Assistant women's basketball coach. He took the reins as Head women's coach last season in January. The 2010-2011 team reached the finals of the HAAC Tournament for the 1st time in Graceland history.
Rich and his wife, Judy, a 1966 Graceland graduate have been married for forty-six years. They have two children, Kirk and Krista, who are also Graceland graduates, and five grandchildren.
COACHING HONORS
- 8 Conference Titles
- 8 Sectional Tournament Championships
- 3 District Titles
- 9 Coach of the Year Honors
- Selected to coach in the Ohio All-Stars Game (1990)
- Coached 2 first-team All-State and players of the year in Ohio
- In final season with GU men coached the Player-of-the-Year in HAAC and 1st Team All-American
- Notched his 300th career victory the SAME night as brother Walt
- Recorded 500th coaching victory on December 2, 2004.
- Received the 2005 NAIA Region 5 Coach of Character Award
Bill "Duke" Dudek, a 1965 graduate of Graceland, is a long-time faculty member and coach at Graceland University. While he has taught and coached in a variety of areas, he is currently most recognized for his work with special populations and integrating local school children into his classes to enhance the experience for his students as well as the children.
Dan Hanton, a 1965 Graceland graduate, was a member of the basketball, golf, track & field and football teams earning six letters. He was the head basketball and baseball coach as well as the assistant varsity football coach and Director of Athletics at Brown City Community Schools from 1965-71.
Hanton joined the staff of Port Huron Northern High School (Mich.) in 1972. He was selected as the head basketball assistant football and assistant track coach in 1973. His basketball teams earned 1 league, 3 District, and 2 Regional Championships and appeared in 2 State of Michigan Quarterfinal Basketball championships against the No. 1 (Detroit Southwestern) and No. 5 (Detroit Pershing) high school teams in the nation. His 1988-1993 teams posted a 115-45 record.
Selected as Graceland's head women's basketball coach and assistant Director of Athletics in 1999, his teams won 53 NAIA contests including 31 HAAC victories (helping him to earn 365 career victories). Hanton's 2003 team posted 18 wins and GU's first All-American in women's basketball.
Selected as the first full-time Director of Athletics in 2003, Hanton retired from GU in 2009 but returned to assist his former 1965 Graceland teammates Harrop and Dudek in 2010.
Hanton was named Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) Athletic Director of the Year (2007) in conjunction with three Hall of Fame nominations: Granceland University (2009), Port Huron Sports Hall of Fame (2007), and the Michigan High School Football Coaches' Hall of Fame in (1998).
