Rebound - Tony DuCros' Road to the RMAC Hall of Fame
RMAC Hall of Fame Page | Ike Armstrong | Jack Hancock | Luc Cisna | Jill (McCaslin) Timmons | Mike Allison
This is the sixth profile of seven individuals being inducted into the RMAC Hall of Fame on Friday, July 8 at the Colorado Springs Marriott Hotel. The 1982 and 1983 CMU Football teams are also being inducted. Tickets for the Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet can be purchased by clicking here.
The biggest rebound for RMAC rebound king Tony DuCros came before he went to college and had nothing to do with basketball.
A self-proclaimed “juvenile delinquent” who was in and out of trouble with the law growing up in downtown Colorado Springs, DuCros bottomed out after being sent to the Zebulon Pike Detention Center in as a teenager in the 1960s.
During his stay at “Zeb Pike” he learned how to play his physical brand of basketball inside those walls and upon his release, was able to turn his life around.
With help from friends and family, DuCros was enrolled at St Mary’s High School. With the help of teachers and coaches, DuCros began to realize his potential as a student and a basketball player. So skilled on the basketball court, he received offers from NCAA Division I schools such as Marquette, Creighton, Notre Dame, and Gonzaga. But at that time, freshmen were not eligible to play in Division I. So DuCros chose to stay in his home state and join a close friend at Regis in Denver, which was a member of the NAIA.
He quickly made his mark at Regis. In a trip to Silver City to face Western New Mexico, DuCros was matched up against RMAC rebound champion, Ernie Signars. DuCros remembers talking “smack” to Signars, telling him that if he thinks that DuCros isn’t going to beat him then “Well you can go home and tell that to your mama. I’m here to take over,” and take over is exactly what Tony did. DuCros led the RMAC in rebounding in each of his four years in the conference.
After his freshman year, Tony DuCros started to get into a rhythm when he set the single-season mark for rebounds with 447 in addition to setting the record for most rebounds in a game with 32 against Wayne State. He racked up an outstanding 17.9 boards per game, which was the single-season record for most rebounds per contest. For half of this season he led the nation in rebounding. He ranks first in the Regis record book in: career rebounds, single season rebounds, in single game rebounds single season rebounding avg. and single season FGA. He led the RMAC in rebounding in each of his four seasons. DuCros was a four-time NAIA All-District selection and was named First Team All-RMAC three times. In 1975-76, he was selected Regis’ Athlete of the Year and was listed among “Outstanding Athletes of America” from 1974-76. In 1988, he was inducted into the Regis University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Even looking past college, DuCros had a bright future. During his senior year, The Kentucky Colonels, an ABA basketball team showed
interest in him. But with the merger of the ABA and NBA that year, the Colonels folded. Other professional sports team were interested in DuCros too, as after he graduated he was given a tryout with the Denver Nuggets as well as the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. He was surprised when he got the letter from the Seahawks having never played football in his life. Although professional sports weren’t in the cards, Tony would go have success in other areas.
While in school, DuCros made Dean’s List every semester at Regis and followed his undergraduate career by obtaining a Master’s degree in Education in 1997. He became a long- time teacher in the Jefferson County school system and earned an “Outstanding Teachers of America” award in 1978. Currently at the age of 62, retired from teaching English, DuCros works out six days a week at a gym in Arvada and boasts that no one can guess his age, always pegging him at around forty. He smiles as he states:“ I’m old, but I’m not cold. That’s what I always say!”