Sporting an orange No. 10 jersey, Donald Whiteside was hard to miss during Monday’s game. While running the offense from the point guard position, he yelled for teammates to use their screens to get open.

After failing to find an open teammate, he hoisted a three-pointer that found the back iron. But the miss only fuels his competitive fire. He promptly steals the ball the next two possessions and glides in for easy layups like it was 1991 all over again.

Whiteside is once again a member of the NBA. Well, not that NBA. Instead, it’s the Noonball Basketball Association. Formed almost 30 years ago, Noonball has become an institution among NIU faculty and this Monday afternoon at the Campus Recreation Center is no exception.

On a breakaway down the right side of the court, Whiteside had only one man to beat for an easy layup. But the white-haired man in the Utah T-shirt bear hugged him right before he could get the shot off. A few seconds later, the former NIU basketball star called foul after catching his breath. The belated call drew a joking “No kidding?” from another player.

The bear hug came from the originator of Noonball himself, J.D. Floyd. At 65 years young and retired, he still plays three days a week. When Floyd started the tradition, it was 1968 and he was a physical education and school health educator at NIU.

Since his office was in the Chick Evans Field House, Floyd and any faculty in the area would have regular pickup games with each other and other students to pass the time and get some exercise. From that time forward, Noonball developed a cult following.

One of the original participants was Mike Korcek, director of NIU Sports Information. Since the old Sports Information Office was at the field house, Korcek played daily. The list of participating faculty ran the gamut from Vice President Eddie Williams, alumnus Dennis Barsema, political science professor Gary Glenn and even NIU basketball coaches Rob Judson and Carl Armato.

Korcek credits the love of the game for his participation in Noonball for more than 20 years before “retiring” last spring. He claims to have detached both retinas and broken an arm playing basketball. A disciple of the finger roll shot, Korcek added the young athletes who participated and brought some excitement with them.

“The neat part is the diversity of talent,” Korcek said. “Donald Whiteside was in the NBA. Then there was Kenny Battle and Carol Owens. Battle dunked on me many times. There were fellas with great individual skills.”

It was a good turnout for the faculty with at least five grizzled veterans in the mix. Midway through the first game, Jerry Wright showed up. The director of Student Support Services has played regularly since he first came to NIU in 1989, and now stretched his legs on the sideline.

As a former wide receiver for Eastern Illinois, Wright used to rely on pure speed to run the court and score. Now at age 43, he’s learned to adapt his game.

“Now it’s about outsmarting the other guy,” Wright said. “But I can still out-muscle them. All these kids are finesse players. They can’t handle a good forearm.” Wright demonstrated with a playful forearm shiver that still packs a lot of punch.

Whiteside first began playing Noonball when he was the star guard for NIU in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Whiteside’s skills earned him a shot in the NBA and international pro leagues, and even at age 36, he hasn’t lost a step.

In his new role as assistant coach to the men’s team, he’s lucky to get out one or two times a month. The camaraderie between the students and other faculty members is one of the most appealing aspects for him.

“It’s an opportunity to meet other people from other departments across campus,” Whiteside said. “Business, English, engineering. You get players from all walks of life. It’s just a time for guys to be guys.”

His on-court prowess has made Whiteside a marked man. His main defender now is Wright, who keeps him within arms length at all times.

But Wright still has life left in his legs. Working off consecutive screens, he hit a pair of treys in a row and one right in Whiteside’s grill. Whiteside didn’t appreciate it much. He answered with two of his own, as if he and Wright were in a personal three-point shooting contest.

It was a close battle, but by the end of the game, Whiteside’s team emerged victorious. But for these guys, it’s not about wins. It’s just about getting out and playing basketball, vanity be damned.

“We used to go shirts and skins,” Whiteside recalls. “Some guys wouldn’t take their shirts off. For good reason.”