Twelve men suited up for Al McGuire’s 1976-77 Marquette men’s basketball team, which captured the first national championship in school history. Nine players from that team would be drafted by NBA teams after their college careers, with four playing in the league and two more players embarking on professional careers overseas.
Where are they now?
Related: Where are they now, the staff from the 1977 Championship team
Alfred “Butch” Lee
Lee led the team in scoring at 19.6 points per game and was named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He was a two-time All-American — in the championship year and as a senior the next season — the 1978 Naismith Player of the Year, and he was drafted 10th overall by the Atlanta Hawks. He played two seasons in the league, becoming the first Puerto Rican player to ever play in the NBA, and he won an NBA Championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1980.
Where is Butch now? Lee played and coached in Puerto Rico’s professional league, winning a title as a player. He remains in Puerto Rico, where he owns and operates a full-service sign company, Signarama, in San Juan.
Maurice “Bo” Ellis
Ellis was second to Lee in scoring at 15.6 points per game, and he grabbed a team-best 8.3 rebounds on the 1977 team. He was named to the NCAA’s All-Tournament team and was twice named All-Region. After Marquette, he was drafted in the NBA First Round by the Washington Bullets. He played three seasons with the Denver Nuggets and a couple of seasons in the Continental Basketball Association before getting into coaching. He was a Marquette assistant before taking over the men’s basketball program at Chicago State University for five seasons.
Where is Bo now? Ellis is retired and living in the Chicago area. He remains connected to Marquette Athletics as an ambassador, and he and his wife endow the Nicole Ellis Scholarship Fund at Marquette in the name of their late daughter, a Marquette alumna.
Jerome Whitehead
Whitehead was another all-tournament player for Marquette, hitting the game-winning shot at the buzzer against UNC-Charlotte in the national semifinals. He scored 10.5 points and grabbed 8.2 rebounds for the championship team. He followed that up with 14.0 points to go with 8.3 rebounds as a senior the next season. He was drafted by the San Diego Clippers and had an 11-year NBA career.
Where is Jerome now?After his playing career, Whitehead returned to southern California. He died in 2012.
Gary Rosenberger
Rosenberger logged 110 games in his Marquette career, posting his best season contributing to the championship. He averaged a season-best 7.3 points per game that season. After scoring 6.6 points per game as a senior, he was a late-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Draft. He did not play professionally but remained connected to the game as a color commentator for NBC. He then entered the financial services industry in a successful career that spanned more than 30 years.
Where is Gary now? Rosenberger was living in Orlando, Florida, serving as vice president, business development for Home Team Equity when he died in 2013.
Jim Boylan
Boylan contributed 7.0 points and 3.6 assists per game during the championship season, his first at Marquette after transferring from Assumption University. Those figures rose to 8.9 points and 5.1 assists per game the next season, and he was drafted in the fourth round of the NBA Draft. Boylan got into coaching during a professional playing career overseas, taking on a player/coach role in Switzerland. He then returned stateside, coaching at the college level. He began a prolific NBA coaching career in 1997, which spanned to 2018 and included interim head coach stints with the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks. He won an NBA Championship in 2015-16 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Where is Jim now? Boylan is retired and living in Iowa.
Bernard Toone
Toone was a sophomore on the championship squad, logging almost 14 minutes per game, scoring 4.4 points per game with 2.2 rebounds. As a senior two years later, he scored a team-best 18.7 points to go with 6.7 rebounds per game. He was named an All-American, and he was picked in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. After one season with the 76ers, he played four seasons overseas in Venezuela and Europe.
Where is Bernard now? Toone returned to his home state of New York, where he resided until his death in 2022.
Ulice Payne
Payne played 21 games and averaged 4.5 points in 15.6 minutes per game on the championship team. He played three seasons at Marquette after transferring from Ohio University, chipping in 6.8 points per game as a senior before missing the end of the season with an injury. He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons but never played professionally. He graduated from Marquette Law School in 1982, and he was named CEO and president of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002, becoming the first African American to head up an MLB franchise.
Where is Ulice now? Payne founded Addison-Clifton, LLC, a global trade compliance firm, and lives in Greenfield, Wisconsin. He is a Marquette University trustee emeritus.
Willard “Bill” Neary
A senior on the championship team, Neary was credited with doing the “dirty work inside.” On the stat sheet, he played all 32 games, averaging 1.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in almost 21 minutes per game. He attended Marquette Law School, graduating in 1980.
Where is Bill now? Neary lives in Brookfield, Wisconsin, is a shareholder at Lichtsinn & Haensel, S.C., which he joined in 1989, and serves as the municipal prosecutor for the Village of Hales Corners. He is also president and director of the Geiger Family Foundation, Inc.
Craig Butrym
Butrym played 54 games in three seasons at Marquette, including 13 games as a senior for the championship squad. He averaged 1.4 points and 1.2 rebounds per game for his career. After Marquette, he played two years of professional basketball in northeast France. When he returned to the states, he entered business leadership. He last served as regional vice president of Carrier Alliances with Sinch Voice Americas, Inc.
Where is Craig now? Butrym is retired and lives in New Berlin, Wisconsin.
Jim Dudley
Dudley played in 17 games with the championship team after transferring from Michigan State University. He played two more seasons, scoring 4.5 points with 2.5 rebounds as a senior. During the championship run, he played in two games, including against Kansas State when he sparked the team in a one-point win. He also contributed in other ways, providing a pair of black shoes for head coach Al McGuire, who forgot his own shoes for a game during the tournament.
Where is Jim now? Dudley lives in Naperville, Illinois, where he is CEO and president of Parathon, a provider of revenue management software for healthcare.
Robert Byrd
Byrd has the distinction of being the last recruit of Al McGuire’s Marquette tenure. He was a freshman on the championship team, scoring nine points in 12 games. He grew into a starter by his senior season, averaging 11.7 points and a team-best 10.0 rebounds per game as a senior in 1979-80. He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls but has made his impact in the Milwaukee community. He founded the Bridging the Gap Learning Center, Inc. in 1992 and an inner-city golf program called First Tee of Wisconsin in 2004.
Where is Robert now? Byrd is currently a part-time instructor in the Educational Opportunity Program at Marquette.
Mark Lavin
Lavin only knew championships at Marquette, making his one season of college basketball count. He scored five points and pulled down four rebounds in nine games for the champions. He went on to graduate from Marquette in 1981. He had a nearly 30-year career with the Hyatt Corporation, Carlson Hospitality and West Corporation, a telecommunications contactor in Omaha. His final role with West Corporation was as chief administrative officer.
Where is Mark now? Lavin is currently a property and small business investor in Omaha, Nebraska.
Be sure to follow Marquette Today all season long for additional content celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1977 NCAA Championship.
