The DKE brothers finally persuaded Michael Jordan to play a game of pickup basketball before he went pro in 1984. Steve Gehlmann is standing directly behind the basketball pole in this iconic shot.
The pledge class of 1984 has never had to work to get back in touch because they’ve never lost touch. Since their first days in the DKE House, the 16 brothers have bonded like glue. They share a group text where they regularly communicate and celebrate life’s milestones: births, promotions, kids’ college acceptance letters. “Every life event, we’re there for each other,” says Ran Randolph ’84. “A parent dies or a baby is born, and we’re all reaching out. Our friendship with each other is the gift that keeps giving. We’re very, very close friends. There’s nothing I would not do for any of them.”
So when they suffered their first loss of a pledge brother, Steve Gehlmann ’84, the brothers knew that they wanted to memorialize him in a very special way. They knew that they wanted it to benefit the active brothers at the house, provide a tangible reminder of their memories of Steve… and commemorate a great story that involved both Steve and Michael Jordan. Yes, Michael Jordan.
Ran says that when he served as house president, Steve was both the house manager and pledge trainer. “That was pretty handy,” he says with a laugh. “He had those pledges fixing pretty much everything that was broken at the house.” He remembers Steve being a good athlete with a great sense of humor.
In his spare time, Steve, along with the rest of the pledge class and other brothers in the house, played basketball on the court beside the house. Michael Jordan would walk past on his way to class, and the brothers continually asked him to play a game of basketball with them. Michael pleaded off, saying that Coach Dean Smith wouldn’t let him play pickup games during the season in case he injured himself. One day, the news spread that MJ was going pro, and the brothers asked him one last time. He finally acquiesced, but had a few rules: he’d play anyone who wanted to play to a game of 1, and whoever made a basket first would win.
The brothers lined up and lost, one by one by one. “He swatted away all of our shots and dunked on us,” Ran says. “The only exception was one brother who had the presence of mind to not dribble, but just shoot from half-court and it miraculously went in. When he did that, Michael just looked at him and said, ‘Rematch.’ You can imagine what happened next!”
Someone had the presence of mind to run up to the roof and memorialize that pickup game of young Michael Jordan, a handful of DKE brothers, and Steve Gehlmann grinning away behind the basket.
It was a stellar memory for the pledge class, one in a long list of memories that they’d carry into their lives. Over the next three decades, the 16 men became husbands and fathers. They went on to the top of their field in their respective careers. They held reunions every five years and kept in touch during all the ups and downs in the years in between. When Steve died, they mourned and knew they wanted to honor him at the house.
Ran’s son Christian (’22) is a legacy at Beta DKE, and through Christian and Beta DKE Alumni Association president, Scott Smith ’80, Ran found out that they wanted to replace the old basketball court with an up-to-date sport court, and it prompted an idea. He immediately reached out to their pledge class along with the classes of ’83, ’85, ’86 and ’87, and suggested that they band together to raise money to pay for it.
“It seemed like a good way to do it,” he says. “We could support that project and honor Steve, who was out on that court all the time.” And in a nod to that memorable day with Michael Jordan, Ran proposed putting the memorial plaque in the exact spot where Steve stood in the photo.
Today the group of alumni from ’83-’87, with coordination from Michael Paschall ’86, Bo Mason ’83, Tom Benjamin ’83, Ellis Zaytoun ’85 and Brent Smith ’86, have raised around $6,000 for the sport court, which is already in place at the house. They hope to raise more in the coming months to help fully fund the construction cost.
Ran says that the gift— and the memory it represents— is just one more thing that bonds the pledge brothers. “We were surrounded by pledge brothers who were smart, fun, well-rounded and very driven. I think when you have that, you tend to benchmark yourself by those around you. It helps you set a standard for yourself which leads you to strive to be a good husband, a good father, and a good friend, and to have a career of distinction… all of which leads to a fulfilled life. That’s what we’ve given to each other, that huge amount of support.”
If you would like to contribute to the effort to pay for the new sport court, please send you check to Beta of DKE, c/o Brent Smith, 510 Meadowmont Village Circle, Box 261, Chapel Hill, NC 27517, with Gehlmann Sport Court designated on the memo line of the check.
