Scorer Supreme: Call from MSU Coach Helps Bring Tim Kissman to Hillsdale
Written by Doug Goodnough
Hillsdale College can thank Tom Izzo for Tim Kissman, ’94. The legendary Michigan State University men’s basketball coach saw the 6-foot-7-inch high school senior from Eaton Rapids, Michigan, at a summer camp and thought he had talent.
He wasn’t quite talented enough for the Spartans, but Izzo called one of his former players, then-Charger basketball assistant coach Scott Sekal, about Kissman. That led to Kissman eventually signing with Hillsdale under then-new head coach Bernie Balikian.
The high-paced offense Balikian brought to Hillsdale suited Kissman, who thrived around the basket and also from beyond the 3-point line.
“We were built for each other,” Kissman said of Balikian’s style. “The rules were you couldn’t shoot a jump shot inside the 3-point line. It had to be a layup or a 3-pointer. I was able to execute (inside), and the 3-pointer, I just fell in love with that as well.”
The former Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and all-conference honoree went on to become Hillsdale’s second all-time leading scorer, finishing his career with 1,792 points. He is also in the top 10 in Hillsdale’s career field goals and free throws made, and finished with a career 61.2 percent field goal percentage, second in program history.
A member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity while on campus, he said meeting his future wife was one of the highlights during his time at Hillsdale. On the court, he said Hillsdale’s GLIAC Tournament run during his junior year was memorable.
After graduation, the English major went into journalism, working as a news reporter at the Hillsdale Daily News and the Blissfield Advance. He eventually ventured out on his own, beginning his own regional health magazine, Healthy & Fit, and an ad agency, which he ran for 16 years before ending operations in 2021.
“The skills that I learned at Hillsdale, I kind of turned that into a small business,” said Kissman, who now resides in Mason, Michigan. “I was grateful for that opportunity.”
Kissman now considers himself “semi-retired,” and he and his wife, former Charger softball standout Amy Kesterke Kissman, ’96, follow their youngest daughter’s volleyball career at Ashland University. Their oldest daughter recently completed a successful basketball career at Oakland University.
“We’re looking forward to the next phase of our lives,” he said.
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in January 2023