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Today’s athletic alumni spotlight shines on Bruce Andrews, a 2012 Central Baptist College Athletic Department Hall of Fame inductee. Andrews attended CBC from 1974-1976, taking the classes he needed for his future accounting degree. While at CBC, he played basketball for fellow Hall of Famer Said Thomas. In his two seasons playing basketball, he was a post player, leading the team in scoring and rebounding as a sophomore in 1975-76, when he averaged a double-double and earned second-team All-Ozark Junior College Athletic Conference honors.
BASKETBALL EXPERIENCE
Andrews didn’t have much basketball experience when he first came to CBC. “I didn’t start playing basketball until 10th grade,” Andrews said. “I played at Pulaski-Oak Grove (the predecessor of Maumelle High School) and I didn’t get any offers. My coach asked if I was interested in playing junior college ball (CBC was a junior college athletically at the time) and I told him I was. I wanted to continue playing basketball, but I didn’t want to walk on. I toured the campus with Coach Thomas, loved it and he offered me a scholarship.
Andrews remembers two games vividly in his time at CBC. The first memory he recalled was a game in the 1974-75 season against East Arkansas College. The game was run-and-gun and Andrews ended up scoring a then-record 42 points in a game. That same year, in the regional tournament, Andrews recalled getting to play against Ron Brewer, when he attended West Arkansas Community College (now the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith), stating that Brewer “was a class above everyone else on the court as a player.”
LIVING OUT HIS CALLING
After his time at CBC, Andrews transferred to Ouachita Baptist, where he played two more years of basketball. He remembered his time at CBC fondly: “The environment was incredible. I became a Christian at 15 and the environment for being away from home was perfect. It was a great place to grow up and be around faculty and staff that were committed to me. I met my wife at CBC and got a good education and a good background to finish my athletic and academic career at Ouachita.”
AFTER CBC
“When I first came to CBC, I thought I wanted to be a math major,” added Andrews. “After I got here, I took business courses and changed to accounting, and the two years of accounting and business helped me complete my degree at OBU because I didn’t have to repeat the courses.” The degree launched him to a 30+ year career in accounting, first for BKD in Little Rock and then 25+ years at the First Electric Co-Op in Jacksonville, where he served as the CFO for 15 years before retiring in 2018.
RECOMMENDING CBC
Andrews added that CBC is a great environment for a first-time college student. “It’s absolutely great for your personal development. The academics were as good as any other college and CBC is just as tough and challenging as any college. If you choose to immerse yourself in the culture and environment, you will never forget your time at CBC.”
CONTACT US
Do you want to surround yourself in a spiritually encouraging and academically challenging college community like Bruce did?
Visit cbc.edu/whycbc to learn more, apply for admission, or to schedule an in-person or virtual personal campus visit experience.
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