Steve Danielson and Roger Powell Sr. first met in the fall of 1972 on the campus of Illinois State University.

Steve, who is white, was a farm boy from rural Princeton. Roger was a young black man from the inner city in Joliet.

“Stevie D,” as he was best known at school, was the beloved ISU basketball team’s student manager; Roger was an incoming star for the Redbirds.

They struck up a lasting friendship that lasted 55 years until Powell’s death last week at 71. He had been in declining health from multiple strokes.

Their friendship knew no color, stretching past any racial barriers and cultural differences. It is a friendship to be admired and one that would make the world a better place if we all followed their example.

Danielson said their love for basketball is what brought them together.

“I just wanted to be around basketball and became manager at ISU. Much to my delight, Roger decided to continue his career at ISU,” Danielson said. “I can remember the first time we met in August of 1972 and it’s lasted a lifetime.”

What bonded them, Danielson said, is that “we learned about each other and our different backgrounds.” Powell came to visit Steve a few times in Princeton and Danielson went to Joliet and attended Powell’s church several times with Roger’s family. It was all because they trusted each other and knew they would look out for one another, Danielson said.

Danielson once apologized to his mom for not coming home for Mother’s Day during his junior year in college because Powell wanted him to take him to Joliet to spend the day with his mother. A year later, a month before Mother’s Day, Powell’s mother, Catherine, died suddenly of a heart attack.

“Coach (Gene) Smithson told me, ‘Steve, Roger’s mom died this morning and I want you to take my car and drive him home to Joliet,’” Danielson said. “I remember going on that drive to Joliet, Roger said what his mom meant to him and he was blessed. But it was sad she’d gone suddenly.”

Their friendship extended to their families. Their parents, Ben and Catherine Powell and Joe and Arvilla Danielson, would come to all the home games in Normal and become such good friends they had a table reserved them for them at a local restaurant to eat together after each game.

“The beauty of it, our friendship has continued down to our kids. My kids are friends with Roger Jr. and his sister,” Danielson said. “It’s gone through the generations and I think that’s the beauty of the whole friendship.”

Danielson, who visited Powell in his final weeks, will see his friend to the very end, asked by Powell’s widow, Cherry, to serve as a pall bearer. He said it’s a humbling honor.

Powell was a Parade All-American at Joliet Central, setting the school’s all-time scoring record which still stands today with 2,200 career points, averaging about 35 points per game his senior season. He led the Steelmen to the 1970 IHSA State Final Four as a sophomore, finishing third. He was the tournament’s top scorer.

The sharp-shooter went on to score 1,306 points at ISU, 20th all-time. His career-high game came on Feb, 16, 1976 when he scored 39 points against Central Michigan. Danielson remembers when Powell scored 30 points against Morehead State as a freshman at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York. It remains tied for the fifth-most by a Redbird freshman in program history, in a showcase game that he outshined teammate Doug Collins, the Olympic star and future NBA No. 1 draft pick.

“Coach (Will) Robinson put Roger in there and he was the leading scorer. Everybody was saying, ‘ooh, I thought we were seeing Doug Collins. Who’s this kid?’” Danielson said.

I remember as a young teen making the short trip from nearby Atlanta, my hometown, to go to ISU games with my dad and seeing Roger play. He was, as my dear late friend Bob Westlund of the Kewanee Star Courier liked to describe, was in range the moment he got off the bus.

Powell, who was inducted into the ISU Hall of Fame in 1998 and later into the Joliet Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, returned to his hometown where he organized a neighborhood basketball league and initiated other efforts to help young people in the lower income neighborhood in which he grew up.

Tributes have been pouring in since Powell’s passing. The Joliet Herald-News simply said, “Joliet has lost an icon.”

Tom Verderber, who played with Powell at Joliet Central, said on social media “he was blessed with amazing ability, skills and talent. I’d observe him during our practices and wonder in astonishment, “How in the heck can someone be that good?’”

“My dad said he was the truth in basketball,” Nichole Harden-Kidd said on Facebook.

Powell’s son, Roger Jr. was a starter on the University of Illinois team that went to the NCAA championship game in 2005, falling to North Carolina by five points. He is now head coach at Valparaiso University, making an emotional return to ISU with his team a year ago knowing how much the school meant to his father.

On X.com, Roger Jr. posted: “Daddy, I will see you in heaven. Going to miss you, but thankful for the time God gave me with you. My heart is heavy, but grateful I got to hold you during your last breath.”

The Joliet and ISU icon will be laid to rest in his hometown next week. Visitation will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1 at Minor-Morris Funeral Home in Joliet and from 9-11 a.m. on Thursday, April 2 with services to follow at All Nations Church of God of Christ in Joliet.

Heaven’s team has gained a great man and a great shooter if they play basketball up there. Fly High Redbird.

Kevin Hieronymus has been sports editor of the Bureau County Republican since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrneews.com