Feb. 13, 2016 DEKALB, Ill. -- NIU Athletics today unveiled a multi-layered display at the Convocation Center to permanently commemorate an iconic moment in its history – the October 1971 Sports Illustrated photoshoot of the Huskies’ basketball “Player of the Century,” Jim Bradley, by world-renowned sports photographer Heinz Kluetmeier.

Bradley, NIU’s sophomore phenom, was photographed by Kluetmeier for Sports Illustrated’s prestigious “1971-72 College Basketball” issue in a cornfield west of campus. One of the images captured that day was featured as a full-page photo on page 73 in the publication’s November 29, 1971 issue, thrusting NIU’s basketball program – entering only its fifth season at the University Division level – into the national spotlight. But Kluetmeier also captured numerous other images of Bradley that day which were never published and have been stored in the archives of Sports Illustrated – unseen by the public – for nearly 45 years.

Through the generosity of Mr. Kluetmeier, who has more than 125 Sports Illustrated covers to his credit, the images have been made available to NIU Athletics for the display as well as for its photo archives.

Recalled Mr. Kluetmeier of the October 14, 1971 photo shoot, his only visit to the NIU campus: “It was a perfect day. As soon as I met Jim and NIU’s basketball support team (head coach Tom Jorgensen, assistant coach Emory Luck and sports information director Bud Nangle), I knew it would be a terrific shoot as the photos attest. Photographers often are only as good as their subjects allow them to be and that day allowed me to be very good, thanks to Jim. He was fun, engaged and unassuming. He soared above the nearby cornfields unfettered by gravity and flashing that great smile. He reminds me to this day of Magic Johnson whom I photographed at the same age and more recently of Kris Dunn (Providence College) who I just photographed. I wish all my assignments were as wonderful as that great day with Jim, a perfect day on NIU’s campus. It is not often enough said, but I will say again as I did then, ‘thank you Jim’ for being such a perfect subject and making my job the best in the world.”

About Jim Bradley – Jim Bradley was named NIU’s “Player of the Century” for Men’s Basketball in 2000 … known as "The Franchise" for two magical seasons (1971-72 and 1972-73) when the Huskies won 38 of 50 games and basked in national limelight ... he was the cornerstone of the 21-4 Hall of Fame quintet that beat No. 5 Indiana (85-71), won the Midwestern Conference title and cracked the AP’s Top 20 in ‘71-72 ... he produced 1,134 points, the top-two rebound seasons in school history (398 in ‘71-72 and 426 in ‘72-73), 46 points-rebounds "double doubles" and NIU's first two "triple doubles" in 49 games ... his 16.8 rebounds per game remains the NIU career record … earned All-America recognition in 1971-72 and 1972-73 and was twice names team MVP … was voted First-Team All-Midwestern Conference and league MVP as a sophomore in ’71-72 … went on to play for the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association and was part of the Colonels 1974-74 ABA championship team … in high school, he led East Chicago (Ind.) Roosevelt to a 71-3 record including a 28-0 state championship season in 1970 … he was posthumously inducted onto the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1983 and into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

About Heinz Kluetmeier – Heinz Kluetmeier was born in Berlin, Germany, and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At 15, he was already shooting pictures for The Associated Press. After high school, he was offered a full-time job with the AP, but he chose to study engineering. While attending Dartmouth College, Mr. Kluetmeier continued to shoot in the summers for the Milwaukee Journal and the AP and, after graduating in 1966, worked for a year as an engineer. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Kluetmeier became a staff photographer for Time, Inc. where he shot for both Sports Illustrated and Life magazines. He has shot over 125 covers for Sports Illustrated and twice served as their Director of Photography. Among his best-known images was the March 3, 1980, Sports Illustrated cover of the U.S. Olympic hockey team’s victory over the Soviet Union. It remains the only SI cover to run without a caption because, as Mr. Kluetmeier said, “everyone in America knew what happened.” He also gained worldwide acclaim for his underwater shot of Michael Phelps winning the 100-meter butterfly by 0.01 of a second at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Mr. Kluetmeier has photographed every Olympics since 1972 (except for the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck)