Local teacher turned down NBA career
By Chris Nathan Contributing Writer

Dr. Dennis Klug CHRIS NATHAN

Shrewsbury - Dr. Dennis Klug, a teacher at Shrewsbury High School, once turned down the career of a lifetime. Just out of his senior year at Kent State, Klug was off ered a free agent contract by the New York Knicks. He turned down the contract to pursue his true passions: teaching and family.

Even now, the idea of being off ered an NBA contract enthralls Klug.

"It's a good opportunity for anyone my age coming out of college," Klug said.

The desire to become a NBA player did not come to Klug until the beginning of his college basketball career, when he realized his true potential as a player. However, majoring in education, history and philosophy, Klug had always wanted to combine his interests in athletics, coaching and teaching into his future profession.

In 1964, Klug was ending his senior year at Kent State. The NBA draft had just happened and Klug had been chosen by the Knicks.

While Klug was dazzled by the prospect of playing in the NBA, he also was newly married and his wife, Nancy, was expecting their first child. Nancy did not want him to accept the position because it meant he would spend too much time away from her and their child.

"Maybe she's right," Klug said he had thought at the time. "I had to respect her."

After months of discussion and thought, Klug rejected the contract and, for the next 44 years, committed himself to being a full-time teacher and family man.

As a teacher at Kent High, Klug became involved in his students' lives. Protests against the Vietnam War were common. College protests became loud, violent and very controversial. In May 1970, the National Guard arrived on the Kent State campus to attempt to control student protests with tear gas and bayonets, ultimately resorting to gunfire, which killed four students and wounded nine others.

"I still really can't get over what the National Guard got away with," Klug said. "[The event] opened my mind to think critically about the government, authority and life. It was a catalyst for staying with history and philosophy."

In his classroom, Klug found it fascinating to teach students who were excited by what was going on in the world and interested in how events transpired. His students

" wanted to have a voice and be able to challenge and question authority. They exchanged ideas about, not only the Kent State tragedy, but also the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Vietnam War.

Eventually, Klug left Kent to pursue his PhD, living and teaching in Ohio and Kentucky before moving to Shrewsbury in 1981. Along the way, he and Nancy raised two sons, Dennis and Mark, and a daughter, Terry. He is now a grandfather.

In Shrewsbury, Klug has spent 27 years teaching world civilization and modern European history at the High School. Making connections with students and helping open their minds is what makes Klug continue to love what he does.

Does he have any regrets about passing up his chance to play in the NBA?

"No," he said. "It was a situation for me that worked, and you can't regret something that works for you."