NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Chris Dudley's dream was always to play in the NBA. It was during his time at Yale in the mid-1980's that it started to look like it could become a reality.
 
"I was a late bloomer," he said.
 
As a sophomore in 1984-85, Dudley earned first team All-Ivy recognition for the first time. But it was really in the summer after that season, that he started to believe. Chad Ludington, a teammate at Yale was from North Carolina, so Dudley went to visit him and worked Dean Smith's camp at the University of North Carolina and Jim Valvano's camp at NC State. At the end of the day, the counselors would get together and play.
 
"It was the best pick-up ball in the world," Dudley remembers. "Michael [Jordan] was there and Brad Daugherty and Sam Perkins. I was able to hold my own. To be able to play against those guys and hold my own, in my mind, it showed me I had an opportunity."
 
The battles with Daugherty, who like Dudley played in the post, were particularly memorable. Daugherty would later become the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.
 
"He was the best center in college," Dudley said.
 
Dudley returned to New Haven with a renewed level of confidence. In his junior season he earned first team All-Ivy honors after averaging 16.2 points and 9.8 rebounds. As a senior, he again led the team in scoring (17.6 ppg.) and rebounding (13.3 rpg.) while being named first team All-Ivy for the third straight year.
 
A late-season injury in his senior season, though, nearly derailed his NBA aspirations. With the Bulldogs still in the hunt for the Ivy League championship, Dudley tore ligaments in his ankle in practice in the days leading up to the final weekend of play. The injury forced him to miss some of the pre-draft workouts.
 
Nevertheless, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Dudley with the 75^th selection of the 1987 NBA Draft. In those days, the draft wasn't quite the spectacle it is now.
 
"I think I went out for a run," Dudley said of the night of the draft. "It wasn't like you could watch it on TV, so I was just waiting for my agent to call me."
 
Dudley went on to have a remarkably successful career. He played 16 seasons in the NBA for five organizations – Cleveland, New Jersey, Phoenix, New York and Portland – made 12 playoff appearances, scored 3,473 points, grabbed 5,457 rebounds and appeared in 886 games.
 
Dudley also thrived and made an impact off the court. In 1994, he and his wife started the Chris Dudley Foundation, which is dedicated to empowering youth with type 1 diabetes. Dudley was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 16 years old and was the first in the NBA to play with the disease.
 
"I would get a lot of questions from parents and kids about how I was able to play with diabetes," he said. "Like most players, I'd been asked to start a basketball camp, and we decided to combine the two."
 
The results have been remarkable. The Foundation's camp, which began in 1995, celebrated its 25^th anniversary earlier this summer, albeit virtually because of the pandemic. Over the years, the camp, which is for boys and girls ages 10 to 17, has attracted children from 45 states and throughout the world, including Croatia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
 
"When we started, we thought the main benefit would be teaching kids how to deal with their diabetes while playing sports, but we quickly realized that one of the major benefits of the camp was to have a week where [the campers] are with other kids who have the same issue – dealing with type 1," Dudley explained. "The support system that has evolved is incredibly important. These kids stay in touch forever. It's really become a family."
 
The camp has a long waiting list every year and many of the counselors are former campers.
 
Dudley's exceptional work has not gone unnoticed. He was the 1996 recipient of the NBA's J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, presented to a player, coach, or staff member who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community.
 
In addition to the work with his foundation, Dudley is a Senior Vice President for Congress Wealth Management in Southern California. An economics major at Yale, Dudley was always interested in finance. During his time in the NBA, he saw the importance of sound financial advice.
 
"There is a real need for good service," he said. "I always knew I wanted to go into investments when I was done playing. If I hadn't played in the NBA, I probably would have worked on Wall Street."
 
Dudley, who has three children now in college, remains a big supporter of the Yale Basketball program. He tries to watch as many games as he can on ESPN+ and has travelled to see the Bulldogs make their two most recent NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2016 victory over Baylor in Providence.
 
"I've been really proud of what Coach [James] Jones has been able to do with the program," Dudley said. "He's done an incredible job, and it's been fun to see Yale be the best team in the league over the last 10 years. I've been very impressed with the culture [Jones] has been able to develop."
 
Dudley also enjoyed following Miye Oni, who recently completed his rookie season with the Utah Jazz. Oni is the first Bulldog to play in the NBA since Dudley. The two met when Dudley brought his sons to the Yale Basketball camp a few years ago.
 
"He had a nice run at the end of the regular season down in the bubble," said Dudley, who said he texts Oni regularly. "It was great to see. He seems like an awesome kid, and I think he has a very bright future. He's very talented and has a lot of upside."
 
Dudley's advice to Oni on life in the NBA is to simply work hard.
 
"It's a marathon, not a sprint," Dudley said. "The guys that last are the guys that treat it like a profession and work at it and put in the hours. That's what separates the players that have a brief fling in the league and those who have a long career. Miye has the ingredients you need – humble and hungry."
 
Dudley, whose father also is a Yale graduate, looks back fondly at his time in New Haven, particularly the relationships he made.
 
"Those are the memories you take away," he said. "The times you spent with your friends going through the Yale experience."
 
Dudley also fully embraces the Yale philosophy.
 
"You should embrace athletics, but you can also embrace academics," he said. "Too often people try to make it either/or, and it doesn't have to be either/or. I wanted to get the best education I could."