After 40 years, no room in the stands
Seat 5, Row A, Section 112.
For 40 years, that’s where Dr. David Minter sat during every TCU home men’s basketball game.
He remembers the wood floors and cloth banners that hung from the rafters of the then-Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. He saw the fans rush onto the floor in 1981 after TCU’s quadruple overtime win over the University of Houston. He heard the roar of the crowd in 1987 after Jamie Dixon’s miracle shot defeated the University of Texas.
He hadn't missed a home game in 40 years -- until this year.
Schollmaier Arena is restricted to 25% capacity, and season tickets were offered to all previous season ticket holders, according to the TCU Ticket Office.
Minter said his request was denied.
Tickets were awarded based on a point system according to donor level, according to TCU Athletics. When Minter was eligible to purchase a ticket, they were gone.
But he'll be starting a new streak at the Frogs' next home game.
When Athletic Director Jermiah Donati read that Minter's streak was broken, he offered him tickets for the remaining home games this season.
Minter's seat. (JD Pells / TCU staff photographer)
Minter's seat. (JD Pells / TCU staff photographer)
Minter has no ties to TCU athletics. His passion is teaching chemistry and mentoring students. He spends 15-20 hours each week in the lab working side-by-side with students, even working some weekends.
Mentoring students in the lab and seeing them succeed, he said, is his favorite part of the job.
“I’m most proud of being able to play a part in helping our pre-health students get into medical and dental schools,” Minter said.
In the fall of 1980, Minter came to TCU and began teaching a class notorious for its difficulty: organic chemistry I. Brent Blackburn was one of the first two students to work in Minter’s organic chemistry lab.
As the lab finished on the night that marked the season opener for men’s basketball, Blackburn asked Minter if he wanted to go to the game.
They attended every home game together for the next two years.
Throughout the past 40 years, Minter was a fixture in the crowd.
Scott Stone, captain for Horned Frog Hospitality, has worked at every men’s basketball game for the past seven years.
After one year, he was stationed in section 112, and Minter’s seat was directly to his left. Stone quickly recognized that Minter didn’t miss any games.
“There are people who sit in the lower bowl and get the attention and are in the club, but [Minter] always sat there quietly without drawing attention,” Stone said. “He is the most hardcore fan.”
Stone said Minter is the only fan he knows of who attends the games so consistently.
“I couldn’t have peace until he was in his seat,” Stone said. “Where is he? He has to be here any minute.”
This season, Stone said he only works about half the games and he has noticed one person is missing: Minter.
"Not seeing him in his 'spot' this season is just another reminder of how COVID-19 has changed things so much," Stone said. "Our every-game handshake is missed."
"TCU Chemistry Department Staple"
Minter teaches organic chemistry I and II, advanced organic chemistry and a special topics course on nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy at TCU.
He walks in at exactly 8 a.m. carrying three black Expo markers in his hands. He immediately begins to draw on the board, launching into the material for the day. He lectures completely from memory.
“He never once looked at notes,” senior biology major Jake Lynn said. “He would do it all from the genius of his brain.”
Morgan Lindsey, senior biology and child development double major, described Minter as a “TCU chemistry department staple.”
Lindsey also said Minter’s class positively impacted her college experience as a whole.
Minter and the students in his lab try to discover new reactions that can create compounds to treat illnesses. Most of these compounds they create contain nitrogen, like many other drugs that are important in treating various illnesses.
Blackburn, who earned a Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin and founded Rapidscan Pharma Solutions Inc., said his launch point for success was working in Minter’s lab.
“I learned what it takes to do original research, and I was lucky enough to be a contributing author on a publication from the work we did,” Blackburn said. “Most importantly, however, is how that experience prepared me to succeed in graduate school.”
The pair did research on the reduction reactions of quinoline boranes. Their findings were published in the journal Tetrahedron Letters in 1984.
Last year, Blackburn was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the TCU College of Science and Engineering for his prominence in the chemistry field.
A teacher's influence
Minter’s love of chemistry started in Sarah Seeley’s second-grade class in Center, Texas, where he was born and raised.
“I’ll never forget her as long as I live,” Minter said. “I got a really good dose of chemistry and what it was all about, and I never lost that interest through junior high and high school."
"I knew chemistry was the thing that was always interesting.”
Minter started his career as a research chemist for Dow Chemical Company. However, industrial chemistry wasn’t flexible or creative enough, Minter said.
“When I saw something in the lab I couldn’t explain, I automatically wanted to continue in that direction to find out what was going on,” Minter said. “So, that automatically led me to want to be at the university teaching and doing research.”
He has published about 40 papers in scientific journals. He received the Dean’s Teaching Award in 1995 and 2008. He is also part of both the organic division and DFW chapter of the American Chemical Society.
In 2015, Blackburn created the Dr. David Minter Chemistry Research Fund in honor of Minter and his work mentoring students and teaching chemistry. This fund provides research opportunities to students who major in chemistry or biology.
TCU Basketball
Minter and Blackburn have been through the ups and downs of TCU basketball games through the years.
When they first started going to games, there were nights when they were among only a handful of people in the stands.
The crowds started coming after the Frogs had their first winning season in 10 years in 1982.
“I have stood probably for two hours in the parking lot of Daniel-Meyer, three hours before game time, waiting for the doors to open so I could get out and get a seat,” Minter said.
One player who stands out in Minter’s memory is current head coach Jamie Dixon.
“He was really the glue that held the team together,” Minter said. “He was solid, solid as a rock.”
Minter’s favorite moment of all his time with TCU basketball involves Dixon: His “miracle shot,” a 35-foot buzzer-beater he hit in 1986 to lift the Frogs to victory over Texas.
“The stands emptied onto the floor,” he said. “It was pandemonium.”
Minter is often accompanied at the games by his organic chemistry students, such as Lynn.
When asked about the type of spectator Minter is, Lynn laughed.
"He's been to a lot of TCU basketball games, so he definitely knows his stuff,” Lynn said. "He's not afraid to share his opinion at the games that's for sure."
Minter at a home basketball game on March 7, 2020. (Heesoo Yang / Staff Photographer)
Minter at a home basketball game on March 7, 2020. (Heesoo Yang / Staff Photographer)
Minter talking with members of hospitality on March 7, 2020. (Heesoo Yang / Staff Photographer)
Minter talking with members of hospitality on March 7, 2020. (Heesoo Yang / Staff Photographer)
On the Court
While Minter doesn’t shoot hoops with students, he does enjoy challenging them on the racquetball court.
He plays with any student who asks, using the time to build relationships: his favorite part of the job.
When Lynn was in Minter’s organic chemistry I class, older students told him Minter enjoyed playing racquetball. So, he challenged him to a match.
“I had never played racquetball before, so I was pretty nervous the first time we played,” Lynn said. “He absolutely smoked me then, and every time we played. I don’t think I've ever actually beaten him.”
Lynn and Minter played racquetball every Friday at 5 p.m. through fall 2018 and spring 2019. After the matches, they would eat dinner at Potbelly.
“We would talk about organic chemistry, but we would also talk about basketball, religion, politics, medicine and where it’s headed in the future,” Lynn said. “Talking about life and learning about him was a special part of our relationship that formed inside and outside the classroom.”
His office door is always wide open to students seeking help with organic chemistry homework, challenging him to a racquetball match or accompanying him to a TCU basketball game.
Even this year, with COVID-19 forcing many classes online, Minter still opens his lab to in-person instruction.
He also still planned to attend TCU basketball games in-person.
“Oh, I’ll absolutely be there this year yes, yes,” he said in October. “I’ll be there with my mask on.”
Now, after 40 years, there is no room in the stands and no one in Seat 5, Row A, Section 112.
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