Bob Buckley Makes a Lasting Impression Through Bears Tomorrow Program

When White, Graham, Buckley & Carr attorney Bob Buckley, along with friends and coaches Rob Barnes and Rob Sandberg, created the Bears Tomorrow basketball program in 2007, he had no idea that the Sunday night basketball program would impact the lives of more than 300 future William Chrisman High School students. More than that, many of those students benefited more off the court than in a gymnasium.

The Examiner interviewed Buckley about the program and the impact it has had on students, including 2013 William Chrisman graduate and 1,000-point scorer Nieka Wheeler, who could not look Buckley, or any adult, in the eye when she started in the Bears Tomorrow program.

“I owe the life I lead today, I owe everything – so, so much to Mr. Buckley,” said Wheeler, who won a junior college basketball national championship at Johnson County Community College and will soon get her bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Missouri, in the Examiner article. “Before the Bears Tomorrow program, I had no friends. I had no confidence. I really had nothing in my life, but for some reason, Mr. Buckley believed in me. He believed in me more than I even believed in myself.”