Todd Wayne Habegger g76

Todd Wayne Habegger garnered more accolades than any other athlete in Fort Wayne Bible College (FWBC) history. Todd came from North Side High School in Fort Wayne, where he was an All-City prep star in both football and basketball, and from Harvester Avenue Missionary Church, where he and his family had deep spiritual roots.

The selfless center was a consummate team player who rarely made an error, and the Falcons did well each of his four years. His freshmen year (1972-1973), they went 23-6 and won the Bethel Invitational (now Gates Automotive Classic), Falcon Invitational, North Central Christian Athletic Conference (NCCAC) co-championship, and NCCAC tournament championships. Todd scored 466 points (16.6 per game average) and pulled down 358 rebounds (12.8 per game average) in the process.

His sophomore year, the Falcons (21-10) came back from a slow start to repeat as NCCAC champions and were honored with the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Sportsmanship Award. Todd led the team in scoring with 538 (17.9 per game average), in rebounding with 444 (14.8 per game average), and in free throw percentage (75%).

His junior year, the team again did well (17-8), losing to Cedarville in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) district playoffs. Todd had game highs of 34 points and 34 rebounds that year. He would finish the year almost as evenly, with 442 points for a 17.6 per game average and 438 rebounds for a 17.5 per game average.

His senior year, the Falcons posted another commendable regular season, and enjoyed a triumphant post-season run, winning both NCCAA II District and NCCAA II National Tournament championships, to finish 18-9. Todd had carried the team in scoring, with 606 points for a 22.4 per game average, and rebounding, with 416 for a 15.4 average.

Todd finished his four full years of play with 2,052 career points (second only to Peter Strubhar), and moved ahead of Bruce Masopust's total to top the career rebounding list with 1,656. Among his other records were the highest field goal percentage in a career at 54.3% (1972-1976), most field goals made in a season with 248 (1975-1976), and most field goals made in a career with 855 (1972-1976).

The following is just a partial list of his amazing honors:

Bethel Invitational (now Gates Automotive Classic) All-Tournament 1972 (Most Valuable Player [MVP]), 1973, 1974, 1975 (the only player ever honored for four straight years in a tournament that began in 1969 and continues to the present day)
Consistently named to other in-season, all-tournament squads through all four years of play (1972-1976), beginning the fall of his freshman year with the Falcon Invitational and the Manchester Invitational
Fort Wayne All-City team (collegiate) 1973, 1974,1975 (unanimous), 1976
North Central Christian Athletic Conference (NCCAC) All-Conference 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 (MVP)
NCCAA District 3 All-District 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976
Sports Ambassadors/Venture for Victory collegiate all-star squad tours of Africa 1973, 1974
Falcon team Sportsmanship-Hustle Award 1974
Falcon team Most Improved Player (MIP) 1975
Falcon team MVP 1974, 1976
NCCAA All-American, 2^nd team 1975
NCCAA Murchison Foundation Award 1975 (for the outstanding Christian athlete in the nation as selected, at that time, by Bobby Richardson, John Wooden, and Norm Evans-since replaced within the NCCAA men's basketball program by the Pete Maravich Award)
NCCAA II All-American 1976
NCCAA II National Tournament MVP 1976

Falcon jersey #32, one of three jerseys retired when the Gerig Activities Center opened on 23 September 1989, the only one from men's basketball.

After graduating from FWBC with a B.A. in Pre-Seminary Studies in 1976, Todd worked as an interim pastor at Decatur Missionary Church, and then attended Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.Div. 1981). For the next two years (1981-1983), Todd helped as an associate pastor with Lakeview Missionary Church in Zion, Illinois, while also preparing to plant a new church in Gurnee, Illinois.

Then in 1983, with a core of 75 people, from and with the blessing of Lakeview Missionary Church, the Village Church of Gurnee began services with Todd as its founding senior pastor, a role he continues in a quarter century later. The child soon outgrew the parent, and Village Church has since become a landmark evangelical congregation in Chicago's northern suburbs, where Todd's strong, practical preaching attracts numerous professionals, including faculty from nearby Trinity International University. Village Church is today a vital center for Christian discipleship whose outreach extends around the world.

Todd serves on the Missionary Church Constitutional Commission, on the Missionary Church Central District Executive Board, and in various other capacities.

In 2006, Todd was named a Distinguished Alumnus for Professional Achievement by Taylor University Fort Wayne.

Todd is married to Marlene "Marti" K. Zimmerman (FWBC 1977). They have two married daughters, Erin Walberg and Kristin Bergman, and three grandchildren.