A record crowd of more than three thousand people checked out Hilltopper baseball last night.  A former player was also on hand with a gift to benefit generations of student-athletes for years  to come.  Amy Bingham explains how Paul Orberson has beaten the odds more than once in this week’s “View from the Hill.”

Being able to give back to his alma mater is something Paul Orberson never expected when he was a poor college student living on food stamps.  But a lot of twists and turns have brought him right back where it all started.

Wednesday night’s Hilltopper baseball game was a big of deja’vu for former player Paul Orberson. 

“Thirty years ago this week I was pitching against the same U.K. team and we beat that U.K. team four to one.”

The Tops didn’t fare as well in this game but they still came out winners.  That’s because Orberson..a stand-out player from the ‘70’s…now a highly successful businessman…has given the school 500-thousand dollars to begin building a baseball clubhouse bearing his name.

“I owe a lot to this school, I could never pay this school back.”

Orberson says without a baseball scholarship he would never have gotten a college education…never achieving the success he has today.  Orberson runs a fortune hi-tech marketing business with 100-thousand active representatives.  He travels the country speaking about his business success and a personal triumph as well.

“About five years ago I had kidney cancer and a six pound tumor attached to my right kidney..growing through my lymph nodes…the prognosis was not good.”

Amazingly, Orberson has been cancer free for more than four years..allowing him to give back to places like WKU that have given him so much.
“The energy from the administration is exciting and it’s contagious.”

After graduating from WKU  in 1979, Orberson started his career as a teacher at Warren Elementary here in Bowling Green.  He eventually transitioned to business and his now based in Lexington.  The Paul C. Orberson clubhouse is expected to be completed in time for the start of this year’s baseball season.