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Former pro basketball player scores with volunteer work

Dan Sadlier, former president of Fifth Third Bank of Western Ohio, will receive the president's award from the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. The award recognizes Sadlier's volunteer contributions to the area, including his work with the Salvation Army and local arts groups.

Jan Underwood/Staff photographer Dan Sadlier, former president of Fifth Third Bank of Western Ohio, will receive the president's award from the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. The award recognizes Sadlier's volunteer contributions to the area, including his work with the Salvation Army and local arts groups.

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By Tim Tresslar, Staff Writer 11:15 PM Friday, October 2, 2009

Dan Sadlier — a former pro basketball player turned banker — does a lot of things in retirement, but warming a bench isn’t one of them.

Sadlier retired as president and chief executive of Fifth Third Bank’s Dayton area operation in 2005. Retired, but not idle, the Centerville resident continues to sit on corporate boards for Vectren Corp. and Premier Health Care Services, while also keeping a hand in banking by sitting on the board of Fifth Third’s affiliate in Cincinnati.

In addition, the Lima native also sits on the boards of nonprofit organizations such as the Air Force Museum Foundation, the Sinclair Foundation, the Montgomery County Arts & Cultural District and the Salvation Army’s Advisory Board.

Sadlier, who on Oct. 8 will receive a Citizen Legion of Honor Award from the President’s Club of Dayton recognizing his volunteer work, said he feels strongly about donating time to various causes.

“I think in order to make a difference as far as the community is concerned, you need to get involved,” Sadlier said.

When Sadlier believes in a project or a cause, he throws himself into making it happen, offering his time and his business expertise, said Reggie Winters, business administrator for the Dayton command of the Salvation Army.

For example, when the Salvation Army began working on the multimillion-dollar Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, Sadlier set up the initial meeting between Winters and UD president Dan Curran.

“Dan (Sadlier) opened the door for us,” Winters said, adding that Sadlier also at one point coached the local Salvation Army’s youth basketball team.

Sadlier said news of the award surprised him.

“It’s quite humbling to be asked to join that group,” he said.

Sadlier said he still considers his work with the University of Dayton’s board of trustees and his role in helping to bring minor league baseball to the region in the 1990s as highlights of his volunteer efforts.

Sadlier graduated from UD in 1970 with a degree in business management. In the fall of that year, he made a failed bid to join the Kentucky Colonels, part of the now-defunct American Basketball Association, but the contacts he made led to him trying out for an American basketball team based in Europe. A year later, he joined a French basketball team and played for them five years, meeting his wife, Susan, in the process. He returned to Dayton in 1976 and joined the banking industry.

Sadlier said he no longer plays basketball, but he does make time to play golf.

“You’ve always got to make time for golf,” he said.