Jim Doran - Early Life

Early Life

Because of the small size of Beaver High School, back then it had no football program, so he practiced basketball and baseball. His first exposure to the sport was at Buena Vista College in the fall of 1947, on the "B" team, joining after a short stint in the navy during World War II. He played defensive tackle despite being a relative lightweight at 175 pounds.

He transferred to Iowa State University in 1948, joining the track team as a sprinter and throwing the shot put. In 1949 he helped the team post a 5-3-1 record, the school's first winning football season in a span of 14 years, and being named to the all-Big Seven team at offensive end, with 689 yards on 34 catches, breaking the single-season Big Seven receiving mark by over 200 yards.

In 1949 Doran set a National Collegiate record against Oklahoma University by catching eight passes for 203 yards. A mark that remains unbroken in the Iowa State University record book. His 652 yards on 42 receptions and six touchdowns as a senior, earned him first-team All-America and all-Big Seven honors. He was the Cyclone's only football All-American in two decades, and more recently he was voted to the modern all-time all-Big Eight team. Doran closed out his Cyclone career owning virtually every Iowa State University and Big Seven receiving mark. He also played in the 1951 Hula Bowl and East–West Shrine Game.

In 1983 he was inducted into the Iowa High School Football Hall of Fame, despite never playing high school football. Doran was deemed an "outstanding example for the young men of the state of Iowa".

In 1997 he was inducted into the inaugural Iowa State University Athletics Hall of Fame.

In 2005 he was inducted into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.