In 1954 Shelly Stark graduated from South Shore High School, and last year he came back. The 67-year-old retired marketing executive–who’s a legend among local basketball aficionados for the summertime hoop tournaments he once ran–has taken an unpaid job as a one-man booster for his alma mater. “This is my mission, my love, my life,” says Stark. “This is where I want to be.”
In his senior year at South Shore, Stark was the starting guard on a basketball team that won its division. “My greatest thrill in high school sports came on my last game in the old gym,” he says. “We beat CVS by one point, 50-49. I had one of my best games. I scored 12 points. The student body carried me off the court.”
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After high school, he served in the army and then graduated from Roosevelt University with a business degree. “In the 60s and 70s a lot of the old South Shore guys moved north or to the suburbs when the neighborhood changed,” says Stark. “I stayed for a long time, then I moved out. But I stayed on the south side. I moved to Prairie Shores [the housing complex] on 29th Street. I’m a south-sider–I wouldn’t really feel right living anywhere else.”
In 1968 Stark got a gig coaching in a summer pro-amateur league at the Martin Luther King Boys Club on the west side. “That was just about the greatest time I ever had,” he says. “Nobody gets paid, it’s all love of the game. We had playground legends going up against NBA guys. Everyone who was anyone played in that league. A lot of the Bulls from back then–Norm Van Lier, Bob Love, Flynn Robinson–stayed around in the summer to play there. They wanted to stay sharp and they knew this was a tough place to play. I remember [former Bulls coach] Dick Motta called me up. He said, ‘Shelly, we have a number one draft choice who’s never been around black guys. Can you take him on your team?’ That was Tom Boerwinkle. I’ll never forget when he showed up. He looked around the gym, and then he came up to me and said, ‘Shelly, where are the whites?’ I said, ‘Tom, this is it.’ But he got along fine.”
To his delight, he’s discovered a few familiar faces in the school, including Batts, who’s now a gym teacher and the boys varsity basketball coach. “It’s like old times for me and Shelly,” says Batts.
“What’sa matter, Tommy?” asks Stark. “You’re sniffling.”
“It’s not working ’cause you’re not using it right. You gotta dial nine,” says Stark.
