Class of 2023
Steve Shepard
Steven Bernard Sheppard (born March 21, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player from New York City, who was nicknamed "Bear".
Steve Shepard born and raised in Bronx led Clinton HighSchool to a PSAL City Championship in 1971. The 6'6"forward took his talents to University of Maryland, Sheppard participated on the United States national basketball team which won a gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Sheppard was then selected by the Chicago Bulls as the eighth pick in the second round of the 1977 NBA draft. In two NBA seasons (1977–1979) with the Bulls and Detroit Pistons, Sheppard scored 367 points and grabbed 178 rebounds.
Hugh Evans
Evans born in Squire West Virginia he relocated to New York City and became director of a community center in Bronx in 1968 Mitchell community center becominga mentor and role model for hundredsof young people. He paid $100 to sign up for an officials’ camp – later calling it "the best investment I ever made and officiated amateur basketball games in the summer league held at Rucker Park in Harlem. The camp director soon asked him whether he would be interested in refereeing professional games. Evans subsequently agreed a part-time contract with the NBA in 1972 to officiate 47 games, before becoming a full-time referee the following year. He became the second NBA referee to come from a historically Black college or university after Ken Hudson.
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Bobby Cremins
"Robert Joseph Cremins Jr. (born July 4, 1947 in The Bronx) is a retired college basketball coach. He served as a head coach at Appalachian State, Georgia Tech, and the College of Charleston.
Early years
Cremins attended All Hallows High School in the Bronx, New York, where he was born to Irish immigrants from County Kerry. In 1966, he entered the University of South Carolina (USC) on a basketball scholarship, where he played under coach Frank McGuire. While Cremins was there, the South Carolina team won 61 games, with 17 losses, while Cremins was the starting point guard for three years for the Gamecocks. Cremins, known as "Cakes", was also the captain of South Carolina's 1969–70 team which went 25–3 and won USC's first (and only) ACC regular season title. He graduated from USC in 1970 with a B.S. degree in marketing, before playing professional basketball for one year in Ecuador.
Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis (7/14/43- 9/7/23) High school basketball coach with the third most wins in public school athletic league history. Coach Mathis won five Bronx championships and two PSAL championships. Coach Mathis had a profound on the lives of countless young men and women.
Having starred at Savannah State in Georgia and gone on to prolong playing his career with multiple teams in the ABA, Mathis found his way to New York City. He was eager to try his hand in the coaching trade and developing young men as student-athletes and better them as people first, student-athletes second.
Debbie Miller
Her passion for the sport began on playground courts in the Bronx, NY. These early experiences led her to being a standout on her first team and first time playing organized basketball in high school. During a time when basketball scholarships for women were just becoming available, Debbie earned one to Boston University where she dominated over her four seasons with the Lady Terriers. Today, Debbie still holds many Boston University records in scoring, rebounding, steals, assists, and blocked shots. Debbie was a Collegiate All-American, and in 1980 while still in college, earned a spot on the 1980 US Women’s Olympic team.
Michelle Roberts
Michele A. Roberts (born 1956) is an American attorney and former executive director of the National Basketball Players Association. She was the first woman to hold that position and the first woman to head a major professional sports union in North America. Previously, she was an attorney with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Early life
Roberts grew up in a housing project in the South Bronx neighborhood of The Bronx in New York City. She attended the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University in 1977 and her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley's School of Law in 1980.
Howard Garfinkel
"Five-Star Basketball Camp
Howard Morris Garfinkel (August 1, 1929 – May 7, 2016) was an American high school basketball scout who ran the well-known Five-Star Basketball Camp from 1966 to 2008.
Career
Garfinkel played high school basketball at Barnard High School in The Bronx. In 1965, he started High School Basketball Illustrated, a scouting service that was based on New York area players.This was a major recruiting tool for 20 years, for college coaches nationwide looking for players in the city known for its basketball talent. His Five-Star Basketball Camp ran from 1966 until 2008, when the NCAA ended such camps.
Niesha Butler
Niesha Alice Butler is an American basketball player, actress, and entrepreneur, of Aruban and Puerto Rican descent, best known as a member of the New York Liberty, sideline reporter for the Atlanta Hawks, and founder of Ballin Technologies. She is often featured in films related to sport. She has also worked as a sideline reporter for various outfits including CBS Radio, MSG Network, and CUNY TV.
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Butch
Lee
Alfred "Butch" Lee Jr. (born December 5, 1956) is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player. Lee was the first Puerto Rican and first Latin American-born athlete to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), accomplishing this after being selected in the first round of the 1978 NBA draft.[1]
He began his career in the NCAA, where he gathered several "Player of the Year" recognitions and earned All-American honors as both a junior and senior while at Marquette University. Lee was selected as the Most Outstanding Player at the 1977 Final Four where he led the Warriors to the school's first national championship. The university recognized this by retiring his jersey.
Jack Curran
Curran was born on September 6, 1930, the son of New York City police officer Thomas Curran and Helen Curran, who worked in the New York City Police Commissioner's office.
Curran graduated in 1948 from All Hallows High School in the Bronx, New York City. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from St. John's University, where he became a pitcher of the varsity team.
Curran played minor league baseball in the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies organizations.