Article below Christmas Day Chronicle Tribune Marion IN.
Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame
We are saddened to learn of the recent passing of Tom Howley of Boggstown, who had a unique part in Indiana basketball history.
Tom, along with his surviving wife Sandy, met 77 Indiana Mr. Basketball winners and 41 Indiana Miss Basketball winners over the past 18 years.
A majority of Tom’s efforts took place while traveling to meet 61 of the Mr. Basketball winners in a 15-month span between August 1999 and November 2000 and then tracking down the 26 Miss Basketballs in history in just over three months in 2001.
His quest to get the signature of every Mr. and Miss Basketball in state history led them to drive 21,197 miles, fly 1,828 miles and spend a total of 641 hours on the project from 1999 through continuing the process in the summer of 2017.
Their project has produced five autographed basketballs, which are displayed at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame museum in New Castle in an exhibit that now features the autograph of all 81 Mr. Basketball winners and 42 Miss Basketball winners of all-time, continuing to add the newest signatures each summer.
“I said to Sandy, ‘Think how neat it would be to have a basketball signed by several of the young men who have been Mr. Basketball’” Tom wrote in 2001. “I think she was challenging me when she asked how hard it would be to get the ball signed by all of them. I don’t think either one of us realized the involvement and commitment this would require.”
“After we started to get signatures and had completed several interviews, it became very clear to us just how important these balls were to Indiana basketball history and how they should be shared with as many people as possible.”
On behalf of basketball fans throughout Indiana, we thank Tom for his tremendous work in this unique endeavor. Although the signings will continue each year with the announcement of the newest Indiana Miss and Mr. Basketball winners, it will never be the same without Tom Howley.
