Stucky debuts book about Kansas hoops and gyms
By JENNIFER WILSON
News editor
It's not every day that you get to interview Dean Smith. Or Roy Williams. Or Ralph Miller.
But Brian Stucky did. He interviewed these Kansas basketball legends and many more while working on a book about old Kansas gymnasiums.
The book is called "Hallowed Hardwood: Vintage Basketball Gyms of Kansas," and it's Stucky's first self-published book. He picked it up off the presses in Topeka last week.
Stucky is the art and photography teacher at Goessel High School, and until last year he was the head track coach as well. So how does a track coach come to write about basketball?
The genesis of the project, he says, was the fall of 1996. After the GHS fall play in November, work crews started to tear up the old tile floor in what is now the auditorium. Although the acoustics and seating are much improved now, Stucky said, he was sad to say goodbye to the old gym-with-a-stage.
"We would have dances there, proms — it was perfect for lots of things," he said. "I thought, 'Isn't that sad.'"
Later that year Stucky traveled to Peabody to watch his son play basketball. The hoops games took place on the floor of an old 1910 gym, but people informed him that it too would be torn up after Christmas.
That's when the niggling thought entered the back of Stucky's mind: This would be a good topic for a book.
"I had the feeling that there was something here," he said.
So Stucky began his research. First he had to figure out how old was old — when is a gym an antique? How would he find the gyms? Should he just take pictures of the gyms?
Then someone suggested that with each gym, Stucky interview one person. And the framework for the book was set — Stucky set out to find Kansas' legendary gyms and include the story of the "town legend" with each gym featured.
His first big interview was with Ralph Miller, a hall of famer whose career took him from Wichita East to the University of Kansas to Oregon State. As a coach, he racked up 600 wins.
Stucky interviewed Miller in the old East High gym, which has since been retired.
"It was the most fascinating, fun interview I'd ever done," Stucky said.
A few years later he got the chance to interview basketball guru Dean Smith at Smith's alma mater, Topeka High School. Stucky said he tried for three years to get an interview with Smith, and finally he agreed to meet Stucky for half an hour.
"I thought, 'What am I gonna ask the guy?'" Stucky said.
He didn't need to worry — the minute Smith walked into the gym with an old high school buddy, the two were back in time, 17 years old again and reliving their school days.
Another big interview for Stucky was with Roy Williams. Actually, it was mainly just the photo shoot — the KU personnel wanted Stucky to have all the lighting ready to go for the photo session in Phog Allen Field house.
In all, Stucky has traveled to more than 70 gyms. He's featured gyms as close as Newton and Burns and gone to the four corners of Kansas to Troy, McCune, Minneola, and Weskin.
And last week, after looking at proof after proof, he finally held in his hands the finished product.
"They just looked so good," Stucky said.
To buy a copy of "Hallowed Hardwood," write to Stucky at Emma Creek Publishing, Box 177, Goessel, KS 67053.
