November 22, 2024

OC Sports Zone: Community First

PHOTOS: ‘A truly special night’ as Tustin honors its greatest basketball players

Among the former Tustin stars honored Friday night were from left TJ Shorts, represented by his father Timothy, Nick Hornsby and Deondre Bryant. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).

Tustin High School boys basketball coach Ringo Bossenmeyer was thrilled to be able to honor 15 former players from the program during a ceremony Friday night before the non-league game with Foothill.

The 15 players received the Tustin Basketball Wall of Honor and their names and jersey numbers are displayed at the top of the gymnasium.

“It was truly a special night where we were able to not only recognize, honor and celebrate 15 of the absolute greatest players in Tustin High School’s over 100 year history, but our current student-athletes were able to learn first-hand about each honorees incredible accomplishments off the court after their playing careers had to come to an end as well,” Bossenmeyer said Sunday.

To see the slide show, click on the first photo:

The players and their families or those representing them, were introduced and fans who showed up in big numbers for the crosstown game were brought up to date on their careers.

Former Tiller star TJ Shorts, who is playing professional basketball in Germany, was represented by his parents Darlene and Timothy and his sister Kiwana, Bossenmeyer said.

Among the honorees were Doug Gottlieb, a well known national sportscaster from Tustin’s class of 1995. Gottlieb now works with Fox Sports, the Pac-12 Network and CBS Sports.

The first inductee was Sammy Francis from the class of 1937. He died in 1989, according to Bossenmeyer. Francis was represented by his sons Art and Marvin, both Tustin High graduates and Alll-CIF athletes. Art (1981) starred in basketball and Marvin (1971) in track and cross country

The honorees:

Sammy Francis, class of 1937

Don Carter, class of 1952

Jeff Cunningham, class of 1966

Roger Middleton, class of 1987

Leo Parker Jr., class of 1988

David Beilstein, class of 1991

Thomas Clayton, class of 1991

Jentry Moore, class of 1992

Doug Gottlieb, class of 1995

David Lalazarian, class of 1996

Danny Cavic, class of 2004

Matt Glover, class of 2010

Deondre Bryant, class of 2013

Nick Hornsby, class of 2013

TJ Shorts, class of 2015

RELATED:

Tustin creates Wall of Fame to honor basketball stars

—-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com