South Side basketball alumni pose with a board signed by 106 Archers that once hung in the old gym. The board was dedicated Friday, December 10, in celebration of South Side's 100th anniversary school year
South Side High School celebrated a century of Archer basketball on Friday with a commemorative board signed by more than 100 former boys and girls players.
The board, which feature a green arrow on a white background and emblazoned with the “Archers” nickname hung in the old South Side gym above the scoreboard, South Side history teacher Susan Thomas tells the Parkview Sports Network.
The board was taken down during school renovations in the 1990s, was discovered in the school’s basement years later. Thomas dug it out of storage, and hung the board in her room for the last nine years.
South Side alumnus, retired U.S. national team soccer player and former Archer basketball player DaMarcus Beasley signed the board that hung in Susan Thomas' room for the last 9 years.
As South Side approached its 100th anniversary, Thomas had the idea of having former Archer basketball players return to their alma mater, sign the board, and pose for pictures.
“It started out slow,” Thomas recalls. “Then, as more people signed it, I thought I’ve got to do something huge.”
Thomas used word of mouth and social media to help spread the word—to which some of South Side’s greatest athletes responded in kind.
The Archers sign hung above the scoreboard in South Side's old gym prior to renovations in the mid-1990s.
In all, 109 former players signed the board over the last 5 years, including: 1967 Indiana Mr. Basketball Willie Long, Cam Stephens, Rapheal Davis, Super Bowl champion Bernard Pollard, DaMarcus Beasley, a majority of the 1958 boys state championship team and the entire 2013 girls state runner-up team.
Two players from the 1940 boys team—Lindsey Cook and Keith Speicher—were the oldest to sign the board. The Class of 2022’s Olivia Smith, Ashton Johnson and Jaylen Lattimore were the final three to sign it before Thomas presented the board to South Side principal Adam Swinford.
“It is my hope it will be hung in the gym for the next 100 years,” Thomas says. “Even when I retire, I can come back and take pride in what we did.”
1967 Indiana Mr. Basketball Willie Long's poster is one of 78 made as part of the winter homecoming celebration on December 10.
As part of the ceremonies, Thomas hung posters outside the gym of 76 former players with their current photo, a picture from their playing days as well as a favorite memory playing basketball at South Side.
South Side is one of 26 high schools that partner with Parkview Sports Medicine for athletic training, nutrition, sports performance, athletic rehab and other sports medicine services for Archer student-athletes. Learn more at www.parkviewsportsmedicine.com.
photos contributed by Susan Thomas