Walter R. Shublom was a high school, junior college and college basketball coach, and minor league baseball player. He was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in 1982.

Early life and playing career

After graduating from Salina High School in 1941, Shublom played one season of minor league baseball in the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

organization.

Coaching career

After obtaining his undergraduate degree at Southeast Missouri State Teachers College (now

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (Southeast or SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing t ...

) and graduate degree at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, Shublom was hired in 1952 to join the faculty of

Wyandotte High School Wyandotte High School is a fully accredited public high school located in Kansas City, Kansas, United States. It serves students in grades 9 to 12 and operated by the Kansas City USD 500 school district. The building itself is a historic and ...

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...

as a history teacher and assistant baseball and basketball coach. In 1955, he was hired as varsity basketball coach at

. In his 14-year tenure at Wyandotte, Shublom led the Bulldogs to 10 large class Kansas high school state championships and 3 second place finishes and a career record of 296-26. Among the notable players Shublom coached at Wyandotte were

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

players Lucius Allen and Larry Comley,

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player

Steve Renko Steve Renko, Jr. (born December 10, 1944) is a former American right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the Montreal Expos (1969–1976), Chicago Cubs (1976–1977), Chicago White Sox (1977), Oakland Athletics (1978), Boston Re ...

, ABA player Pierre Russell, All-Big 8 Kansas Jayhawk Nolen Ellison, and

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

player Alonzo (Skip) Thomas. Shublom was among several outstanding Kansas City-area high school coaches in the 1960’s and early 1970’s that included Jim Wilkinson and Charlie Lee (Kansas City Central), Bud Lathrop ( Raytown South), Homer Drew ( Lee’s Summit), C. W. Stessman ( Paseo), Bill Myles, Walt Thompson ( Kansas City Southeast), and Al Davis (

Rockhurst Rockhurst University is a private Jesuit university in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 as Rockhurst College, Rockhurst University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It enrolled 2,980 students in 2019. History In 1909, Fr. ...

). In 1969, Shublom joined the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

basketball staff as freshman coach under legendary coach

Norm Stewart Norman Eugene Stewart (born January 20, 1935) is a retired American college basketball coach. He coached at the University of Northern Iowa (then known as State College of Iowa) from 1961 to 1967, but is best known for his career with the Univer ...

. Shublom coached the freshmen at Missouri for two seasons finishing with an overall record of 21-2. In January 1972, the NCAA passed a rule that allowed freshmen to be eligible for varsity competition. This new rule eliminated NCAA freshman basketball programs that had previously been “feeder programs” for the varsity teams. In 1971, Shublom was hired as Athletic Director and Basketball coach at

Kansas City Kansas Community College Kansas City Kansas Community College (KCKCC) is a public two year community college in Wyandotte County, Kansas, United States. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, a commission of the North Central Association and the K ...

where he coached 10 seasons. After retiring from coaching in 1982, Shublom continued at KCKCC as Athletic Director and added the role of Assistant to the President before retiring in 1985.

Hall of Fame Inductions

* National High School Federation Hall of Fame (inducted in 1982), *

Kansas Sports Hall of Fame The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in Wichita, dedicated to preserving the history of sports in the state of Kansas. The museum provides exhibits, archives, facilities, services, and activities to honor those individuals and t ...

(inducted in 1990), *

Missouri Sports Hall of Fame The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is located in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1994 by Springfield businessman John Q. Hammons, the Hall of Fame is housed in a two-story, 32,000-square-foot building. On display are more than 4,0 ...

(inducted in 1991) *

Kansas State High School Activities Association The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) is the organization which oversees interscholastic competition in the U.S. state of Kansas at the high-school level. It oversees both athletic and non-athletic competition, and spon ...

Hall of Fame (inducted in 1983) * Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (inducted in 1984), * Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (inducted in 1991). * Greater Kansas City Sports Hall of Champions (inducted in 1983) *

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the men's basketball head coach for the Univ ...

Hall of Fame (inducted in 1984)

Author

Shublom wrote three books on basketball coaching. “Tips to Titles”, “The Ways of a Champion”, and “Championships Come Easy If...”. Shublom was also a noted public speaker and clinician operating the “Clinic of Champions” for many years.

Other Honors

In 2003 the

gymnasium was named “Walter R. Shublom Gymnasium”. Shublom and

appear in the “High School Dynasty” section of the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

References

1923 births 2009 deaths American men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Minor league baseball players {{more cats, date=February 2022