When Erin Hynds thinks back to watching her father, Bill Shay, on the basketball court, one particular image comes to mind.

“I can remember his face being red because he would be screaming, and he’d be looking up at all these tall players he was coaching,” said Hynds, an Upper St. Clair resident. “I have such vivid memories. Those players aren’t the only ones who looked up to him. I do, too.”

Looking up to Shay is a sentiment felt by many who know him: his daughters, Hynds and Kyle Shay, as well as the estimated 400 to 450 players he coached and mentored in the same gym season after season.

That gym was inside the Community College of Allegheny County on Pittsburgh’s North Side where he coached from 1969 until he retired in 2009. There was and still is a ramp players and fans journey to get to tip-off.

Nearly four decades

Shay, 87, of Mt. Lebanon was a gym rat who set an example through his love of the game to the men who walked into his huddle.

For 39 seasons, he took to the court to lead his players — and not just in wins — although he is the winningest basketball coach in Western Pennsylvania history. He taught them what it means to be successful in life.

Shay went 803-358. Every win came at Community College of Allegheny County. Loyalty kept him there even though he could have gone on to lead Division I, II and III programs. His heart and the dry erase board he drew up plays on were embedded in that gym and locker room.

To recognize his unwavering commitment, Shay’s players and friends from the basketball community have taken the lead to make sure the coach’s legacy is solidified forever in Pittsburgh basketball lore. They’ve been raising money to pay for a bronze bust of Shay.

They started a GoFundMe with a goal $25,000. As of Saturday night, they had raised $25,021. The plan is to use any extra money to fund a scholarship in Shay’s name.

The bust is being made in Italy. Matthews International Corp. is handling the entire creative process. It will be mounted on a granite pedestal by Gaydos Monument Co. in Canonsburg, which also will handle the installation.

The sculpture will be displayed in the Community College of Allegheny County’s field house lobby, where Shay walked through to reach the court.

Its unveiling is set for Nov. 18.

On that day, Community College of Allegheny County hosts Westmoreland Community College in a men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader. A ceremony is planned for between games at about 1:30 p.m.

Teammates forever

At a meet-and-greet in early May, some of Shay’s former players and coaches from the Pittsburgh basketball community gathered in that beloved gym.

Current students dribbled in the background. Their sneakers squeaked on the hardwood. The swish of the net was heard when the ball went through it, but not before banking off the backboard.

It was like old times.

Players listened to their coach and reminisced about practices and games — remembering the good times.

They were and always will be a team.

Coming from all over Western Pennsylvania, they wanted to play for one man. Shay told a story of the practice bricks. He had two boxes. One was filled with blocks of clay. The other contained foam blocks.

He had players carry the real bricks — while the coaches held the fake ones — as they did running drills.

It took his players an entire season to realize why the coaches weren’t getting tired.

“We had the foam bricks,” Shay said with a smile.

A former U.S. Marine, Shay was tough, but he also was fair, said Larry DiCicco, a North Side native who lives in Mt. Lebanon. DiCicco, who played for Shay from 1973-75, added that he and his teammates played before standing-room only crowds — “because there were no stands.”

So many people have stories about Shay, DiCicco said. He affected lives in a positive way whether they were his players or competitors or coaches or just avid basketball fans.

DiCicco said he and some teammates from the 1973-75 teams had a few get-togethers. Coach Shay joined them for a couple of them.

The players want Shay to know how much he means to them, so in December, DiCicco wrote to school president Quintin B. Bullock with the idea to create a plaque or a bust. A meeting was set up with the college’s athletic director, Robert Keslar, in February. He welcomed the idea. They needed money, so they started the GoFundMe.

Coach Dick Black from Mt. Lebanon, who coached at the high school, became friends with Shay via basketball camps.

“There is nobody better than coach Shay,” Black said. “He was committed to the school, committed to the program and committed to his players. He told them if they worked hard opportunities to win would present themselves.”

Basketball connections

Tom McConnell played against Shay’s teams when McConnell was on the Butler County Community College squad. He retired as IUP’s women’s basketball coach in 2022 as one of the most successful coaches in program history. He led the Division II team to seven straight 20-win seasons and seven consecutive NCAA Tournament selections — program records.

Shay has a lot to do with what McConnell did in his life, he said. McConnell said anytime he was around Shay, he would often pick Shay’s brain for ideas and strategies.

“I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” said McConnell, who grew up in Brookline. “He is a true leader. He impacted so many lives right here in this gym. There is not enough graciousness for what he has done. He is a hero in my eyes.”

When reached by phone, Kentucky men’s basketball coach and Moon native John Calipari, who met Shay through a youth camp Calipari ran, agreed with McConnell.

“He brought coaches and players together,” said Calipari, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer who has guided six teams to the Final Four, led one to a national championship and helped 58 players earn selection in the National Basketball Association draft. “He is a gentleman and a cerebral coach like a college professor. Everyone looks up to him.”

Shay is a true Pittsburgh guy, Calipari said. He chose to give his life and career to the players right here in the city of Pittsburgh.

“I wish I was more like him,” Calipari said. “He is so well deserving of this. I have never heard him speak a bad word about anyone, and I have never heard anyone speak a bad word about him. That is his legacy.”

Herb Sendek has 533 career victories at stops including Arizona State, N.C. State, Miami (Ohio) and his current job at Santa Clara.

“Coach (Shay) has been an important mentor through my playing and coaching life,” said Sendek, whose father coached at Community College of Allegheny County Boyce, which is how he and Shay met. “I consider myself extremely blessed that our paths have intertwined the way they have. I have so much love and respect for Coach Shay that it is impossible to put into words.”

Sendek said the beauty of sports is the camaraderie, the opportunity to be part of a team and those friendships transcend the results on the scoreboard.

Shay’s loyalty created a player and coaching fraternity, Sendek said.

“I am really glad people are taking time to celebrate and recognize him for all he has meant to so many of us,” Sendek said. “His story continues through all of us coaching on the sidelines, because we learned from his mentoring. He has left an indelible imprint on me as a person.”

A strong foundation

Basketball became Shay’s passion watching his older brothers shoot hoops on the playground growing up in Forest Hills, N.Y. There would be pickup games, and the winning teams stayed on the court.

“So I practiced a lot,” Shay said.

He came to Pittsburgh via Pitt, where he played basketball. He taught physical education classes and some other classes at Community College of Allegheny County.

Some of his best memories are of watching his teams against the best squads in the country. He instilled the importance of diving after loose balls and playing hard every second.

“That is how you get better,” Shay said. “By playing the really good teams.”

One of his first players was Eugene Turner of Manchester on the North Side. A point guard, Turner said Shay was the best coach he had.

“Coach changed my life,” Turner said. “I have great memories. He is a special guy.”

Shay’s energy was contagious, said Dan Landy, a Beechview native who lives in Scott. Landy invited Shay to his daughter’s wedding, and Shay attended.

“That is the kind of man coach Shay is,” said Landy, who played for Shay from 1975-77. “We are all his family. He cared about us. He brought kids together from all over the city and created teams of young men who went on to be successful because of what he taught them on and off the basketball court. We want to celebrate that legacy with him, to thank him for all he has done for us.”

Mentor and friend

Shay is a mentor and a friend, said Tim Grgurich, a former college and NBA coach who lives in Las Vegas. He met Shay through Pitt basketball.

“Every one of us learned from coach Shay,” Grgurich said. “It was his care for the community. He is a wonderful human being. He is a hero in my eyes. He has done more quietly in the city of Pittsburgh than anyone I know. He is second to none.”

When Shay stepped on the hardwood, it was all business. Off it, he was a true gentleman, embracing each player with fatherly-like advice. He had rules and adhered to them. For him, success off the court was more important than wins, Grgurich said.

He would not play his best player if he wasn’t doing well in school or got into some sort of trouble. That was Shay’s philosophy.

Shay’s dedication as coach and physical education instructor at the school often required long hours of classes, practice and traveling to games. His team at home was in good hands with Cindy Shay, Hynds said of she and her sister. Their mother took care of things because she knew her husband loved to coach.

“We have great parents,” Hynds said. “They truly are a team.”

She recalled visiting her dad’s office and seeing a large white board with basketball plays scribbled on it. She said everyone in the gym treated the Shay family well.

When her dad would talk to the players they would listen. He was intense.

Hynds said her dad’s players continue to check in on him which means a lot and that they will always be connected through basketball.

“My dad is my hero,” Hynds said.

Shay doesn’t think of himself as a hero. He credited the players with his longevity and success

“I loved it here,” Shay said, as he sat among his point guards, forwards and centers. “I am grateful for every one of them.

They are the reason I stayed coaching as long as I did. They did all the work. I just tried not to screw it up. I look up to these guys.”

Well, coach your former players want you to know they feel the same way about you.

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