Jerseys of two Island basketball legends retired at home game
January 19, 2018 will always be a remembered with pride in Shelter Island athletic history. Two legends, Bobby Miller, class of 1969, and Bobby Brown, class of 1970, had their jerseys retired.
Both of these basketball jerseys will be displayed in the gymnasium along with other great Shelter Island athletes as an exclamation point to their earlier induction into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
The two Bobbys were teammates on the 1968-69 League VI Championship team, coached by Hall of Fame Coach George Zabel. This team had plenty of offense — on six different occasions it scored over 100 points, including a win over Mattituck by a score of 111-68.
Miller and Brown were a dynamic duo, but they were surrounded with a great supporting cast, namely Bill Ryan, Jim Daniels, Jim Cartwright, George Rowland, Jerry Mundy (all seniors), as well as underclassmen Dave Clark and Ken Morgan.
This collection of champions even beat the powerhouse Bridgehampton Killer Bees by a score of 102-64, and finished the campaign at 14-3.
Miller played varsity basketball for four years and set a Suffolk County career scoring record with 1,514 points. He was selected on the All-Suffolk Scholastic Basketball Team by the Daily News. In addition, the Suffolk Sun selected Miller to its All-Star team and he was voted the League VI All-Star Player Award. Miller served as a two-year varsity captain and earned All-County honors for his junior and senior years.
Many close observers regard Miller as the best basketball player in the school’s history.
He was also an exceptional baseball player, making the Suffolk Coaches All-Star Team in 1969 and was voted All-League the same year and served as the team’s captain for his junior and senior years.
He accepted a full scholarship to play at Bucknell University.
Brown was also an outstanding basketball and baseball player scoring over 1,000 points during his years on the varsity basketball team.
He averaged over 20 points per game in his junior and senior years, known for a great jump shot and flashing drives to the rim. Brown was voted to the All-League team in both 1969 and 1970.
He was a superb pitcher and dangerous hitter on the school’s baseball team, holding the distinction of hitting two home runs in one game against Mattituck that resulted in a 3-1 victory for the Indians. Brown was named to the Suffolk County Coaches All Star Team in 1970.
When Brown took the mound for the Indians, his teammates knew he would keep them in the game, posting a low ERA for the season.
At halftime of the boys’ varsity basketball game against Bridgehampton, the Shelter Island crowd stood to give Bobby Brown and his family and the family of Bobby Miller, a huge round of applause.
It was a special moment, and as Director of Athletics Todd Gulluscio said, “an honor that was long overdue”.
