Family, friends and former teammates gathered to mourn Tim Bankston, a former Simeon High School basketball star and coach at T.F. North High School, after he was found fatally shot inside a home, according to police and relatives.
Police said Bankston, 60, was discovered with a gunshot wound to the stomach inside a home near 77th Street and Emerald Avenue. Relatives said Bankston’s body was found at a friend’s home and that the friend was the person who discovered him.
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Relatives believe the shooting likely occurred the night before Bankston was found.
Karolyn Wright, Bankston’s sister, remembered him as “such a beautiful spirit.”
“He was such a beautiful spirit, such a great brother, just a – more than just a basketball coach. More than just a basketball legend. A family man,” Wright said.
Outside the home where the discovery was made, family members, friends and others gathered to honor Bankston’s life and legacy.
“My dad is apart of me. I have his name. I can carry his legacy,” said Timothy Bankston Jr., the victim’s son.
Bankston’s brother, Charles Bankston, spoke about the loss.
“This hurts like everything I could never imagine in my life. I didn’t cry like this when my mama had died. But, the love that I have for him, it will be everlasting,” he said.
Sean Wright, a former Simeon teammate, described what he said happened when the friend returned to the home.
“His friend had been out and came back and found that the door of the house was open in the back,” Wright said.
Wright continued: “seen my brother’s feet and said he immediately bent down, shook him, to see if he was okay or what. He said he was cold.”
Bankston was a South Side basketball standout who led Simeon High School to a state championship in 1984 during his senior year. That same year, teammate and fellow basketball star Ben Wilson was shot and killed.
Reflecting on Bankston’s death, Wright said, “Ben Wilson, him, Kenny (sp?). It’s a lot of ball players up there. They’ll all touch hands again and welcome him home.”
It remains unclear how long Bankston’s body was inside the home before it was discovered. Police have not announced any arrests in the case.
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