Chamberlain, the only player in the history of the NBA to score 100 points in a game, and educator Shirley Turpin Parham will be honored posthumously. Other honorees include Rutgers women's coach C. Vivian Stringer; Norman Oliver, director of the Stormin' Norman Basketball League in Wilmington; Mark Sills, founder and president of Urban Youth Inc. in Wilmington; and Gwynedd-Mercy track coach Larry Wilson.
Banks is one of a handful of high school players to be named an all-American three times. He was the most coveted senior in the nation in 1977, the same year that future Hall of Famer Magic Johnson was a senior in Michigan.
"This is very special because it's my hometown of Philadelphia," Banks said in a telephone interview. "To be recognized in the same breath as Wilt, in my mind the greatest high school basketball player that ever lived, is a huge honor."
Banks remembered some of his matchups with another Overbrook legend, Lewis Lloyd. Lloyd and Banks were "like Ali and Frazier" back then, Banks said. Lloyd also reached the NBA after a spectacular career at Drake University.
Tickets are $60 per person. For information, call 215-696-9313.
- John N. Mitchell
