Milwaukee Bucks taking Chris Livingston in NBA Draft unearths Akron Buchtel history lesson

When Chris Livingston created buzz as a freshman on the Buchtel boys basketball team, Eugene “Gene” Shy Jr. started to pay attention from afar.

Shy graduated from Buchtel High School in 1972 before becoming a University of Florida hoops standout and a 10th-round pick of the New York Knicks in the 1976 NBA Draft.

When the Milwaukee Bucks selected Livingston in the second round, Shy thought another former Griffins player becoming an NBA Draft choice was a fantastic development for Buchtel and his hometown of Akron.

“I'm very proud of that connection — very proud,” Shy said by phone from his Florida home.

Shy's status as a draft pick is a little-known piece of City Series history.

A Beacon Journal story by yours truly incorrectly stated Livingston had become the first former Buchtel player to be picked by an NBA team. Shy had slipped through the digital cracks amid searches of an online database and Beacon Journal archives. People who possess a wealth of knowledge about Buchtel and Akron Public Schools sports didn't recall another Griffins player being drafted in the NBA.

Major Jones didn't forget Shy, though.

A 1975 Buchtel graduate, Jones watched Shy play for the Griffins and was mentored by his late father, Eugene “Gene” Shy Sr., a reverend, renowned martial artist and longtime B.F. Goodrich factory worker who died in 2013. After reading the Livingston story, Jones contacted the Beacon Journal about the 68-year-old Shy being picked by the Knicks 47 years ago.

“Some people achieve a degree of success and they're kind of haughty … but he's really down-to-earth and a very humble man,” Jones said.

Akron Buchtel graduate Gene Shy among Florida basketball's all-time leading scorers nearly 50 years after Gators tenure

Shy has an interesting story, too.

Shy played a role in breaking the color barrier in Florida athletics, he said, as the fourth Black player to sign with the Gators basketball program.

“Being born and raised up north in Akron, maybe you had some issues of discrimination, but it was just different being in the North in my estimation,” Shy said. “And when I got my trip to Florida, the only thing that was on my mind is going down south. I'm going down south to Gainesville, Florida, and you just don't know what's going to happen in that regard.”

A 6-foot-6 small forward who weighed about 200 pounds, Shy led Florida in scoring in back-to-back seasons (1974-75 and 1975-76). He was named UF's Most Valuable Player in 1975 and third-team All-Southeastern Conference in 1976. He finished his college career with averages of 15.1 points and 6.9 rebounds in 104 games.

Shy's 1,573 points were second in UF history when his Gators career ended and still rank 10th in the program's record book.

“I thought I could shoot it,” said Shy, an All-City and All-District honoree as a Buchtel senior.

How the NBA Draft has changed since the 1970s when Gene Shy was picked by the New York Knicks out of the University of Florida

However, Shy never appeared in an NBA game after the Knicks drafted him 163rd overall. There were 173 picks in 1976 compared with 58 this year. Livingston became the 58th and final selection after spending one season at the University of Kentucky.

There were 22 teams in the 1976-77 season compared with 30 in today's NBA, meaning fewer roster spots existed during Shy's era.

Shy pointed out former Norton High School and Malone College guard Mark Klein was also drafted in 1976, when the Seattle SuperSonics took him in the seventh round (No. 116 overall). Klein didn't play in the NBA, either.

And the draft certainly wasn't in the spotlight back then.

“It was, I guess, just a different time,” Shy said.

Shy had been accepted to UF's law school and chose it instead of professional basketball, forgoing rookie camp with the Knicks and an opportunity to play in Europe. He graduated with honors and went on to have a distinguished career in law, retiring in 2021 as an assistant Miami-Dade County attorney and the lead attorney at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

“It was kind of an easy decision [to choose law school over basketball],” Shy said. “But, of course, you look back and think that you could have made it.”

Akron Buchtel winning first Ohio High School Athletic Association state championship in boys basketball delights Griffins community

A father of three, Shy has family in Akron, including his mother, sister and nieces. He visits Northeast Ohio occasionally and keeps track of Buchtel basketball.

Buchtel won its first state title in boys hoops on March 19. Livingston, who also spent parts of his high school career playing for Western Reserve Academy in Hudson and Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, became a draft pick early on the morning of June 23.

Buchtel celebrates state championship: 'This is a special team': Griffins students and staff bask in glory of title

It's been a memorable year for the Griffins.

“Buchtel having a great program to win the state, that's marvelous, too,” Shy said. “What can you say? It's just marvelous.”

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Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: NBA Draft ties Bucks' Chris Livingston to Gene Shy of Akron Buchtel