How Nan Tulchinsky's love for basketball turned into a Hall of Fame career

Nan Tulchinsky grew up in an era when there were no high school basketball teams for women to play on.

That did not stop the longtime South Bend educator from finding a way to turn her love for the game into a Hall of Fame career.

Tulchinsky, a pioneer among women in South Bend hoops circles, will join the exclusive list of the state's all-time greats later this month. She will be one of 12 people inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle on April 27.

Making a difference: Tulchinsky blazed trails in South Bend. Here's how she's giving back.

Tulchinsky made her mark on basketball mainly as an official, athletic director and scorekeeper over her illustrious four-decade-plus career in education. She is being inducted as part of the 22nd women's class into the Hall of Fame as the 2024 Indiana Fever Silver Medal Award winner for contributions to Indiana basketball other than as an Indiana high school player or coach.

"I really do not have the words to tell you what this means to me," said Tulchinsky in a recent phone interview from her South Bend home. "It's just incredible that it's happening to me.

"I was shocked when Greg (former longtime Clay AD Greg Humnicky) told me. It's just hard to me to express what this does mean to me. This is the top of the top."

"This community gave me some amazing opportunities. I just loved teaching and I loved passing on my love of basketball to others."

Tulchinsky, now 81, grew up in Jackson, Michigan during a time long before Title 9 and the opportunity for females to compete in organized athletics.

"I was a shy kid, but my dad was a basketball official and a coach," related Tulchinsky, who was the second of seven children of Joseph and Clare Tomshack. "I went to games with him and my love for basketball just grew from there. It was inherited in my DNA. We had a basketball court in our driveway with a light that we put up and I played out there with my brother."

More: Former Washington girls basketball coach Marilyn Coddens set to enter Hall of Fame

Tulchinsky, a 1964 Saint Mary's College graduate, spent 43 years in the South Bend School Corporation before retiring in 2007. She was the first female member of the Saint Joseph Valley Officials Association. She was then the first female AD in South Bend at LaSalle High School and then the first female AD for the school corporation from 2002-07.

"I'm old," joked Tulchinsky when asked what it was like to be a pioneer. "We used to referee games in the 60's for five dollars a game. We did it for the love of the game."

Tulchinsky credits her husband Mark with allowing her to fulfill her love for the game. The pair were married for 38 years before Mark, a highly respected principal in South Bend, passed away from a heart attack at age 60 in January of 2008. Mark, who refereed ICCL games with his wife, spent 39 years as an educator. The pair have three children in Peter, Sarah and Daniel, now living in Mississippi, California and Chicago, and seven grandchildren. Daughter Sarah played basketball at South Bend Adams.

"I remember Mark making us dinner and bringing it to me at LaSalle when I was the AD there so we could have dinner together," related Tulchinsky of her beloved husband. "Then he would go home and have everything cleaned up before I got home at night. Not many husbands would do that."

Tulchinsky also served as the official scorekeeper for the Notre Dame women's basketball program from 1992-2022. She was also the scorekeeper for the men's program for the Irish from 1996 until 2022.

"I just really loved that," said Tulchinsky, still an avid fan of the ND women's program. "I believe I was the first woman to keep a men's scorebook in the country. "

"It's just been incredible the growth of women's basketball thanks to Title 9. It's just done so much for women and the opportunities that they have now. Ones that I never had growing up."

Tulchinsky, who began her teaching career at Perley, now spends much of her time devoted to a cause dear to her heart. She is one of the devoted volunteers who run the Northeast Neighborhood Food Pantry and has been dedicated to that endeavor for the past 15 years.

Tulchinsky, who will be joined in the class by former Washington girls basketball coach Marilyn Coddens, says her HOF speech is already done.

"I think that I will be floating on a cloud," said Tulchinsky of the induction ceremony. "I want to accept this for all the women who never had the opportunity to play the game. I want to share this with them."

Tulchinsky also admitted that her thoughts will be on her former life and refereeing partner.

"It's going to be tough and really hard not having Mark there," said Tulchinsky. "The whole time I will be thinking of him. I know that he will be smiling. He enabled me to fulfill my dream."

"I was blessed to have him in my life."

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend's Nan Tulchinsky to enter Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame