In his book, Indiana High School Basketball’s 20 Most Dominant Players, Dave Krider observed that “Homer Stonebraker was Indiana’s first authentic high school basketball superstar.” After brilliant high school and college careers, he played professional basketball for ten years with the first professional basketball league, the American Basketball League. He played for the Fort Wayne Hoosiers (a team he helped found) and the Chicago Bruins. The Fort Wayne team was referred to as the Caseys. In a book entitled “Pioneers of the Harwood, Indiana and the Birth of Professional Basketball,” by Todd Gould, Gould quotes Hilliard Gates, a Fort Wayne sports broadcaster who recalled one of Stonebraker’s legendary performances in a game in the annual series with the Huntington Athletic Club. Gates wrote, “They were down by a point, and the opposition took a shot and missed. Homer realized that time was running out, and he didn’t have time to dribble very much. He just had to let it go at the opposite basket. The ball went over two beams near the top of the roof of the gym! [The ball] sailed over the two beams and went through perfectly and they won.” No wonder fans and sportswriters alike called “Stoney” the Paul Bunyan of basketball. During and after his professional career, Homer Stonebraker coached basketball at Hartford City and Logansport and served two terms as Sheriff of Cass County.
He was named as a member of the All-Century Team in 2010, honored in Conseco Fieldhouse as one of the 50 greatest players ever to play in Indiana. He was honored as a charter member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle and has been enshrined in the Wabash College Athletic Hall of Fame and the Montgomery County Basketball Hall of Fame.
Homer Stonebraker HOF text
Homer Stonebraker
All-Around Center
High School—Wingate 1914
Colleg—Wabash 1918
Led Wingate to state championship in 1913 and 1914…in early format, Wingate played 2 games on Friday, then 4 on Saturday…in 1914, “Stoney” scored all of his teams points in the second of those Saturday contests then half of the team’s 36 points in the championship game…3-time All-American at Wabash College…after serving in WWI, professional career included stints with Fort Wayne Hoosiers and Chicago Bruins…called by Abe Saperstein, founder of the Harlem Globetrotters “the best all-around center he had ever seen.” Coached at Hartford City, then moved to Logansport and was twice elected Cass County sheriff.
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