Evanston City Council recognizes Levy Senior Center senior basketball league

Evanston’s men’s and women’s senior basketball teams were honored by Mayor Daniel Biss as part of a spotlight on the city’s Levy Senior Center and its foundation at the July 8 City Council meeting.

Players’ ages range from as young as 50 to 85 plus with 85-year-old Neil Milbert as the most senior member. Competition teams are broken up into five-year age increments but players practice as a group twice a week at the center. Practices consist of four on four games where whichever team reaches 11 points first wins.

In his spare time, the former Marine also runs 5Ks, plays softball and has called himself a “mediocre high school athlete who persevered.” Milbert also cemented his legacy as a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a reporter owing to his time covering sports with the Chicago Tribune and 22nd Century Media.

Many players got the chance to renew their love of basketball which began in childhood or playing for high school teams. One of the newest players to the league is 74-year-old Lee Bradbury, who joined after moving several years ago from Utah when he and his wife followed their children to Chicagoland. He met a fellow player while dribbling a basketball to the store who invited him out to practice and has been a part of the team ever since.

“It is fantastic,” Bradbury said. “I came here and I ran into Neil and Bob … three or four guys just took me under their wing and made me feel like $100. They’re just great people.”

Another regular in the group is Azariah Stonar, more commonly known as Coach Tree, a Chicago basketball legend who played alongside Charlie “Sweet” Brown, another legend who was part of DuSable High School’s basketball team in 1954, the first all-Black high school basketball team to make it to state finals.

“Why am I doing this?” Stonar said. “Better health. More positive outlook on life, keeps you going (and) the confidence that you can still do what you think you can do.”

He tells the players he coaches now they’re competing with their own bodies, not the other team.

“When the young guys see us playing, they get more inspired,” the Basketball Museum of Illinois’ Hall of Famer said.

The men’s group started in 2002 with Dorrance Halverson, Dave Janzen and Tom Reilly after realizing they each were coming to the center to shoot hoops alone. Halverson played in high school and didn’t touch a basketball again until he moved to Evanston next to a basketball court. He said he learned a majority of his skills from his older brother, who is deaf and attended a school for deaf students where he played on the school’s team.

Bob Anthony, a member of the 75 to 79 group, went to the 2011 National Senior Games in Houston where he faced off against a player from the 1975 Golden State Warriors, a team who beat the Chicago Bulls in the finals and went on to win the championship against the Washington Bullets, now the Washington Wizards.

A Highland Park firefighter for 30 years, Anthony said he always played pick up basketball but was never on a team after 7th grade. He joined the league in 2009 after running into four players at the center, and has since played in the Transplant Games of America and the recent Hoops for the Ages tournament.

He credits the team with giving him a way to stay in shape after working in such a physically demanding job field.

“I can’t see me stopping. As long as I can play ball I know I can be healthy,” he said. “If I ever have to stop playing basketball, I’m sure I’ll play pickleball instead.”

The center sent players, including Halverson, to Pittsburgh in 2023 where they placed second in their division at the National Senior Games. This year, the Levy Center hosted Hoops for the Ages, a 3 on 3 tournament, on April 27, which served as a qualifying tournament for the Illinois Senior Olympics. The city will host this qualifier event every year in April, according to Levy Senior Center Board Member and basketball player Robert Bady.

“We’ve sent six women’s teams from Evanston and five men’s teams across ages from 50 all the way to 90 to the National Senior Games,” he said. “We believe life starts at 50.”

Bady joined the board just over three years ago when he turned 50. With over a quarter of the city being senior citizens, he says there is a huge need to increase the quality of life for the age group.

“The mentality has changed now. People are actually looking forward to getting older,” Bady said.

He emphasized the importance of movement in older years saying it’s a move it or lose it scenario. Basketball, Bady says, is the ultimate team sport, especially in three on three scenarios that force you to rely on your teammates.

“Sports brings everybody together,” Bradbury said. “You can have your rivalries but 90% of the time everybody gets along … it’s great here.”

Any seniors interested in joining the league can stop by the Levy Senior Center for more information.