Roy Gatewood
Year of Induction: 1985 | Categories: Basketball, Individual
The record-setting scorer of Salem’s 1943 third place state basketball team was the first nominee named to be inducted into the newly formed Salem High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.
The late Roy Gatewood, a 1943 graduate of Salem Community High School, set the single game scoring record of 29 points for the state tournament in 1943, a record that only held for one year, but
poured in 96 points in the tournament, a record that stood for several years. Roy, given credit for originating the jump shot, so prevalent in present-day basketball, was named to the all-state basketball
team In 1943.
Roy attended the University of Illinois from 1946-1949 where he played basketball with the Fighting Illini.. Upon graduation, he coached basketball at Fairfield for 3 years and was basketball coach at Mt. Carmel from 1954-58. He died suddenly in 1961.
In high school, he was a three-sports star, excelling in football and track as well as basketball. He was named to the all-state football team selected by the Chicago Daily News in 1940. During his freshman and sophomore years in high school, he was coached by Mike Lenich, whom he gave much credit for his success.
In 1983, Roy was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame.
Upon graduation from high school, he entered the military service during World War II for three years, and served in the China-Burma-India theater of operations with the Petroleum Engineers.
He married the former Doris Farthing in 1946 and they had twin daughters, Mrs. Rae Gruenkemeyer and Mrs. Gae Reynolds.