Basketball court, mural dedication for late John Glenn basketball legend

WALKERTON, Ind. (WNDU) - If you go to just about anyone in Walkerton and ask them about John Glenn basketball legend Bruce Dayhuff, they’ll almost certainly know who you’re talking about.

Dayhuff was a star athlete with many accolades. Some say he was the greatest ever to put on a John Glenn Men’s Basketball jersey. In his entire high school career, Dayhuff had amassed 1,903 points, a record that still stands today. In 1973, he was voted into the Indiana All-Star Basketball team.

Dozens of community members gathered at Place Park Monday morning in celebration of the late 1973 high school graduate to dedicate a basketball court and mural to him. Those who remembered Dayhuff shared stories about him in a lineup of emotional speeches.

Then, a tarp was pulled back to reveal a mural painted on the very basketball court that Dayhuff would spend hours, day or night, sun or snow, playing basketball.

“I don’t think Bruce knew how much he meant to the town. He practiced all the time ever since he was a fourth grader. We’re just so proud of what the town has done,” said Bruce Dayhuff’s sister Sandra Dayhuff Savoie.

The mural was created by Clark De Fluiter, who used his artistic abilities to create the mural of Bruce.

“This whole community just seems to say such positive things about him all the time. It was an honor to paint somebody who I knew was appreciated by the community,” said De Fluiter. “The fact that he was a hard worker and a basketball player, and a nice person just fueled me to want to do this so bad when they reached out to me to offer me the job.”

It is believed that the mural and court dedication is one of only three in the United States

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