Bill Bevan ’63: coach, substitute teacher, Pacers scorer
Bill Bevan ’63 died on December 8, 2020. Here is the story Scecina published in 2018 when Bill was retiring after 51 years as an Indiana Pacers scorekeeper.
Bill Bevan in a Scecina classroom in 2018. Bill, a 1963 graduate of Scecina, was a former coach and a regular substitute teacher at his alma mater.
“I’m one of those people, when I decide it’s time … then it’s time.” – Bill Bevan ’63, longtime official scorekeeper for the Indiana Pacers
By Beth Murphy, Director of Marketing Communications
The game soon will be over for Bill Bevan. As the last remaining scorekeeper from the original Indiana Pacers ABA team, Bevan is ready to walk away from his courtside seat with the NBA Pacers.
It’s been a nice, long run: 51 years and three different arenas, the Coliseum, Market Square Arena and now Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
“I’m not dragging my feet. It’s time,” said Bevan, who is a regular substitute teacher at Scecina and also has coached many Crusaders sports teams over the years.
“His years of service and dedication to the Pacers’ franchise is not only a tremendous accomplishment but a tremendous credit to Bill,” said David Benner, director of Indiana Pacers Media Relations and Bill’s boss. “To devote your life to something outside of your job and your family for this long requires great balance and ability to do so. It’s easy to say we’re sorry to see Bill retire, but it’s also easy to say, go enjoy your darn retirement! You’ve earned it, you deserve it and, also, thank you!”
Bevan isn’t quite sure when his last NBA game will be. The Pacers will decide that by how they play from now until the end of the regular season and how far they go into the playoffs. During Bevan’s final season, visiting teams have been presenting him with signed team jerseys and t-shirts.
Bevan’s first job with the Pacers was as the rebounding tally for the team. (His day job was with Allstate insurance.) He became the official Pacers scorekeeper in 1970.
Indianapolis Star sportswriter Zak Keefer wrote this about Bevan in May 2014: “He’s joked with Michael Jordan before tip-offs, traded barbs with Charles Barkley in the locker room and formed friendships he’s carried with him all his adult life.”
“For me, it’s about the people,” Bevan told Keefer. “This is the best part-time job in the world. Always has been.”
In an interview in January of last year with the Pacers’ Eddie White, Bevan said he’s probably the most known for the time Lance Stephenson landed on him at the scorers’ table. Click here to listen to White’s interview with Bevan (the interview starts at 29:41 of the broadcast).
Bill Bevan with Pacers player Victor Oladipo courtside in 2018.
On one of Bevan’s days subbing in the seniors’ Catholic Theology class, a student asked him to name his favorite player of all time. While Bevan is hesitant to choose one player above all others, he’s adamant about his favorite Pacers team: the first ABA team in its first season.
“Those guys were just coming out of college, and were the same age as I was,” he told his class. “It was a family back then. It’s all business now. The NBA is all business.”
Bevan also became close friends with Mel Daniels, who was the ABA Most Valuable Player in 1969 and 1971 and led the Pacers to three ABA championships. Bevan said he misses Daniels, who died in October 2015.
You have to assume Bevan played basketball for the Crusaders: “Well, I was on the team” is his response. He was coached all four years at Scecina by Ray Riley, who then became principal.
Bevan certainly has enjoyed rubbing shoulders with the best pro players, such as Larry Bird, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. But he knows it’s time to go.
Bevan said he and his wife, Sheryl, want to travel more during the Indiana winters. Late last fall, during an extended Pacers away trip, Bevan was walking on the beach in his shorts. At the moment, he decided this NBA season would be his last with the Pacers.
