Truman State University Athletics

John Shores, who played for the Bulldog basketball team of the early 1940's, was described as a performer ahead of his time. He was a dominating center for that era of basketball at the university. John Shores, called by his friends "Big Stoop," was an extremely aggressive rebounder and a good inside shooter, with many of the same characteristics as Harry Gallatin, a 1984 member of the university Hall of Fame. Mr. Shores was chosen to the 1940-41 All-MIAA team. That season, he set an individual scoring record of 149 points in ten conference games. He was also an All-Conference pick in 1941-42. Professional basketball might have been a possibility for him, but World War II interrupted Mr. Shore's career. He went into the Air Force in 1942 and served as a Lieutenant Bombardier on a B-17 stationed in Tunisia. In October of 1943, Mr. Shores' squadron was on a bombing mission over Europe. Twenty miles off the Mediterranean coastline his aircraft disappeared in a storm and to this day, it is not known what happened to the plane.