When Shane Trull was in fourth grade, his friend Robert Seward handed him a basketball. Robert’s house had a goal, when most other kids’ didn’t. “And he had a paved driveway,” Trull said, “when everyone else had dirt. We’d play 2-on-1, and he was just a lot better than everybody else, and that certainly drove me to be better than him.

“We played every day after school, and he taught me how to shoot, and everything else.”

The lessons worked.

Trull, 43, of Mount Holly, is a married father of three, but he still holds the East Gaston High School record for most points scored in a career (1,685). And he’s eighth on Belmont Abbey’s all-time scoring list with 1,743 points (1988-92), even though he essentially played out of position as a senior.

 “It’s pretty amazing that the record’s stood (at East Gaston) since 1988, because I only had three years of playing. We could only play in 10th, 11th and 12th grade, and kids today get four years,” he said. “I try to go back to watch a couple of times a year. My jersey’s retired, so my kids enjoy seeing it there.”

Trull is the son of Ty and Sandra Trull, who still live off Highway 27 in Mount Holly, in the same home as when Shane was born. “My mom was a stay-at-home mom, and she took me a lot of places and sacrificed a lot, for me to follow my dreams,” he said. “I appreciate that. I still talk to my parents every day. We’re close.”

Trull’s first basketball challenge came at Mount Holly Junior High, when there were 12 boys on the roster but only 10 uniforms. “The other two guys had to wear girl uniforms,” he said, “and I told myself I’d never be in that predicament.”

At East Gaston, playing shooting guard and small forward, Trull set the record of most points in a season, with 750, and averaged 30 points per game as a senior. His highest game was 48 points against South Point in 1987 – in three quarters. “They played a box-and-one on me and it didn’t work,” he said. “That was a big rivalry.”

He has a story or two about his late coach, Jim Turpin, whom he greatly admired.

His 10th-grade season, East Gaston was playing a tournament at Cherryville. “A guy jumped on me and broke my tooth, and it came out,” he said. “I went over to the side and handed it to Jim and said, ‘Hold this; I might need it later.’ And kept on playing.”

When Trull played his last game, he said, Turpin hugged him at the end. “He said ‘thank you.’ He hugged me and just said ‘thank you,’” Trull said. “And after that, he never coached again.”

Interest came from Tennessee, Wake Forest, UNCC and Xavier, as well as Belmont Abbey.

Trull averaged about 16 points as a freshman under coach Kevin Eastman, now a Boston Celtics assistant, and 20 as a sophomore and junior, before switching to center as a senior. He scored 597 points in 1989-90, and 481 in 1990-91, including 36 points at Kennesaw State that November, and, following Eastman, played for Rick Scruggs (1989-91) and Joe Gallagher (1991-92, and later with the Philadelphia 76ers).
“I was playing the 5-spot most of the time (as a senior), going up against guys about 6-10. But I don’t’ regret going to Abbey. It’s a great school, and I got a great education,” said Trull, who’s 6-7. “The stands were always full. I had grown up going to all their camps and stuff, and I was a homebody so I had the best of both worlds. I was on a full ride, but I was 10 minutes from the house.”

He had a chance to play pro ball overseas, but Trull went to work for Parkdale Mills in 1993 – and still works for them, in sales. He and his wife, Connie, have twin 13-year-old daughters, Laura and Lexi, who play basketball, softball and volleyball, and a son Drake, 9, who Trull said is “just getting into sports. We’re a sports family.” He coaches them, some.

“I think they’re more excited than I am about the Hall of Fame,” he said. “Sports teaches you a lot about life in general. It was a lot of dedication, and a lot of hard work.”