By Claude Martinez.
Chicago — On Wednesday morning, July 29, Thornton Fractional North head basketball coach Tim Bankston was killed in Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood.
Bankston, 60, was discovered with a gunshot wound to the abdomen inside a residence in the 7600 block of South Emerald Avenue. Responding officers pronounced him dead at the scene. Police are now investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting, and detectives are working to determine what led to his death.
Bankston won a state championship as a player at Simeon Career Academy in 1984. He became the head coach at Thornton Fractional North in Calumet City in 2002, compiling a 370-246 career record.
WCCN interviewed the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Famer in 2024, when he led the Meteors to a 69-46 victory.
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