Mike Fuller is a man of many stripes and hats – stripes as in basketball official for 39 years, and hats as in all the jobs he has completed, roles he has played and tournaments he has led for over 25 years with Gus Macker Basketball.

  Scott McNeal, also known as Gus Macker, said Fuller was always a shoo-in for the Macker Hall of Fame, he just didn’t know it.

  “Mike thinks of others first,” McNeal said. “He wants to make sure every person involved with Gus Macker, from me and my family to the one-day volunteer keeping score on a court at any tournament enjoys the experience.”

  Fuller was surprised when he was named to the Hall of Fame during the 45th anniversary in 2018, especially since the Hall of Fame plaques had been created at his home.

  “My wife (Dana) was working on them and I would go home and see her every night,” he said. “I knew she was working on the plaques until late at night, but she didn’t give me a hint that this was going on.”

  When McNeal made the surprise announcement Fuller was overcome with emotion.

  “I’ve always been very emotional and this company has been a passion of mine for a long time,” he said. “I love it to death, and when I was chosen – sitting with my family who had shown up and already knew about it when I didn’t – I got very emotional and excited. It means so much to me.”

  Fuller said people need to understand the impact Macker has on people and communities as a family festival of basketball.

  “It has changed a lot of lives, and mine is one of them,” he said. “I started back in the day as a Gus Buster. I got a group of officials to work as Gus Busters and we did the huge tournaments in Belding. So, I started on a court, then in the office and I’ve traveled Macker world as a supervisor, tournament director, event manager, and now operations and sales and I’m even a bracketologist.”

  Fuller, whose other passions include cooking, is also a restaurant owner and working in the restaurant business allowed him to work nights as an official and on weekends for Macker for many years.

  He said the people he has worked with at Macker have become family.

  “These are special people and we use the world family because it fits, and this is a family event, every Macker is a family event,” he said. “We are tight-knit here and I would do anything these people asked me to do. To go in the Hall of Fame with all the legends I’ve known who have contributed so much, it’s special for me, so special.”

  He said Macker is still rolling past 45 years because McNeal’s passion is still cooking.

  “Gus gets out of be fired up,” he said. “Working with him, I get out of bed liking what I do. When you can do that every day, and touch hearts out there, see the smiles of the kids competing, see it bring families together across the United States, its special. We see third generations out there now, and that is so cool.”

  He was 66 when inducted in 2018 with no plans to retire.

  “Love what I do,” he said. “Scott told me at the induction; ‘you helped us get to 45, so now you got to get us to 50.’ I’m all in and feel blessed to have the opportunity.”

2018

The Big Coney Dawg