SHELBY COUNTY — Sixteen-year-old Mauri Kuhn earned a place in the small town lore of Shelby County 30 years ago thanks to a protest that lasted just 8 seconds.
“I still hear it from time to time,” Kuhn said. “‘You're the kid that checked himself into the game!’”
The Waldron High School sophomore, tired of riding the bench for the junior varsity team, checked himself into the game against Morristown on Dec. 10, 1993.
“The coach wasn’t going to put me in, so I put myself in,” Kuhn told WRTV reporter Jim Parsons in January 1994. “He wasn’t going to play me, so I might as well play before I quit.”
That’s exactly what Kuhn did. After only a few seconds, Kuhn was pulled from the game and promptly walked off the court.
“Then it blew up from there,” Kuhn recently told WRTV. “I was on social probation, which meant I couldn’t go to any extracurricular activities and unbeknownst to me, my parents ended up hiring an attorney.”
That’s because the punishment from the Shelby Eastern School District meant Kuhn wasn’t allowed to attend any after-school activities for 30 days. A judge agreed and issued an injunction that allowed Kuhn to attend basketball games as a spectator.
“Stacia Matthews actually met me at the game and sat with me in the stands,” Kuhn said.
Water under the bridge
While Kuhn says he has no regrets for his actions that fateful day, time has changed his perspective on quitting.
“I have kids now that play sports and I instill in them that if you start something, you finish it.” Kuhn said. “You're not quitting the coach, you're quitting your team and that's a big deal.”
Strangely enough, a chance encounter brought Kuhn and his former coach Bob Mullin together years later.
“My trade is installing flooring and I actually did a job for, I think it was his mother,” Kuhn said. “I pulled in the driveway and he came out the door. That was the first time I had seen him since that incident that we actually talked. It was water under the bridge for him and for me. Everything was good from there on out.”
Kuhn has this advice for any player that might not be getting the playing time they’d like.
“Just hustle. You don't have to be the best kid, but if you give 110% all the time, it'll earn you a spot.”
