Former playing jerseys belonging to two of Commerce High School’s record-breaking basketball scorers will be retired, again, next week.
Shirley Nunn and Linda Lang Exley, whose jerseys were first retired in 1963 and 1960, will be honored during the Lady Tigers’ final home game of the season on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
The women’s high school coach, Jeff Davis, told organizers he plans to travel from his home in Rome to attend the brief ceremony, which is scheduled to happen at halftime between 6:30 and 7 p.m.
The timing coincides with Commerce High’s senior night, with tributes to the upperclassmen planned between the girls’ and boys’ game, which starts at 7:30 p.m.
Nunn and Exley excelled as designated shooters at a time when girls competed in a version of the game known as six-on-six.
Exley graduated in 1960, having scored a record-breaking 2020 points over her four years as a starter. Nunn graduated in 1963, having surpassed her teammate’s mark with 2159 points.
Commerce attorney Greg Perry, who led the effort to recognize the women, said Davis will present the women’s jerseys to the players just as he did in ceremonies after their senior seasons. Both women kept their shirts, which were gifted to them rather than displayed at the school, which had been the custom then.
That Nunn’s No. 25 and Exley’s No. 33 were later worn was an oversight, school officials have said. Players on the team today do not wear either number.
Nunn and Exley, both Commerce residents, will donate the framed jerseys to the school for permanent placement in the gymnasium, Perry said.
