Former Fox Chapel hoops star Stu Lyon homeless, trying to put life back together

Whatever happened to ... ?

When it comes to former high school sports stars, the answer to that question can sometimes be interesting. In Stu Lyon's case, the answer is sad. But at least Lyon is trying to bounce back and put his life back together.

Lyon was the star player on the 1977 Fox Chapel basketball team that won WPIAL and state championships. It was the greatest team in the history of Fox Chapel. I remember as a kid watching Lyon on WPED Channel 13, with Bill Cardille calling the play by play as Lyon helped lead Fox Chapel past Beaver Falls in the WPIAL title game at the Civic Arena. I remember watching Lyon and his teammates (Frank Rocco, Gene Thorpe, Dave Damico, Dan Brudnok are the ones I remember) on Channel 13 again a few weeks later as the Foxes beat Steelton-Highspire and star guard Greg Manning in the state championship game in Hershey. Manning scored 57 points in a state playoff game that year, but Fox Chapel beat Steel-High, 81-71. Thorpe scored 26 points and Lyon 21 in the final.

Lyon went on to play at the University of Oregon and also Georgia Tech. He got an MBA from Duke. But at some point, everything fell apart for Lyon and he was homeless.

I came across Lyon's sad saga through a story done on him a few months ago by Scott Wasserman of Fox 9 News in Minneapolis, Minn. At the time, Lyon was staying at a Salvation Army in Minneapolis.

Hopefully, Lyon is doing well these days, but it is an astonishing story of how far Lyon fell. He used to work on the floor of the stock market. His saga is told by Fox 9 News on the heels of the story about Ted Williams, the homeless man in Ohio who was hired by the Cleveland Cavaliers because of his tremendous voice. There is a small story on Fox 9 News web site about Lyon, but watch the video of the news story that goes with it. It tells some of Lyon's story.