When a man reaches a certain stage in his career, he starts to wonder how he’ll be remembered.
Even if he walked away tomorrow, Roy Shoulders would never have to worry about his legacy.
Shoulders celebrated his 60th birthday Thursday and for more than half his life, he has coached basketball. He does it not to chase championships or build a hall -of-fame résumé, but out of devotion to a place that shaped him and the kids who now walk its halls.
The vast majority of his coaching career and the entirety of his teaching career has been spent at St. Peter’s. Shoulders graduated from St. Peter’s in 1983, where he played for Phil Hawk, and began coaching and teaching there not long after earning his degree from Walsh when he was just 21.
He planned to enlist in the Navy after college but Joe Guilfoyle, then the coach at St. Peter’s, saw something in him and encouraged Shoulders to pursue a career in education. He joined Guilfoyle’s staff in the late-1980s and was an assistant to Tim Birie when the Spartans made their eighth and heretofore most recent Final Four appearance in 1990.
Shoulders took over as head coach in 1992 and led the Spartans to a district title and a regional runner-up finish that first season. He was the head coach for three seasons, then joined Gregg Collins as an assistant at Mansfield Senior.
Shoulders returned as St. Peter’s head coach from 2004 to 2008, filled a gap for one season during the 2009-10 school year and returned this year. He piloted the Spartans to their first tournament win since 2019 earlier this month, which just so happened to be the 1,000th victory in program history.
He also spent time on Steve Bechtel’s staff at Clear Fork at the urging of late Shelby great Larry Siegfried. Shoulders also took a turn coaching the St. Peter’s girls program.
“Of the 36 years, there’s only been one year I haven’t done something with basketball,” Shoulders said. “I love coaching. I have a love the for the game and a love for St. Pete’s.
“This place has meant so much to me, first as a player in the program, then as a teacher and as a coach.”
Coaching varsity basketball in 2025 is a young man’s game. The job doesn’t start with preseason practice in November and end after the tournament in March. There are off-season workouts and summer shootouts, open gyms and team camps. To do it well requires unlimited energy.
Why does a man who can see his professional finish line sign on for another tour?
“Because there are unbelievable young men in the program, just really good kids. That was the most compelling part of it all,” Shoulders said. “These are young men who I know want to have an opportunity to taste success. That was the driving force.”
While the high school sports landscape has changed dramatically in the three-plus decades since he began his journey, Shoulders has done his best to stay true to himself.
“I’m still me, but a more mature version of me,” Shoulders said. “I’m a tough-love guy. I’m a no-nonsense guy, but my players have always known that I care for them immensely as people and as basketball players.
“At the end of the day I just want them to succeed no matter if it’s on the floor or in the classroom.”
So what advice would he offer to his younger self?
“Be who you are,” Shoulders said. “When you are an assistant coach, you’re developing. If the head coach you are working under has a different personality and a different style, take the things you have learned along the way and mold them into your style.
“Be the best version of you. Don’t try to be someone else.”
Shoulders, who is the Dean of Students at St. Peter’s, doesn’t know how much longer he’ll be on the sidelines. He still relishes the opportunity to mold young minds through the game that has meant so much to him.
“When the time comes, I’ll know,” Shoulders said when asked when he’ll hang up the whistle for good. “Hopefully there are people on staff and we can transition and keep things going in a positive direction.
When that time finally comes, Shoulders hopes he is remembered as more than a coach.
“I’ve always said that I really hope anyone who has played for me appreciates what I attempted to teach them,” Shoulders said. “When it’s all said and done, I hope they remember me as being a good man who cared for them and who took the role of mentor and role model very seriously.
“And it was basketball that brought us all together.”