Bishop Inducted Into Hall of Fame

November 23, 2024 is a date that Mervin Bishop will not soon forget. Before you stop reading this because you feel you do not know him, there's a good chance you probably do know him...by his nickname, "Babsie."

It was on November 23rd that Bishop was inducted into the Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame. The event took place at Carrol College in Helena, and Bishop was selected after being nominated by his high school basketball coach, Bill Ryan, who now lives in Billings.

When Bishop was notified of the honor, he called Ryan and shared with him the news that he had been selected, Ryan's response was, "It's about time! It should have happened a long time ago!"

Bishop said there were 19 people attending the honor ceremony on his behalf, and that it was a sold out event. "When the word got around that it was coming up, they were disappointed to learn there was no seating available."

"It was a pretty special night," stated Bishop; it was the State championship game here in Malta and yet all of my grandkids chose to go to the awards ceremony. That says something."

Bishop said he was told to be prepared with a speech, which he flat out professed was a hard thing to do, "I'm not one to brag on myself and I told them that."

Mervin "Babsie" Bishop "...grew up on the "rez," stated that his grandma pretty well raised him. He attended elementary school at Lodge Pole and their school played teams like Big Sandy and St. Mary's in Malta. He stated the school there decided they weren't going to run a bus into their place and his grandma went to the school board and told them if they didn't run a bus for them...like they were doing for other kids...then she wasn't sending the kids. The school refused and grandma kept the kids at home.

Bishop recalls the coach bringing them to Malta to watch a game. "I remember thinking these kids are BIG and wouldn't it be neat to play on this floor and wear the Malta uniform!"

There came a point in time when his grandma worked out a deal with the school board that would allow both Bishops boys to be considered graduated from the eighth grade. Beyond the eighth grade the kids on the reservation either went to Flandreau, in South Dakota, or they would go to Harlem. If they went to Harlem, they were given living expenses.

In his basketball days he had two "Swede's" that strongly urged him to get into school in Malta. With the urging of Swede Hammond and Swede Goodheart, the transition was started. Bishop had an aunt and uncle living in Malta and he approached them about staying with them and they were receptive to the idea.

But, as luck would have it, two months after moving in, his aunt and uncle got jobs in Billings and were moving.

One day he received a call from Tom Moran, the guidance counselor at Malta High School who told Bishop he had heard about the pending move and offered for Bishop to move in with him. He said his response was "OH NO" and figured he'd be moving to Harlem. Moran then offered him the option of staying with a family, but they wanted to meet him first.

The family was Harold and Elsie Sorenson and they had discussed it with their three children, and it was now "home" for Bishop. "I still really appreciate the Sorenson's, Harold, Elsie, David, Robert and Carla."

Bishop said Robert came home one day from school and said, "...they are saying at school that Babsie is not my brother, because we don't have the same name – I'm a Sorenson and he's a Bishop, in a near heartbroken tone." Bishop smiled and said, "Elsie just looked at him and said, "Yes, you're brothers!"

Having lost two years of schooling, Bishop said he told them that he was going to need help with his school work to stay eligible. Kids that he had played against came forward and said they would help. Wade Hasler and Bud Slade had both urged him to move to Malta and offered help. "Well..." Bishop said through a laugh and a grin, "Wade wasn't much help and Bud was doing his thing." (Bishop claims he still loves these two, regardless.)

Bishop shared how he was sitting on a fence at Trafton Park, watching a rodeo, with Jeff Hould and Jim Anderson. He watched as the chute would open...the horse would go one way and the bull or saddle bronc would go the other way. Not impressed with the ride the cowboys had just done, he said, "I told them I could ride better backwards than those kids!"

That is when his second love developed – the life of rodeo. He got involved with the high school rodeo circuit and "rode everything I could." He fared well enough to place in several events, winning the saddle bronc competition, qualifying for state and winning the state saddle bronc category.

"I qualified for nationals in San Antonio, Texas, but I knew I couldn't afford it."

A week before the rodeo Sorenson came home and said "You're going!" When Bishop said he couldn't afford it, Sorenson responded, "They took up a collection at the Stockman and we've made arrangements to car pool from Miles City or Broadus with three other kids."

"I got down there and made the top ten in bull riding and won third in the finals. It was a pretty big deal I guess," and said it was around his freshman year. The next year he qualified for state and got runner-up for all around. Over the next two years he won the all-around and won state bull dogging and went to finals his senior year.

The rodeo standards had changed and one could only enter two categories, so he did steer wrestling, bull riding and back to steer wrestling. It was in this array of events that he injured his arm and could not participate with a cast on his arm.

"To this day, I cannot straighten it out," he said. "I had a scholarship to play for Rocky Mountain College in Billings and wasn't able to shoot or make baskets." This ended his basketball career.

Asked who had been an inspiration along his path, "Billy Mills and of course Coach Ryan," he responded.

"Your four years of high school are your best years. If it hadn't been for basketball I would have dropped out. I never could read...I missed phonics along the way. That's why I struggled with school work...I just kept a passing grade. Jim Anderson helped me through it...Wade meant well...(laughing with admiration)...but he was no help!"

Looking back on some memories of his high school career, Bishop stated he asked the coach if he would guard Louis Goodluck and the coach gave him the go-ahead. He said he would be going down the court and pass Goodluck and elbow him or some other antagonizing move and then continue down court. Gooduck would come toward me and try to return the antaginition and the ref would call foul on Goodluck, who would whine and claim the Bishop had started it.

As to greatest moments, "...there have been so many great ones. Three years we went to state and were beat by Baker...I kept reminding the team...remember Baker? We could have been state champions."

Bishop told the team, "I won't be happy if you guys don't give 100 or 110%." He said he decided he had to start taking more shots...saying he was one who would be content with the ball down the court and letting someone shoot. In the game against Med Lake he shot 30 points for the team to take the championship. In his days, there were no 3-point shots, yet.

Beyond the high school and college days, Bishop coached one year in Dodson.

What was the drive for this scrawny kid from the mountains to excel and achieve this recognition? Bishop answered that question with a calm and steady voice. "Billy Mills, he grew up in Pine Ridge, South Dakota ~ he was an Indian kid who went to Haskill and then to Kansas and ran track. He went to the Olympics in Tokyo and won the 10K and a gold medal. I remember reading about him. An Indian kid wins a gold medal, that's pretty awesome. Wouldn't it be neat to meet him some day?"

As luck or dreams or wishing would have it ~ Billy Mills was the guest speaker at the ceremony when Bishop was inducted into the Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.

A dream come true for a kid off the "rez" and a reminder your goals are attainable if you set your mind to it, and in this case, practice.

A surprise that was shared with Bishop in Helena was that a scholarship had been created in his name and as of the award ceremony $60,000 had been donated to give kids an opportunity they might not otherwise have.

Bishop is also credited with creating the HIT (Hi-line Invitational Tournament), sharing that his efforts were supported by the Malta school coaches and administration when it was in the start-up process. It began with Smuck Mann, Bud Slade, Roy Ereaux and Tom Hofeldt working with Bishop to get teams along the hi-line together.

"It was so miserable, they wouldn't let us use the gym and we had to end up going before the school board to get to use it. Then...they wouldn't let us use the balls...so we had to go to the other schools in the county to borrow them."

"When someone tells me I can't, I'm going to make it happen." From these tournaments, three kids went on to play in the NBA.

As for Coach Ryan, he and Helen are living in Billings and Babsie was one of the ones that put together a 90th birthday for him this summer. That tribute speaks volume for respect and admiration.

There are more stories that could be shared, however, with limited space this will have to suffice for now. Bishop would be more than willing to visit with you about the career of the cowboy that shot hoops on the side. He said he is grateful for the people who got him on the right road. Congratulations, Babsie, the community and your alumni, Malta High School are proud of your positive impact on the floor...and in the rodeo dust!