One of Rudy Thomas’ daughters toured the Fountains at Mill Cove, a senior living community in Jacksonville, and thought it would be a good fit for him at this stage in his life.
She turned out to be right. But little did she or anyone, including Coach Rudy, really know what it would lead to — how at age 82, he’s coaching a basketball team of fellow residents, mostly women, many in wheelchairs, some playing basketball for the first time in their lives.
How the players voted on a team name: “Senior Moments.”
How they’ve given each other nicknames like Bulldog, Slim, Puddin’, Hot Shot, Booty, Shrimp.
How they say he’s made their lives better. And he says they’ve given him purpose to his life.
How he won a Florida Health Care Association award — Resident
of the Year — that he says ranks right up there with any past honors, from high school to college to barnstorming with the Harlem Globetrotters. Which for Rudy Thomas isn’t a hypothetical comparison.
From Jacksonville to Globetrotters
When Thomas left Jacksonville more than 60 years ago, he was a talented and towering young basketball player — a 6-foot-7 center who played for Northwestern High School, became a key piece of a celebrated Western Washington University team and spent part of the 1970s playing for one of America’s most legendary basketball teams.
This was a Globetrotters era with Meadowlark Lemon and “Curly” Neal, a Saturday morning cartoon and multiple touring teams.
While most of the big names played on a team that packed large arenas in big cities, Thomas was on a team, coached by Globetrotters legend Marcus Haynes, that played in smaller venues in northern states, as many as 200 nights a year.
“At that stage of my life, it was all fun,” he says. “For the first year or so. After that, it’s a job.”
When that job ended, he found another one that kept him in the Seattle area and lasted for several decades, making him a beloved figured in city of Bellevue. He led youth recreation programs there, teaching kids how to dribble and shoot and more.
Just one example: When one of those kids became a high school star and valedictorian, the college essay he wrote to get into the University of Chicago was all about Coach Rudy.
When Thomas retired in 2012, he said he had no idea what he’d do next, but he was certain that he’d continue to volunteer somewhere. Not that he was picturing working with a whole new age group.
Basketball over bingo
A few years ago, diabetes led to him losing part of his left leg and ending up in a wheelchair. He returned to Jacksonville, settling into the Fountains, looking for something to do.
“I don’t like bingo that much,” he said.
So he had an idea.
Aaron Greenberg, the resident program director at the Fountains, recalls Thomas coming up to him and saying: “I want to start a basketball team.”
“I was like, ‘Why? Why would you want to do that? We’re going to send people to the hospital?’” Greenberg said. “He said, ‘Trust me.’”
Thomas went to Russell Ward, the Fountains executive director, with the idea. Ward laughs when he recalls his reaction. He asked Thomas if maybe he’d come down with something. A basketball team here, a place full of senior residents in wheelchairs and scooters?
“He's like, "I'm serious. I can make this happen,’” Ward said. “You should’ve seen the passion in his eyes.”
Ward looked into those eyes and told him: OK, let’s do it.
They realized to do it, they needed equipment. Ward and Greenberg went on Amazon and ordered a basketball hoop with an adjustable height and balls in a variety of sizes.
For practices, they cleared the multi-use room that is used for everything from church to bingo to movie nights — but, until this point, not basketball.
Ward figured it would be a short-lived experiment. And in the beginning, there were just three women.
But the team quickly grew. And now, more than a year and a half later, they have a roster with 18 names (and nearly as many nicknames).
They give Phyllis Hazlitt credit for coming up with the “Senior Moments” name. They say this is better than some of the other ones that were suggested, like the Senior Dribblers or Golden Age Walkers.
They don’t play games. But they do have shirts for their practices — Senior Moments on Wednesdays and red ones, donated by his daughter who works for Nike, to honor veterans on Fridays. And they have competitions. But, in many ways, the actual basketball is secondary.
“Rudy has been able to take residents who haven't been out of chairs in years — and they’re standing up, exercising, participating,” Ward said. “There’s the camaraderie, just hanging out together. … It’s done so much for this community.”
As resident program director, Greenberg helps with the practice. But it’s clearly driven by Coach Rudy. And of this, Greenberg says: “We talk about how we want the culture of the staff to be here in the building. But culture of the residents is really important, too. And Rudy's that foundation, that brick that is laid down and builds culture with other residents.”
And beyond.
The Senior Moments have connected with the University of North Florida women’s basketball team.
That’s part of what Ward finds endearing about what they’ve watched play out – this multigenerational interaction. He remembers being the age of these college students. He says you wouldn’t have got him to spend a Friday at the senior center. But that’s what the UNF women’s players have done.
“They came here and met Rudy,” he said. “He’s talking to them and there’s not a chirp. Nobody’s rolling their eyes or playing on their phone. They were just sucking in everything he had to say.”
And not only have they spent time with the Senior Moments, but the Senior Moments have gone to UNF games and Jacksonville Waves games. Which adds another layer to the story.
When some of the women on the Senior Moments were growing up, they were told that girls don’t play sports. Now they’re not only watching young women play basketball, they’re playing.
Senior Moments from the start
Sheila Smith and Karen Lee have been on the team from the start.
Sheila’s nickname is “Shrimp.” She says it’s because she’s 5-foot-3. Lee’s is PITA. She explains with a smile that she earned this by being a “pain in the …”
They’re both in their 80s. Ask them if they ever played basketball before, and they both quickly say, “No.”
Lee says of her participation: “It was reciprocal. I got Rudy to church, and he got me to basketball.”
They talk about how being on the Senior Moments has made grandchildren proud — and what the experience has meant for them. How it gets them out of their rooms and much more.
“I never knew these ladies, but now we're a team, and it's lovely — and it’s all because Rudy started it,” Smith said, glancing over at their coach and adding with a smile: “He keeps us going. He yells at us.”
“Nothing but love,” Thomas says, thumping a fist against his chest.
That, they explain, is how they end each practice.
Resident of the Year
All of this led to the Florida Health Care Association giving Rudy Thomas the 2026 Joe Negron Resident of the Year award.
He was presented with the award at an event in Orlando. There were several hundred executives from around the state in a big auditorium. When Thomas received his award, he made all of them stand up and say something.
As Ward tells this story, he looks over at Thomas and says, “What did you say? What did you tell them to say?”
He knows the answer. But he wants Rudy to say it.
"Nothing but love."
Another practice
Walk into the Fountains on a Wednesday or Friday afternoon and you hear the sound of basketball coming from the multi-purpose room.
A whistle, shouts of instruction, the thump-thump of basketballs on the floor.
“Listen, when you're dribbling the basketball, put some authority behind it,” Coach Rudy says.
He demonstrates, showing the technique he’s talking about, using the fingertips and force.
“See how responsive it is when you do it the right way,” he says. “As long as you're doing it the right way, the basketball's going to come back. It's going to be your best friend, but you gotta act like you own it.”
They run through some more drills. They practice passing one ball after another to a shooter, and rotating positions.
All the while there is a mix of seriousness and fun. They say you should’ve seen them in the beginning. They’ve come a long way. It's not just that they're better individually, although that's true. It's that they are a team.
If you include all the basketball teams in Florida — the pros, college, high school, junior high, AAU, rec leagues and so on — the number probably tops 10,000.
In many ways, all are better than the Senior Moments. But, in some ways, none of them can compete with this team.
Coach Rudy blows his whistle. He asks how everyone is feeling and wraps up the practice with some parting words.
“You guys make me so happy and proud of each and every one of you,” he says. “Today was a lot of fun, a lot of fun. And I tell you what, I wouldn't trade it for anything.”
Then he adds one more thing.
“Nothing but love,” the coach says, thumping a fist against his heart.
“Nothing but love,” repeat the Senior Moments.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Former Harlem Globetrotter starts basketball team at senior community
