Black participation in college basketball
Encyclopedia
African American
s have been participating in United States
college basketball
for over a century.
was invented, and after being exposed to the game over the summer at Harvard University
, Coach Edwin Henderson
introduced basketball to a physical education class at Howard University
in Washington, D. C. In 1908 Tuskegee University
began playing basketball. By 1910, basketball was one of the most popular sports among young African-Americans. The game could be played on almost any surface, and it required little or no equipment. It was promoted largely in the Young Men’s Christian Associations (YMCAs) in black neighborhoods, on basketball courts indoors and outdoors, at parks and on playgrounds.
By 1915, African-Americans played basketball in high school physical education classes, on college and university squads, and on club teams representing major urban cities. Some of the first predominantly black universities to form basketball teams include Hampton University
in Virginia; Lincoln University
in Pennsylvania; Wilberforce University
in Ohio; and Virginia Union in Richmond. In 1916, the all-black Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
(CIAA) was formed, uniting Virginia Union, Shaw University
(Raleigh, North Carolina), Lincoln and Howard in competition.
Four years later, the all-black Southeastern Athletic Conference was established, and by 1928 there were four all-black regional conferences.
at Rutgers University
, Wilbur Wood at Nebraska
, Fenwick Watkins at the University of Vermont
and Cumberland Posey
at Penn State and Duquesne
became basketball stars before World War I
in white major-college programs.
George Gregory, Jr., the 6'-4" captain and center of the Columbia University
team from 1928–1931, became the first African American all-American college basketball player, in 1931.
Big Dave DeJernett, the 6-4 captain and center of integrated Indiana Central University
, which won the mythical Indiana college conference championship with a 16-1 record in 1934 (Notre Dame and Purdue finishing 2nd and 3rd), became the first Afro-American four-year collegiate star to sign with a top-level professional contender when he agreed to play for the New York Rens in 1936.
Several black college basketball programs stood out. Xavier University of Louisiana
won 67 games and lost only two between 1934 and 1938, and Alabama State University
, Lincoln University
in Missouri, Morgan State University
in Maryland and Wiley College
in Texas all produced exceptional basketball programs.
From the 1920s until 1947, few African-American players were allowed in major college programs. One notable exception was Jackie Robinson
, a multi-sport star (1939–1941) at UCLA
just before World War II
, who went on to greater fame for breaking Major League Baseball
's 20th-century color line
. Robinson's honors at UCLA were impressive: for two years highest scorer in basketball competition in the Pacific Coast Conference
, national champion long (then "broad") jumper, the school's first athlete to letter in four sports, All-American football halfback and varsity baseball shortstop. He left UCLA in 1941 because of financial pressures, not many credits away from a bachelor's degree. UCLA also had Don Barksdale
, the first African-American consensus all-American basketball player in 1947. Barksdale would later be the first African-American to win an Olympic basketball gold medal, and would be the third African-American to sign an NBA contract after Chuck Cooper joined Boston and Earl Lloyd
signed with Washington. He was the first African-American to play in the NBA All-Star Game.
In 1947, William Garrett
integrated big-time college basketball by joining the basketball program at Indiana University
. He broke the gentlemen's agreement that had barred black players from the Big Ten Conference
, at that time college basketball's most important conference. While enduring taunts from opponents and pervasive segregation at home and on the road, Garrett became the best player Indiana had ever had, an all-American, and, in 1951, the third African-American drafted in the NBA. Within a year of his graduation from IU, there were six African-American basketball players on Big Ten teams.
Despite the examples set by DeJernett, first Indiana Mr Basketball
George Crowe
, and other Hoosier hoops stars like Muncie's Jack Mann, Whiteland's Ray Crowe, and Anderson's Jumpin' Johnny Wilson
(not to mention Davage Minor and Chuck Harmon
), Indiana was an unlikely place for a civil rights breakthrough. It was stone-cold isolationist, widely segregated and hostile to change. But in the late 1940s, Indiana had a leader of the largest black YMCA in the world, which viewed sports as a wedge for broader integration; a visionary university president, who believed his institution belonged to all citizens of the state; a passion for high school and college basketball; and a teenager who was, as nearly as any civil rights pioneer has ever been, the perfect person for his time and role. Slowly from there, Division I college basketball became integrated.
) team, coached by John Wooden, was responsible for integrating post-season collegiate basketball tournaments.
The 1946-47 Sycamores
won the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference title and received an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament; the most prestigious small-college tourney in America. Wooden refused the invitation, citing the NAIB's policy banning African American players. One of Wooden's players was Clarence Walker, an African-American from East Chicago, Indiana.
The following season (1947–48), Coach Wooden again led Indiana State to the conference title. The NAIB had reversed its policy banning African-American players that year; with the support of the NAACP and Walker's parents, Wooden and Indiana State accepted the invitation and led the Sycamores to the NAIB National Tournament final, losing to Louisville. That year, Walker became the first African-American to play in any post-season intercollegiate basketball tournament, coming off the bench and scoring eight points.
The lifting of the ban on black players also meant the NAIB champion would be eligible for an automatic berth in the 1948 Olympic Trials.
The higher-profile NIT and NCAA tournaments finally integrated two years later.
The Loyola University (Chicago)
teams of the early 1960s, coached by George Ireland, are thought to be responsible for ushering in a new era of racial equality in the sport by shattering all remaining color barriers in NCAA men's basketball. Beginning in 1961, Loyola broke the longstanding gentlemen's agreement
(not to play more than three black players at any given time), putting as many as four black players on the court at every game. http://michaelpeters.blogspot.com/2006/02/film-review-glory-road-sports-movie.html For the 1962-63 season, Ireland played four black Loyola starters in every game. That season, Loyola also became the first team in NCAA Division I history to play an all-black lineup, doing so in a game against Wyoming in December 1962. http://www.ramblermania.com/history.htm
In 1963, Loyola shocked the nation and changed college basketball forever by starting four black players in the NCAA Tournament, as well as the Championship game. Loyola's stunning upset of two-time defending NCAA champion Cincinnati
, in overtime by a score of 60-58, was the crowning achievement in the school's nearly decade long struggle with racial inequality in men's college basketball, highlighted by the tumultuous events of that year's NCAA Tournament. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/loyola/cs-071214loyola,1,3039084.story?coll=cs-college-loyola-printhttp://www2.ncaa.org/portal/media_and_events/press_room/2006/january/20060106_defining_moments_rls.html Loyola's 1963 NCAA title
was historic not only for the racial makeup of Loyola's team, but also because Cincinnati had started 3 black players, making 7 of the ten starter's in the 1963 NCAA Championship game black. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0743479033
Another memorable event for African-Americans in college basketball came three years later in the 1966 NCAA championship game
, in which Texas Western College
(now University of Texas at El Paso
) coach Don Haskins
started five African-American players. The Miners beat favorite Kentucky
72-65 to win the 1966 NCAA title. The team's victory inspired the 2006 movie Glory Road
. Clem Haskins
and Dwight Smith became the first black athletes to integrate the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
program in the Fall of 1963. This put Western Kentucky at the forefront to integrate college basketball in the Southeast. The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers were 2 points away from defeating Michigan and meeting the University of Kentucky Wildcats in the Mideast regional final of the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
. A controversial foul called against Greg Smith during a jump ball put Cazzie Russell on the free throw line for Michigan, where he scored the tying and winning baskets.
hired Will Robinson as the first African-American head coach of a major college basketball program http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ilsu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/History-mbb0607.pdf.
In 1984, John Thompson Jr.
became the first African-American head coach to win the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship when the Georgetown Hoyas defeated the University of Houston 84-75. In 2007, his son, John Thompson III
led the Hoyas to the Final Four
becoming the first father-son coaching duo, regardless of race, to lead their respective teams to a Final Four appearance http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/25/AR2007032501353.html
broadcast a film titled Black Magic, which is four-hour documentary
that portrays the struggles of black basketball players at historically black colleges both on and off the court.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s have been participating in United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
for over a century.
Introduction at Harvard
Thirteen years after basketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
was invented, and after being exposed to the game over the summer at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Coach Edwin Henderson
Edwin Henderson
Edwin B. Henderson , widely recognized as the "Grandfather of Black Basketball," introduced basketball in Washington, D.C. in 1904 to African Americans on a wide scale, organized basis...
introduced basketball to a physical education class at Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
in Washington, D. C. In 1908 Tuskegee University
Tuskegee University
Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund...
began playing basketball. By 1910, basketball was one of the most popular sports among young African-Americans. The game could be played on almost any surface, and it required little or no equipment. It was promoted largely in the Young Men’s Christian Associations (YMCAs) in black neighborhoods, on basketball courts indoors and outdoors, at parks and on playgrounds.
By 1915, African-Americans played basketball in high school physical education classes, on college and university squads, and on club teams representing major urban cities. Some of the first predominantly black universities to form basketball teams include Hampton University
Hampton University
Hampton University is a historically black university located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It was founded by black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War to provide education to freedmen.-History:...
in Virginia; Lincoln University
Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)
Lincoln University is the United States' first degree-granting historically black university. It is located near the town of Oxford in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The university also hosts a Center for Graduate Studies in the City of Philadelphia. Lincoln University provides...
in Pennsylvania; Wilberforce University
Wilberforce University
Wilberforce University is a private, coed, liberal arts historically black university located in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans...
in Ohio; and Virginia Union in Richmond. In 1916, the all-black Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association is a college athletic conference, mostly consisting of historically black colleges and universities. Recent addition Chowan University is the first non-HBCU to play in the conference. Conference teams participate in the NCAA's Division II...
(CIAA) was formed, uniting Virginia Union, Shaw University
Shaw University
Shaw University, founded as Raleigh Institute, is a private liberal arts institution and historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1865, it is the oldest HBCU in the Southern United States....
(Raleigh, North Carolina), Lincoln and Howard in competition.
Four years later, the all-black Southeastern Athletic Conference was established, and by 1928 there were four all-black regional conferences.
Collegiate play
At the college level, African-American athletes such as Paul RobesonPaul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
at Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
, Wilbur Wood at Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Fenwick Watkins at the University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
and Cumberland Posey
Cumberland Posey
Cumberland Willis "Cum" Posey, Jr. was an American baseball player, manager, and team owner in the Negro leagues, as well as a star professional basketball player and team owner....
at Penn State and Duquesne
Duquesne
-Individuals:* Abraham de Bellebat, marquis du Quesne, governor of Martinique in 1716* Abraham Duquesne, French admiral* Calleigh Duquesne, a character in the television series CSI: Miami...
became basketball stars before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in white major-college programs.
George Gregory, Jr., the 6'-4" captain and center of the Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
team from 1928–1931, became the first African American all-American college basketball player, in 1931.
Big Dave DeJernett, the 6-4 captain and center of integrated Indiana Central University
University of Indianapolis
The University of Indianapolis is a university located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The shortened name it uses is UIndy...
, which won the mythical Indiana college conference championship with a 16-1 record in 1934 (Notre Dame and Purdue finishing 2nd and 3rd), became the first Afro-American four-year collegiate star to sign with a top-level professional contender when he agreed to play for the New York Rens in 1936.
Several black college basketball programs stood out. Xavier University of Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana , located in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States, is a private, coeducational, liberal arts college with the distinction of being the only historically black Roman Catholic institution of higher education...
won 67 games and lost only two between 1934 and 1938, and Alabama State University
Alabama State University
Alabama State University, founded 1867, is a historically black university located in Montgomery, Alabama. ASU is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.- History :...
, Lincoln University
Lincoln University (Missouri)
Lincoln University, a historically black college, is located in Jefferson City, Missouri. In 2007, according to U.S. News and World Report, Lincoln University was ranked #3 for economic diversity, #5 for campus ethnic diversity, and #9 for most international students among master's level...
in Missouri, Morgan State University
Morgan State University
Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...
in Maryland and Wiley College
Wiley College
Wiley College is a four-year, private, historically black, liberal arts college located on the west side of Marshall, Texas. Founded in 1873 by the Methodist Episcopal Church's Bishop Isaac Wiley and certified in 1882 by the Freedman's Aid Society, it is notable as one of the oldest predominantly...
in Texas all produced exceptional basketball programs.
From the 1920s until 1947, few African-American players were allowed in major college programs. One notable exception was Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
, a multi-sport star (1939–1941) at UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
just before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, who went on to greater fame for breaking Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
's 20th-century color line
Baseball color line
The color line in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Organized Baseball, or the major leagues and affiliated minor leagues, until Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization for the 1946 season...
. Robinson's honors at UCLA were impressive: for two years highest scorer in basketball competition in the Pacific Coast Conference
Pacific Coast Conference
The Pacific Coast Conference was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pacific-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, the older league had a completely different charter and was disbanded in 1959 due to a major crisis...
, national champion long (then "broad") jumper, the school's first athlete to letter in four sports, All-American football halfback and varsity baseball shortstop. He left UCLA in 1941 because of financial pressures, not many credits away from a bachelor's degree. UCLA also had Don Barksdale
Don Barksdale
Donald Angelo "Don" Barksdale was a professional basketball player. He was a pioneer with a number of African-American firsts to his credit.-Early life:...
, the first African-American consensus all-American basketball player in 1947. Barksdale would later be the first African-American to win an Olympic basketball gold medal, and would be the third African-American to sign an NBA contract after Chuck Cooper joined Boston and Earl Lloyd
Earl Lloyd
Earl Francis Lloyd is a retired American basketball player. He was the first African-American to play in the National Basketball Association, in the 1950-51 NBA season...
signed with Washington. He was the first African-American to play in the NBA All-Star Game.
In 1947, William Garrett
Bill Garrett (basketball)
William Leon Garrett was the first African-American basketball player in the Big Ten athletic conference.Born in Shelbyville, Indiana, he was Indiana Mr. Basketball in 1947, the year he graduated from Shelbyville High School, following Shelbyville's victory in the state tournament that year...
integrated big-time college basketball by joining the basketball program at Indiana University
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
. He broke the gentlemen's agreement that had barred black players from the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
, at that time college basketball's most important conference. While enduring taunts from opponents and pervasive segregation at home and on the road, Garrett became the best player Indiana had ever had, an all-American, and, in 1951, the third African-American drafted in the NBA. Within a year of his graduation from IU, there were six African-American basketball players on Big Ten teams.
Despite the examples set by DeJernett, first Indiana Mr Basketball
Indiana Mr. Basketball award
The Indiana Mr. Basketball honor recognizes the top high school basketball player in the state of Indiana. The award is presented annually by The Indianapolis Star. The first Indiana Mr...
George Crowe
George Crowe
George Daniel Crowe was a Major League first baseman. He attended Franklin High School in Franklin, Indiana, graduated from Indiana Central College, now the University of Indianapolis, in 1943 and played baseball and basketball. He was the first Indiana "Mr. Basketball"...
, and other Hoosier hoops stars like Muncie's Jack Mann, Whiteland's Ray Crowe, and Anderson's Jumpin' Johnny Wilson
Jumping Johnny Wilson
John E. Wilson, popularly known as Jumpin' Johnny Wilson , was an American basketball and baseball player. He gained his nickname as being the only player on his high school team able to dunk the basketball.-Playing career:...
(not to mention Davage Minor and Chuck Harmon
Chuck Harmon
Charles Byron Harmon is retired American professional baseball player, a former utility player in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Redlegs , St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies...
), Indiana was an unlikely place for a civil rights breakthrough. It was stone-cold isolationist, widely segregated and hostile to change. But in the late 1940s, Indiana had a leader of the largest black YMCA in the world, which viewed sports as a wedge for broader integration; a visionary university president, who believed his institution belonged to all citizens of the state; a passion for high school and college basketball; and a teenager who was, as nearly as any civil rights pioneer has ever been, the perfect person for his time and role. Slowly from there, Division I college basketball became integrated.
Integration
The 1947-48 Indiana State Teacher's College (now Indiana State UniversityIndiana State University
Indiana State University is a public university located in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States.The Princeton Review has named Indiana State as one of the "Best in the Midwest" seven years running, and the College of Education's Graduate Program was recently named as a 'Top 100' by U.S...
) team, coached by John Wooden, was responsible for integrating post-season collegiate basketball tournaments.
The 1946-47 Sycamores
Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball
The Indiana State Sycamores basketball is the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. They currently compete in the Missouri Valley Conference...
won the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference title and received an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament; the most prestigious small-college tourney in America. Wooden refused the invitation, citing the NAIB's policy banning African American players. One of Wooden's players was Clarence Walker, an African-American from East Chicago, Indiana.
The following season (1947–48), Coach Wooden again led Indiana State to the conference title. The NAIB had reversed its policy banning African-American players that year; with the support of the NAACP and Walker's parents, Wooden and Indiana State accepted the invitation and led the Sycamores to the NAIB National Tournament final, losing to Louisville. That year, Walker became the first African-American to play in any post-season intercollegiate basketball tournament, coming off the bench and scoring eight points.
The lifting of the ban on black players also meant the NAIB champion would be eligible for an automatic berth in the 1948 Olympic Trials.
The higher-profile NIT and NCAA tournaments finally integrated two years later.
The Loyola University (Chicago)
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Chicago is a private Jesuit research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1870 under the title St...
teams of the early 1960s, coached by George Ireland, are thought to be responsible for ushering in a new era of racial equality in the sport by shattering all remaining color barriers in NCAA men's basketball. Beginning in 1961, Loyola broke the longstanding gentlemen's agreement
Gentlemen's agreement
A gentlemen's agreement is an informal agreement between two or more parties. It may be written, oral, or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or through mutually beneficial etiquette. The essence of a gentlemen's agreement is that it relies upon the honor of the parties...
(not to play more than three black players at any given time), putting as many as four black players on the court at every game. http://michaelpeters.blogspot.com/2006/02/film-review-glory-road-sports-movie.html For the 1962-63 season, Ireland played four black Loyola starters in every game. That season, Loyola also became the first team in NCAA Division I history to play an all-black lineup, doing so in a game against Wyoming in December 1962. http://www.ramblermania.com/history.htm
In 1963, Loyola shocked the nation and changed college basketball forever by starting four black players in the NCAA Tournament, as well as the Championship game. Loyola's stunning upset of two-time defending NCAA champion Cincinnati
Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
The Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team is the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. They currently compete in the Big East Conference and are coached by Mick Cronin. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in...
, in overtime by a score of 60-58, was the crowning achievement in the school's nearly decade long struggle with racial inequality in men's college basketball, highlighted by the tumultuous events of that year's NCAA Tournament. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/loyola/cs-071214loyola,1,3039084.story?coll=cs-college-loyola-printhttp://www2.ncaa.org/portal/media_and_events/press_room/2006/january/20060106_defining_moments_rls.html Loyola's 1963 NCAA title
1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 9, 1963, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Louisville,...
was historic not only for the racial makeup of Loyola's team, but also because Cincinnati had started 3 black players, making 7 of the ten starter's in the 1963 NCAA Championship game black. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0743479033
Another memorable event for African-Americans in college basketball came three years later in the 1966 NCAA championship game
1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 22 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 7, 1966, and ended with the championship game on March 19 in College Park, Maryland...
, in which Texas Western College
UTEP Miners
The UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso. Informally, the UTEP Miners have also been referred to as the Miners, UTEP, or Texas-El Paso. UTEP was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1967 to 2005, when they joined Rice, Tulsa, and SMU in...
(now University of Texas at El Paso
University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is a four-year state university, and is a component institution of the University of Texas System. Its campus is located on the bank of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas. The school was founded in 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy,...
) coach Don Haskins
Don Haskins
Donald Lee Haskins, nicknamed "The Bear" , was an American collegiate basketball coach and player. He played for three years under legendary coach Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M...
started five African-American players. The Miners beat favorite Kentucky
Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647...
72-65 to win the 1966 NCAA title. The team's victory inspired the 2006 movie Glory Road
Glory Road (film)
Glory Road is an American sports film directed by James Gartner, based on a true story dealing with the events leading to the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, in which the late Don Haskins – played by Josh Lucas – head coach of the Texas Western College led a team...
. Clem Haskins
Clem Haskins
Clem Smith Haskins is a retired American college and professional basketball player and college basketball coach. He and star player Dwight Smith became the first black athletes to integrate the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball program in the fall of 1963. This put Western Kentucky at the...
and Dwight Smith became the first black athletes to integrate the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Basketball team is the men's basketball team that represents WKU in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Hilltoppers currently compete in the Sun Belt Conference. The team's most recent appearance in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was in 2009...
program in the Fall of 1963. This put Western Kentucky at the forefront to integrate college basketball in the Southeast. The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers were 2 points away from defeating Michigan and meeting the University of Kentucky Wildcats in the Mideast regional final of the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 22 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 7, 1966, and ended with the championship game on March 19 in College Park, Maryland...
. A controversial foul called against Greg Smith during a jump ball put Cazzie Russell on the free throw line for Michigan, where he scored the tying and winning baskets.
Coaching
In 1970, Illinois StateIllinois State Redbirds
The Illinois State Redbirds are the athletic teams that represent Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Teams play at the NCAA Division I level . The football team competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference while most other teams compete in the Missouri Valley Conference...
hired Will Robinson as the first African-American head coach of a major college basketball program http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ilsu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/History-mbb0607.pdf.
In 1984, John Thompson Jr.
John Thompson (basketball)
John R. Thompson, Jr. is an American former basketball coach for the Georgetown University Hoyas. He is now a professional radio and TV sports commentator...
became the first African-American head coach to win the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship when the Georgetown Hoyas defeated the University of Houston 84-75. In 2007, his son, John Thompson III
John Thompson III
John Thompson III is the current head coach of the men's basketball team at Georgetown University. He grew up in Washington, D.C. and was named first team All-Metro by The Washington Post while playing for Gonzaga College High School in 1984. Thompson was hired on April 20, 2004 to replace Craig...
led the Hoyas to the Final Four
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
becoming the first father-son coaching duo, regardless of race, to lead their respective teams to a Final Four appearance http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/25/AR2007032501353.html
Documentary presentation
In March 2008, ESPNESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
broadcast a film titled Black Magic, which is four-hour documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
that portrays the struggles of black basketball players at historically black colleges both on and off the court.