May 24, 1963 Joe Dumars III, hall of fame basketball player and basketball executive, was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. Dumars played college basketball at McNeese State University and was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the 1985 NBA Draft. Dumars played his entire 14-season professional career with the Pistons and was a six-time All-Star and […]
Tag Archives | basketball
May 21st in African American History – Clarence Edward “Big House” Gaines, Sr.
May 21, 1923 Clarence Edward “Big House” Gaines, Sr., hall of fame college basketball coach, was born in Paducah, Kentucky. Gaines attended Lincoln High School where he excelled academically and athletically, graduating as class salutatorian in 1941. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Morgan State College in 1945 and in 1950 […]
May 15th in African American History – Wayman Lawrence Tisdale
May 15, 2009 Wayman Lawrence Tisdale, professional basketball player and jazz bass guitarist, died. Tisdale was born June 9, 1964 in Fort Worth, Texas and played guitar at his father’s church. As a college player at the University of Oklahoma, Tisdale was the first player in history to be named a first-team All American in […]
Will Robinson – April 28th in African American History
April 28, 2008 Will Robinson, the first African American head basketball coach at a Division I college, died. Robinson was born June 3, 1911 in Wadesboro, North Carolina. As a high school student, he finished second in the state golf tournament despite not being allowed on the course with the white players. Robinson lettered in […]
April 22nd in African American History – Spencer Haywood
April 22, 1949 Spencer Haywood, retired basketball player, was born in Silver City, Mississippi. Haywood moved to Detroit, Michigan and in 1967 led Pershing High School to the Michigan State Basketball Championship. In 1968, Haywood was the leading scorer on the United States’ Gold Medal winning Olympic team in Mexico City. Later that year, he […]
April 16th in African American History – Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar)
April 16, 1947 Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), hall of fame basketball player, coach, actor and author, was born in New York City. Abdul-Jabbar began his record breaking basketball accomplishments in high school when he led Power Memorial Academy to three straight New York City Catholic championships. Abdul-Jabbar played college basketball at the University of […]
April 14th in African American History – Cynthia Lynne Cooper
April 14, 1963 Cynthia Lynne Cooper, hall of fame basketball player, was born in Chicago, Illinois. Cooper played collegiate basketball at the University of Southern California and led them to back to back NCAA tournament championships in 1983 and 1984. After leaving college, she played professional basketball in Spain and Italy from 1986 to 1996. […]