September 25, 1965 Scottie Maurice Pippen, hall of fame basketball player, was born in Hamburg, Arkansas. Pippen played college basketball at the University of Central Arkansas. He was selected by the Seattle Supersonics in the 1987 NBA Draft but is best known for his time with the Chicago Bulls. Over his 17 season professional career, […]
Tag Archives | Olympics
September 2nd in African American History – Lennox Claudius Lewis
September 2, 1965 Lennox Claudius Lewis, hall of fame boxer, was born in London, England but raised in Ontario, Canada. Lewis was a dominant amateur boxer and in 1983 won the World Amateur Junior championship. In 1988, he won the super heavyweight boxing Gold medal at the Seoul Olympic Games. After the Olympics, Lewis turned […]
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 […]
May 11th in African American History – Floyd Patterson
May 11, 2006 Floyd Patterson, two-time World Heavyweight boxing champion, died. Patterson was born January 4, 1935 in Waco, North Carolina. He started boxing at the age of 14 and won the Gold medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games as a middleweight. Following the Olympics, Patterson turned professional and on November 30, 1956 became […]
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 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. […]
March 31st in African American History – James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens
March 31, 1980 James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens, Olympic track and field athlete, died. Owens was born September 12, 1913 in Oakville, Alabama. Owens attended Ohio State University where he won a record eight individual NCAA championships. Despite that success, he had to live off campus and was never offered a scholarship for his efforts. At […]