Practically 70 years after breaking boundaries on the basketball court docket, six members of the Fifties Tennessee State basketball program met with Vice President and HBCU graduate Kamala Harris.
Henry Carlton, Robert Clark, Ron Hamilton, Ernie Jones, George Finley, Dick Barnett and George Finley met with Kama Harris within the Roosevelt Room on the White Home on Friday.
“I believed this could by no means happen,” mentioned Finley, who was a part of the 1959 championship crew.”[Winning] the championship was massive, but it surely wasn’t as massive as being right here with [Vice President] Harris as we speak.”
These six males — together with the remainder of the crew — performed for the 1957 Tennessee A&I program that grew to become the primary from a black faculty to win a nationwide basketball title. This system went on to win the identical title in 1958 and 1959, changing into the primary faculty basketball program to win three consecutive nationwide titles.
“I take a look at every of you and the trail and the journey that you simply’ve been on and your willingness to inform the story in such an lively manner is so necessary,” Kamala Harris, a graduate of Howard College, advised the boys. “There are forces proper now that might attempt to overlook or deny our historical past. However I believe the one manner that we’ll proceed to strengthen ourselves and see progress as a rustic is once we keep in mind the place we’ve been to assist us information the place we wish to be.”
The Tennessee State program was led by Basketball Corridor of Fame John McLendon, who helped this system climb the NAIA mountain lower than 5 years after black faculties have been first allowed to take part within the match. Barnett was the crew’s star participant who would go on to be drafted into the NBA in 1959 and go on to turn out to be an NBA All-Star and two-time champion with the New York Knicks. The 87-year-old was lately elected to the Basketball Corridor of Fame and will probably be enshrined within the corridor this fall.
Harris has been an outspoken ambassador throughout her stint as Vice President, showing on the NCAA Event and Celebration Bowl throughout Howard appearances and lately known as Grambling State after its NCAA Event win.
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