EARLY BLACK COLLEGE PROGRAMS

After being exposed to the game during a summer at Harvard University, coach Edwin B. Henderson introduced basketball to a physical education class at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1905. 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 Young Men's Christian Associations (YMCAs) located in black neighborhoods, and basketball courts were soon constructed outdoors, in parks, and on playgrounds.

By 1915 African Americans played basketball on college and university squads, in high school physical education classes, and on club teams representing major urban cities. Some of the first predominantly black universities to form basketball squads included Hampton University, in Hampton, Virginia; Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania; Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio; and Virginia Union in Richmond, Virginia.

In 1916 the all-black Central Interscholastic Athletic Association (CIAA) was formed, uniting the universities of 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.

Regional competition produced a flurry of excitement as black squads battled on college campuses, in city parks, and on high school varsity teams. In several states, tournaments allowed high school teams to compete for the title of state champion.

At the college level, athletes such as Paul Robeson at Rutgers University, Wilbur Woods at Nebraska, and Charles Drew at Amherst College became basketball stars. Several college basketball programs stood out. Xavier University won 67 games and lost only two between 1934 and 1938, and Alabama State, Lincoln University in Missouri, Morgan State in Maryland, and Wiley College in Texas all produced exceptional basketball programs.