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Offered is a program/yearbook from the Harlem Globetrotters 1953-54 season (the program is in Good condition – missing cover, but loaded with pictures, articles, and autographs). The program has been signed by 10 members of the team.
Features the very elusive autograph of Junius Kellogg, who was a college star in the early 50’s and helped expose the Point Shaving Scandal, as well as Naismith Basketball HOFer, Pop Gates. Also found is the signature of Boid Buie, the one armed superstar. Below is the breakdown of the signers (all in dark pencil and one in ink).
Includes:
Junius Kellogg (D. 1998) was the first African-American to play basketball for Manhattan College. While playing for the Jaspers, Kellogg became known for his role in helping to expose the CCNY point-shaving scandal of 1950–51. n 1951, Kellogg, a standout 6'8" center, was offered a $1,000 bribe to shave points, before a game against DePaul. Although he was working for minimum wage at a frozen custard shop near campus, he refused to take it, reporting the solicitation to his coach, Ken Norton. Norton sent him to the district attorney, Frank Hogan. To get evidence about the corruption, he wore a wire when he was again approached in a nearby bar. His whistle blowing touched off the largest college betting scandal in American history. Ultimately, the investigation involved thirty-two players from seven colleges and encompassed 86 games between 1947 and 1950, including three stars from the 1950 City College of New York team. CCNY had won both the National Invitation Tournament and the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, in 1950, the only time that has ever been accomplished.
Kellogg left college for a stint in the Army; he then returned to Manhattan College, where he doubled up on courses. He graduated in 1953 and began playing for the Harlem Globetrotters. In 1954, he sustained a cervical spinal cord injury in an automobile accident and was paralyzed. Three fellow Globetrotters were unscathed during the accident.
His autograph is rarely seen!
Boid Buie (D. 1996) the one armed basketball player who played college ball at Tennessee A&I (TN State). During uring his 9 year career with the team, he was a starter averaging 14 points per game and was one of the most accurate jump shooters on the squad with stars Marques Haynes, Goose Tatum, Pops Gates and Sweetwater Clifton. His scoring acumen and ball handling skills earned him the nick names "One Armed Wonder" and "One Armed Firecracker". During his career with the Globetrotters, they beat the champion Minneapolis Laker two out of three games over the course of two seasons and toured the post World War II globe travelling to 61 countries as ambassadors of basketball and America.
Pop Gates (D. 1999) (Naismith Basketball HOF) Gates started his professional basketball career with the New York Renaissance, beginning in 1938–39. "Seven months before Jackie Robinson made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Leo Ferris helped usher in a new era of racial integration for professional basketball when he signed Pop Gates, who made his debut for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks in October 1946. Gates, along with William "Dolly" King, were the first two African-American players in the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1946. "When Leo Ferris came to me, it was like a godsend", Gates was quoted as saying in the book "Pioneers of the Hardwood: Indiana and the Birth of Professional Basketball." "It was a real highlight of my career to be accepted by the NBL as one of only two blacks in the league." Later Gates played for and coached the Harlem Globetrotters. He is one of the few athletes who went directly from a high school championship team (Benjamin Franklin, New York, 1938) to a world professional champion (New York Rens, 1939).
Charles Holton – played for the Harlem Globetrotters from 1951-57 after playing college ball at St. Norbert College
Sam Wheeler (D. 1989) played for the Harlem Globetrotters and the Harlem Magicians for several years. He played professional baseball with the New York Cubans of the Negro National League in 1948, and hit a grand slam in his first game with the team. Wheeler joined the Harlem Globetrotters in 1950 and spent several years with them
Additional autographs include: Orlis Hill (Texas College), Fred Pearson (Illinois State), Harry Trees Taylor, and two unknown signatures.
Item: 12611
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