The wonderful thing about college basketball..

[akronzips71]

Is that you never know how a high school kid will turn out:

All-Americs - Division II (1960's)

1966-67 ALL-AMERICAN TEAM

FIRST TEAM

Walt Frazier, Southern Illinois

Sam Smith, Kentucky Wesleyan

Earl Monroe, Winstom-Salem State

Bill Turner, Akron

Phil Jackson, North Dakota

You think Clyde or The Pearl might have been recruited by a "big" if they had a crystal ball....

And the guy Phil didn't turn out too bad either.

Oh yeah, Sam Smith was no slacker either:

Sam Smith (born January 27, 1944 in Hazard, Kentucky) is an American former professional basketball player.

A 6'7" forward, Smith played at Kentucky Wesleyan College, with whom he won the NCAA Division II championship in 1966. In the final 15 seconds of that game, Smith made a layup, breaking a 51-51 tie and giving Kentucky Wesleyan the victory over Southern Illinois University Carbondale.[1]

From 1967 to 1971, Smith played in the American Basketball Association as a member of the Minnesota Muskies, Kentucky Colonels, and Utah Stars. He averaged 8.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in his ABA career,[2] and won a league championship with the Stars.[3]

In fact, those five could have probably beat any Div I team in the country..

And no, I didn't forget Turner. Just saying, you never know how a HS recruit is going to turn out. We could get REALLY lucky next year. Who knows.

[akronzips71]

OH, did I mention that THREE of them are in the Hall of Fame?

Someone do some research to see if there is another All America Team, even Div I, that has THREE members in the Hall of Fame.

[skip-zip]

That is a great find !!!

I'd guess that most players on D-II All American teams never played again. Just to see 3 NBA players come out of D-II at one time is amazing enough, but 3 HOFs ?

[Ham]

That is a great find !!!

I'd guess that most players on D-II All American teams never played again. Just to see 3 NBA players come out of D-II at one time is amazing enough, but 3 HOFs ?

Didn't Turner spend some time in the NBA too?

[zip37]

That is a great find !!!

I'd guess that most players on D-II All American teams never played again. Just to see 3 NBA players come out of D-II at one time is amazing enough, but 3 HOFs ?

Didn't Turner spend some time in the NBA too?

Yes, about 6 years ['Frisco for most of them].

[Hilltopper]

It might have to do with the fact that most of the large southern schools(SEC) were still mostly segregated. Those great black players were relegated to the smaller schools that would accept them.

[akronzips71]

It might have to do with the fact that most of the large southern schools(SEC) were still mostly segregated. Those great black players were relegated to the smaller schools that would accept them.

I am NOT buying into that one at all. There were plenty of black players at major universities in those days. And Phil Jackson was not black, even then.

[Hilltopper]

It might have to do with the fact that most of the large southern schools(SEC) were still mostly segregated. Those great black players were relegated to the smaller schools that would accept them.

I am NOT buying into that one at all. There were plenty of black players at major universities in those days. And Phil Jackson was not black, even then.

Not in the south. Here is a team picture of the 1966 Alabama football team. Try and find just one black player.

SEC

[akronzips71]

It might have to do with the fact that most of the large southern schools(SEC) were still mostly segregated. Those great black players were relegated to the smaller schools that would accept them.

I am NOT buying into that one at all. There were plenty of black players at major universities in those days. And Phil Jackson was not black, even then.

Not in the south. Here is a team picture of the 1966 Alabama football team. Try and find just one black player.

SEC

And that somehow proves that no major university would recruit a black player?

Because, strangely enough:

1967 Consensus All-America team

Consensus First Team

Player Position Class Team

Lew Alcindor C Sophomore UCLA

Clem Haskins G Senior Western Kentucky

Bob Lloyd G Senior Rutgers

Elvin Hayes F/C Junior Houston

Wes Unseld C Senior Louisville

Bob Verga G Senior Duke

Jimmy Walker G Senior Providence

So like I said, maybe they were just undiscovered talents in high school.

[GP1]

And that somehow proves that no major university would recruit a black player?

Major schools were recruiting black players, they just made certain not to recruit too many bacause in the 1960s that would have been taboo even at northern schools.

I think the last all white SEC basketball team was coached by the racist coach Adolph Rupp at Kentucky. Pat Riley was one of those players and they were run out of the gym in a national championship game by a team with an all black starting five.

Even to this day, there are a certain number of white people who still get upset about the number of black people playing basketball. They also get fixed on the increased number of coaches who are black. It isn't a hard one to figure out....players become coaches for the most part. If most of the players are black, eventually, most of the coaches will be black as well. It's a natural evolution.

[akronzips71]

And that somehow proves that no major university would recruit a black player?

Major schools were recruiting black players, they just made certain not to recruit too many bacause in the 1960s that would have been taboo even at northern schools.

I think the last all white SEC basketball team was coached by the racist coach Adolph Rupp at Kentucky. Pat Riley was one of those players and they were run out of the gym in a national championship game by a team with an all black starting five.

Even to this day, there are a certain number of white people who still get upset about the number of black people playing basketball. They also get fixed on the increased number of coaches who are black. It isn't a hard one to figure out....players become coaches for the most part. If most of the players are black, eventually, most of the coaches will be black as well. It's a natural evolution.

I did not intend for this to be a racial discussion.

My point was, at least three of those players would have been recruited by majors if they had any inkling of how good they would turn out to be. Do you really think that ANY university (other than MAYBE a few in the deep south) would leave Earl the Pearl on the table for someone else to recruit? Or Walt Frazier? Or even Bill Turner that that matter, he DID play 6 years in the pros which is 6 years more than most of the players in the Final Four will ever see.

[Dave in Green]

In 1966, Elvin Ivory became the first black to play basketball for a predominately white university in the deep south when he enrolled at the University of Southwestern Lousiana, now known as University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Prior to 1966, there was not a single black player at any predominately white university in the deep south, not a single one.

How do I know all this? Not from reading history books. I was there. I lived it. I watched Ivory play. I was at Louisiana Tech and USL was our biggest basketball rival. Think Zips vs. Flushes. Much as I hated USL, I admired the heck out of them for breaking down the color barrier in deep south college basketball.

A dozen years earlier in 1954 (just two years after the Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling), USL was the first university in the south to integrate its student body. They did it in a way that was so quiet and peaceful that it barely made the news.

So let's hear it for the Ragin' Cajuns from Lafayette, La., who were way ahead of their time when it came to race relations in the deep south.

[akronzips71]

In 1966, Elvin Ivory became the first black to play basketball for a predominately white university in the deep south when he enrolled at the University of Southwestern Lousiana, now known as University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Prior to 1966, there was not a single black player at any predominately white university in the deep south, not a single one.

How do I know all this? Not from reading history books. I was there. I lived it. I watched Ivory play. I was at Louisiana Tech and USL was our biggest basketball rival. Think Zips vs. Flushes. Much as I hated USL, I admired the heck out of them for breaking down the color barrier in deep south college basketball.

A dozen years earlier in 1954 (just two years after the Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling), USL was the first university in the south to integrate its student body. They did it in a way that was so quiet and peaceful that it barely made the news.

So let's hear it for the Ragin' Cajuns from Lafayette, La., who were way ahead of their time when it came to race relations in the deep south.

And I STILL say we just might get a diamond in the rough.

Earl and Walt would have gotten a big time school IN THE NORTH OR WEST just to satisfy the race baiters, if anyone had any idea how they would turn out.

[Hilltopper]

I'm sorry for high-jacking your thread 71. I didn't mean to imply that those players weren't worthy of their HOF status. I too find it amazing that all those great players were on the same All American team in 66-67.

[akronzips71]

I'm sorry for high-jacking your thread 71. I didn't mean to imply that those players weren't worthy of their HOF status. I too find it amazing that all those great players were on the same All American team in 66-67.

DIVISION II All American