Charles "Charlie Red" Hardnett (September 13, 1938 – July 6, 2019) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who played three seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). The 6' 8"

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

played for Carver High School Atlanta. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...

from 1959 to 1963. Hardnett earned All-America honors in 1962. He was also the NAIA Basketball Tournament MVP in 1961. Hardnett was drafted in the third round (third pick) of the 1962 NBA draft by the

St. Louis Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

. He played for the Chicago Zephyrs / Baltimore Bullets (NBA) from 1962 to 1965. Hardnett also coached at the college level. He coached at

Coppin State College Coppin State University (Coppin) is a public historically black university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. In terms of demographics, the Coppin State stu ...

(Baltimore) from 1970 to 1974, and at

Morris Brown College Morris Brown College (MBC) is a private Methodist historically black liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded January 5, 1881, Morris Brown is the first educational institution in Georgia to be owned and operated entirely by African Ame ...

(Atlanta) from 1974 to 1980.

High school career

Hardnett attended Carver High School in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

from 1955 to 1958. While in High School, Hardnett played three sports including

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. He earned several honors as an athlete and student while at Carver, and was the only male athlete to attend and graduate college in his graduating class. His accomplishments as a high school student-athlete are as follows: * All-City in Football – Junior(1957) and Senior (1958) * All-City in Basketball – Junior(1957) and Senior (1958) * All-State in Basketball – Senior (1958) * State Tournament MVP – Senior (1958) * Black High School All-American Team – Senior (1958) * Member of the Baseball team for three years * President of the student body – Senior (1958) * The most improved student award – Senior (1958) * Four-Year Scholarship to

Grambling College Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...

Collegiate career

Hardnett went to

in 1958, and became an instant success. He was coached by

Fred Hobdy Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico R ...

who coached at Grambling for 30 seasons. During his days at Grambling, Hardnett played with players such as

Willis Reed Willis Reed Jr. (born June 25, 1942) is an American retired basketball player, coach and general manager. He spent his entire professional playing career (1964–1974) with the New York Knicks. In 1982, Reed was inducted into the Naismith Memo ...

. During his years at Grambling, Hardnett amassed the following honors: ;1958–1959 * First year starter * Led the team in rebounding ;1959–1960 * Most Valuable Player – Georgia Invitational Tournament, Atlanta * NAIA All-American Team * Selected to the NAIA All-Stars that participated in the 1960 Olympic Trials
'' Beat Ohio State (1960 NCAA Champions) in the first round'' * First Team All-SWAC ;1960–1961 * NAIA All-American * NAIA Tournament MVP * NAIA All-Tournament Team * Basketball Player of the year award – 100% Tip-Off Club Atlanta * Chuck Taylor All-American Second Team
''Only small college player selected'' * First Team All-SWAC * NAIA Basketball Championship
''2nd HBCU to win the event (Only National Championship for Grambling)'' ;1961–62 * NAIA All-American Team * Chuck Taylor All-American First Team
''Only small college player selected'' * First Team All-SWAC Hardnett scored over 2,000 points in his career at Grambling and grabbed over 2,000 rebounds (16.9 RPG—First All-Time at Grambling). In addition, Hardnett was drafted by the NBA and became the First African-American drafted by the NBA from the state of Georgia, the second Player drafted by the NBA from Grambling, and only the third African-American drafted by the NBA from an HBCU in the state of Louisiana. In 1973, Hardnett was elected to the NAIA Hall of Fame as an athlete. Image:NAIA 1973 HOF-Cover.jpg, Cover for NAIA HOF Luncheon Program (1973) Image:NAIA 1973 HOF-1.jpg, Pages 1 and 2 of HOF Luncheon Program (1973) Image:NAIA 1973 HOF-2.jpg, Page 3 of HOF Luncheon Program (1973) Image:NAIA 1973 HOF-3.jpg, Page 4 and back cover of HOF Luncheon Program (1973) ;2009 * Inducted into the Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame at the inaugural induction ceremony July 18, 2009, Monroe, Louisiana. The inaugural induction class includes

(Basketball),

Tommy Agee Tommie Lee Agee (August 9, 1942 – January 22, 2001) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from through , most notably as a member of the New York Mets team that became known as the ...

(Baseball),

Ernie Ladd Ernest Ladd (November 28, 1938 – March 10, 2007), nicknamed "The Big Cat", was an American professional football player and professional wrestler. A standout athlete in high school, Ladd attended Grambling State University on a basketball sch ...

(Football/Wrestling),

Henry Dyer Henry Dyer (23 August 1848 – 25 September 1918) was a Scottish engineer who contributed much to founding Western-style technical education in Japan and Scottish-Japanese relations. Early life Henry Dyer was born on 16 August 1848, ...

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Ralph Garr Ralph Allen Garr (born December 12, 1945), nicknamed "Road Runner", is an American former professional baseball player, scout, and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from through — most notably as a member of th ...

(Baseball), Charlie Hardnett (Basketball), Robert Hopkins (Basketball),

Lane Howell Autrey Lane Howell (born July 28, 1941) is a former American football player who played defensive tackle for seven seasons in the National Football League. His career started in 1963 for the New York Giants, where he played for 2 seasons after ...

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Stone Johnson Stone Edward Johnson (April 26, 1940 — September 8, 1963) was an American sprinter and professional football player. He played as a kick returner and running back for the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL). On August 3 ...

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Willie Joseph Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...

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Richard Stebbins Richard Vaughn "Dick" Stebbins (born June 14, 1945) is an American former athlete, winner of gold medal in 4 × 100 m relay at the 1964 Summer Olympics. At the Tokyo Olympics, Richard Stebbins finished seventh in 200 m and ran the third ...

(Track), Hershell West (Basketball), Willie Young (Football), Tank Younger (Football), Ralph W.E. Jones (College President and Coach), Eddie Robinson (Coach), Collie Nicholson (Sports Information Officer), Fred C. Hobdy (Coach), Willie Brown (Football),

Buck Buchanan Junious "Buck" Buchanan (September 10, 1940 – July 16, 1992) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle with the Kansas City Chiefs in the American Football League (AFL) and in the National Football League (NFL). ...

(Football), Willie Davis (Football) and

Charlie Joiner Charles B. Joiner Jr. (born October 14, 1947) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. He is best known for his career w ...

(Football). ;2012 * NAIA 75th Anniversary Team at NAIA Championship Kansas City, Missouri. ;2015 * Inducted into the Coppin State University Hall of Fame February 2015, Baltimore. * Inducted into the Carver High School Hall of Fame April 2015, Atlanta.

Professional career

Members of the 1963–64 Baltimore Bullets

Hardnett's professional basketball career started by being drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in the 3rd round of the 1962 NBA draft. He played in Chicago for the Zephyrs and in Baltimore for the Bullets. After the NBA, Hardnett went on to play in the CBA Eastern League. He played three more years of professional basketball for the Harrisburg Patriots and the Scranton Miners. Image:Charles Hardnett Zephyrs Head Shot.jpg, Head Shot for Chicago Zephyrs Image:Charles Hardnett Bullets Promo 1.jpg, Baltimore Bullets Image:Charles Hardnett Bullets Action 1.jpg, Baltimore Bullets Action Image:Charles Hardnett Bullets Promo 2.jpg, Baltimore Bullets

Coaching career

After a successful playing career, Hardnett entered a career of coaching. His coaching career would have him serve as the Head Basketball Coach at

Coppin State Coppin State University (Coppin) is a public historically black university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. In terms of demographics, the Coppin State stu ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and at

. During his career at Morris Brown College he served quadruple duties as the Head Basketball Coach, Athletic Director, Head Baseball Coach, and Head Golf Coach. He coached for 12 years and amassed a 160–150 coaching record. During his coaching career, Hardnett had the following highlights: * Won 2 Regular Season Championships 1972, 1973 * Won 1 Conference Tournament Championship 1974 * Finished 3rd in Conference Tournament twice (??, ??) * Took Coppin State to NAIA District 19 Playoffs twice (??, ??) * Players for Charles Hardnett
- 1 Player Drafted by the NBA (Name and Year)
- 7 Players on All-Conference Teams (Names and Years)
- 3 Players on All-Tournament Teams (Names and Years) * Named the Coach of the Year twice (team years) * Named Atlanta University Coach of the Year in 1980, Presented at Extra Point Club, Inc. of Atlanta

Family

Charles Hardnett was married to Bernice Hardnett, and lived in Louisville, Kentucky. He and his wife had three children: Dana S. Hardnett, Charles R. Hardnett (married to Felicia A. Hardnett), and Derek W. Hardnett (married to Quovardis Hardnett). He and his wife had several grandchildren: Daveon, Wendy, William, Derek, Jeremy, Erin, and Charles Jr. (CJ). Hardnett died on July 6, 2019.

Honors

*In 1973, Hardnett was elected to the NAIA Hall of Fame as an athlete. *In 2009, Inducted into the Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame at the inaugural induction ceremony July 18, 2009, Monroe, Louisiana. *2012, NAIA 75th Anniversary Team at NAIA Championship Kansas City, Missouri. *In 2015, Hardnett was inducted into the Coppin State University Hall of Fame.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardnett, Charles 1938 births 2019 deaths 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people American men's basketball players African-American basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players Basketball coaches from Georgia (U.S. state) Basketball players from Atlanta Centers (basketball) Chicago Zephyrs players Coppin State Eagles men's basketball coaches Grambling State Tigers men's basketball players Harrisburg Patriots players Morris Brown Wolverines men's basketball coaches Power forwards (basketball) St. Louis Hawks draft picks