Holcombe Rucker (March 2, 1926 – March 20, 1965) was a playground director in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...
for the
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
Department of Parks & Recreation from 1948 to 1964. He founded the New York City pro-am
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
tournament, that still bears his name and is the namesake of a
world-famous basketball court in Harlem.
Rucker, who grew up in Manhattan, started the tournament in 1950 at a playground on 7th Avenue between 128th and 129th streets. He insisted that education be a fundamental part of the Rucker League, in keeping with its motto — "
Each one, teach one."
Through his efforts, over 700 individuals were able to obtain basketball scholarships to help finance their education.
The tournament grew into the stuff of legend in the 1960s, when many
NBA stars such as
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely reg ...
participated.
Rucker attended
City College of New York and graduated in 1962 with a degree in Education.
He went on to teach English at J.H.S. 139 before he died of cancer in 1965 at age 39.
In 1974 the city renamed P.S. 156 Playground, located at
155th Street and
Frederick Douglass Boulevard
Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, ...
, as
Holcombe Rucker Playground in dedication to his community efforts. Rucker's basketball tournament had moved there in 1965, and Holcombe Rucker Basketball Court — now arguably the most famous street court in the world — remains a proving ground for the region's most talented players.
Chris Rucker, Holcombe's grandson, currently continues the family tradition at Rucker Park with the Rucker Pro-Am, a men's division summer basketball league. He is currently working to have Rucker enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame to honor his contributions to the game of basketball.
References
External links
www.therucker.comNYC - Harlem: Holcombe Rucker Basketball CourtsHolcombe Rucker Playground
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rucker, Holcombe
1926 births
1965 deaths
Schoolteachers from New York (state)
City College of New York alumni
Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state)
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
People from Manhattan
20th-century American educators
Educators from New York City