Louis "Sweet Lou" Dunbar (born August 8, 1953) is the Director of Player Personnel, a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, and a former 27-year veteran basketball player for the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...

High school

Dunbar, who was born in

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...

, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, on August 8, 1953, attended the former African American Webster High School (since consolidated into Minden High School), where he played high school basketball. Dunbar's father, Louis Dunbar Sr., was a deputy for

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

O.H. Haynes Jr., who was the father of the Minden football star Fred Haynes, who later became the starting quarterback of the LSU Tigers. He won a high school state championship in his senior year of high school, and was named the Louisiana Mr. Basketball.

College career

Dunbar played college basketball at the University of Houston, with the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education instr ...

, from 1972 to 1975. He averaged 22.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game during his college career.

Professional career

Dunbar was selected in the 4th round, with the 59th overall pick of the

1975 NBA Draft The 1975 NBA draft was the 29th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 29, 1975, before the 1975–76 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players a ...

, by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

. However, he never played in the

NBA 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 St ...

. Instead, he played professional basketball in Switzerland, with

SP Federale SP Federale Lugano was a Swiss professional basketball club based in the city of Lugano in the canton of Ticino. History Federale was founded in 1942 but had to wait until the 70s to see the first major successes. The club won in the seventies t ...

. With Federale, he won the Swiss League championship in 1976. He also played with SP Federale in the EuroLeague, during the 1975–76 season. After ending his pro club career in 1977, Dunbar joined the

Coaching career

Dunbar served as a boys’

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

in the Houston area, and also conducted private basketball lessons. He has also coached at the First Presbyterian School.

Personal life

Dunbar is a member of "Legends of Basketball", the

National Basketball Retired Players Association The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) is a non-profit association composed of former professional basketball players of the NBA, ABA, Harlem Globetrotters, and WNBA. It was founded in 1992 by NBA Hall of Famers Dave DeBus ...

. He was inducted into the University of Houston Hall of Honor on Nov. 15, 2008.

References

External links

*
"Sweet" Lou Dunbar
via Globetrotters site {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunbar, Louis 1953 births Living people African-American basketball coaches African-American basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Louisiana Basketball players from Louisiana Centers (basketball) Harlem Globetrotters coaches Harlem Globetrotters players Houston Cougars men's basketball players Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Point guards Power forwards (basketball) Shooting guards Small forwards SP Federale Lugano players Sportspeople from Minden, Louisiana 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople