Harold Hunter Sr. (April 30, 1926 – March 7, 2013) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach and player. He became the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

to sign a professional

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

with a

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 St ...

(NBA) team when he joined the

Washington Capitols The Washington Capitols were a former Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the National Basketball Association) team based in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1951. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerbac ...

on April 26, 1950. Hunter was cut from the team during training camp and never played for an NBA team. He later coached basketball for the

United States men's national basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. They are the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in ...

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

, and the U.S. Olympic basketball team.

Early life

Hunter was born on April 30, 1926, in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

. He graduated from Sumner High School, now known as Sumner Academy of Arts & Science, in 1944. The school, which had a top ten national ranking in science at the time, was the only all-black high school left in the city. In 2000, a group of Sumner alumni published a book on the history of the school, "The Sumner Story," which focused on Hunter's career. Hunter played as a guard for North Carolina College, now known as

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from ...

, in Durham, North Carolina. He is credited with helping the North Carolina Central men's basketball team win the 1950 Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament championship and was named the most valuable player of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament that year. In 1984 the university inducted Hunter into its Athletic Hall of Fame. The university also retired his

basketball jersey A basketball uniform is a type of uniform worn by basketball players. Basketball uniforms consist of a jersey that features the number and last name of the player on the back, as well as shorts and athletic shoes. Within teams, players wear unifor ...

in 2009 to mark the university's centennial. The

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. CIAA institutions mostly consist of historically black coll ...

(CIAA) inducted him into its hall of fame in 1987. In 1950, Harold Hunter was drafted during the 10th round of the

1950 NBA draft The 1950 NBA draft was the fourth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). This is the first draft after the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was renamed the NBA. The draft was held on April 25, 1950, before the 1950– ...

into the

basketball team. He signed a contract with the Capitols on April 26, 1950, the day after the draft, becoming the first African American player to sign a contract with any NBA basketball team. However, he was cut from the team during the Capitols'

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

and did not play professionally for any NBA team.

Coaching career

Hunter coached the boys and girls basketball teams at

Williston School Williston School is a school in Wilmington, North Carolina. It was first founded in 1866 by the abolitionist American Missionary Association after the Union army occupied the city during the civil war. It was intended for freed slaves and initi ...

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

, during the 1950–51 season. He served as athletic director and coach of the football, basketball, track and tennis teams at P. S. Jones High School in

Washington, North Carolina Washington is a city in Beaufort County, North Carolina, United States, located on the northern bank of the Pamlico River. The population was 9,744 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beaufort County. It is commonly known as "Original W ...

from 1952 to 1954. Hunter returned to Williston from 1954 to 1957. Hunter served as an assistant coach for the Tigers basketball team from 1957 to 1959. In 1959, he became the head coach for the Tigers, succeeding outgoing coach

John McLendon John B. McLendon Jr. (April 5, 1915 – October 8, 1999) was an American basketball coach who is recognized as the first African American basketball coach at a predominantly white university and the first African American head coach in any professi ...

. He coached the Tigers for nine seasons from 1959 to 1968, leading the team to a 172-67 winning record, including four instances of more than twenty wins in a row. Seventeen of Hunter's Tennessee State players were drafted into the NBA. Hunter holds the record as the second-winningest men's basketball coach in Tennessee State's history. Hunter became the first African American to coach the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team in 1968, leading them during their tour of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. He took the U.S. team to a victory over the Soviet national basketball team in a game held in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, present-day

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

. Hunter also became the first African American to lead both men's and women's teams to the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its st ...

(NAIA) national basketball tournament. He later coached both men's and women's college basketball at

Xavier University of Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana (also known as XULA) is a private, historically black, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic HBCU and, upon the canonization of Katharine Drexel in 2000, became the first Cathol ...

from May 1974 to 1977; as an

assistant coach A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hun ...

for

Dillard University Dillard University is a private, historically black university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 and incorporating earlier institutions founded as early as 1869 after the American Civil War, it is affiliated with the United Church of C ...

's women's team under head coach Mary Teamer during the 1980s; and at Southern University from 1986 to 1991. All of these schools are in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. He began coaching Xavier's Gold Rush basketball team in May 1974 following the departure of previous coach Bob Hopkins. Under Hunter, the team placed 11-9 in the 1974-75 season (including his first seven games with the team), 12-15 in the 1975-76 season, and won six games during the 1976-77 season. He was succeeded as coach by Bernard Griffith in 1977. He encouraged the players to participate in charitable activities: In 1975, the team repainted the university's St. Michael's residence hall during summer break., and they played an exhibition game to benefit the Big Brothers of Greater New Orleans on November 8, 1975.

Retirement

Hunter and his wife, Jacqueline, resided in New Orleans after his retirement from coaching. They were forced to leave New Orleans and move to

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

after Hurricane Katrina struck and flooded the city in 2005. Hunter was interviewed for the 2008

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

documentary, ''Black Magic'', which focused on early, pioneering basketball players from

Historically Black Colleges and Universities Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. ...

in the United States. Harold Hunter died at his home in

Hendersonville, Tennessee Hendersonville is the largest city in Sumner County, Tennessee, on Old Hickory Lake. The population was 61,753 at the 2020 census. Hendersonville is the fourth-largest city in the Nashville metropolitan area after Nashville, Murfreesboro, ...

, at 6:55 a.m on March 7, 2013, at the age of 86. He was survived by his wife, Jacqueline T. Hunter, a

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

faculty member at Xavier University of Louisiana; daughter, Micki; and son, Harold Jr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Harold 1926 births 2013 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Kansas Basketball players from Kansas Basketball coaches from Louisiana Basketball players from New Orleans College men's basketball head coaches in the United States North Carolina Central Eagles men's basketball players People from Hendersonville, Tennessee Southern Jaguars basketball coaches Sportspeople from Kansas City, Kansas Sportspeople from New Orleans Tennessee State Tigers basketball coaches Washington Capitols draft picks Xavier Gold Rush basketball coaches African-American basketball players African-American basketball coaches

Early life

Coaching career

Retirement

See also

References