Allan Wade Houston Sr. (born October 9, 1944) is a former basketball player and coach who is currently President of Dry Ice Blasting Technologies, a division of Houston-Johnson, Inc. In 1962, Houston became the first African American to sign a basketball scholarship at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

, where he earned his Bachelor's and master's degrees. In 1970–71, Houston played and coached professional basketball in France, after which he became an assistant coach at

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, then head coach at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

Personal life

Aside from his business interest, Houston has always been active in the community. He is the founder of the Black Coaches and co-founder of the African American Business Alliance. He serves on the following boards: Old National Bank, The Rawlings Group, the University of Louisville Athletic Board, and the

Kentucky Horse Racing Commission The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission is the state agency responsible for regulating horse racing in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The agency was established in 1906, making it the oldest state racing commission in the United States. Agency overv ...

. Along with Junior Bridgeman, he founded the Houston-Bridgeman scholarship program at the University of Louisville. Houston also serves on the board of the Allan Houston Legacy Foundation, which was founded to foster healthy and productive relationships between fathers and sons, and mentors and mentees. He hosts an annual charity golf classic in

Alcoa, Tennessee Alcoa is a city in Blount County, Tennessee, United States, south of Knoxville. Its population was 10,978 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area. As its name suggests, Alcoa was the site of a lar ...

, to raise funds to benefit area high school seniors to pursue a college education. He also served as co-chair of Governor Steve Beshear's inauguration committee, and holds an honorary Doctorate degree from Spalding University. Wade was profiled in Passing the Torch, a compilation of stories and experiences of Louisville, Kentucky business leaders. He is married to Alice Kean Houston, and they have three children:

Allan Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) ...

, Lynn, and Natalie.

Athletics

Houston was an assistant coach under

Denny Crum Denzel Edwin "Denny" Crum (born March 2, 1937) is an American former men's college basketball coach at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 2001, compiling a record. He guided the Cardinals to two NCAA championships (1980, 1986) and six Fi ...

at the

for 13 years until 1989, when he was named the head coach of the

. In accepting the job at Tennessee, he became the first African-American head coach in the SEC. His son Allan played for him at Tennessee and later went on to 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 St ...

for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

and New York Knicks. Houston is now a businessman in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, owning and operating a trucking and transportation business.For Fathers And Sons, Love and Basketball - washingtonpost.com
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Head coaching record

College

References

1944 births Living people African-American basketball coaches American men's basketball players Businesspeople from Kentucky College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in the United States Louisville Cardinals men's basketball coaches Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players Place of birth missing (living people) Tennessee Volunteers basketball coaches 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{ULouisville-stub