During a recent women’s basketball game and a men’s basketball game, Indiana University remembered influential Black basketball players and shared their stories with a new generation to celebrate Black History Month. One of those basketball greats was Bill Garrett, a former Crispus Attucks High School basketball coach.
Bill Garrett broke the color barrier when he played for IU in 1947 — the same year Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball. Until that time, there was a “‘gentleman’s agreement’” among Big Ten schools to not recruit African-Americans, said Jeremy Gray, senior associate athletic director for Strategic Communications and Fan Experience at IU Athletics.
“[Garrett] was a true, true barrier breaker,” Gray said. “What he had to have endured on road games and traveling with the team at that time is probably something that would confound the imagination of most fans today, but he is an all-time great figure in IU basketball history, and really a historic figure in the history of Indiana.”
Garrett’s skills matched his historic status. Despite playing center at 6 feet 3 inches tall, Garrett was an All-American athlete who became Indiana’s first Black Mr. Basketball while playing for Shelbyville High School and graduated as IU’s biggest scorer up to that point.
“Sometimes it gets a little lost because of the great breakthrough he made as an athlete,” Gray said. “People forget of how good of an athlete he actually was.”
After college, the Boston Celtics drafted Garrett, but he never joined the team because the military drafted him into the Korean War. Upon returning, Garrett briefly played basketball with the Harlem Globetrotters and then became a successful high school basketball coach at Attucks. He went on to work in higher education. Despite his great accomplishments, Garrett remained humble.
“Other people talked about how good he was as a player,” Billy Garrett, Garrett’s son, said. “He never did that. He was just my dad. My mom talked about his college days more than anybody.”
In honor of Garrett’s legacy, IU released a series of videos on social media where current basketball players remembered Garrett, who died in 1974 at 45, for all he did. In addition, IU basketball players wore a special uniform during two February games in honor of Black History Month.
The jerseys were a throwback to the all-Black Harlem Renaissance basketball team, also known as the Rens, who played from the 1920s to the 1940s. IU’s uniforms also featured what looked like ripped stitching, referencing when the Rens removed the words “World Champions” from their jerseys in order to play the original Celtics, also considered to be world champions. The jerseys included a Bill Garrett patch, which had Garrett’s signature and a silhouette of him shooting a basketball.
Before the Feb. 10 game, IU played a video about Garrett. Officials brought his son onto the court and gave him a No. 8 jersey, the same number his father wore.
“It was just humbling,” Billy said. “Every time I go to Indiana [University], it’s just a humbling experience. I’m always so, so full of humility and pride in what he did.”
Contact staff writer Ben Lashar at 317-762-7848. Follow him on Twitter @BenjaminLashar.
Indiana University men’s and women’s basketball teams wore special uniforms for two games in February that paid tribute to Black history by honoring the Harlem Renaissance, a historic all-Black basketball team that played in jazz ballrooms. Back then, pinstriped suits were a common sight in jazz ballrooms. (Photo/IU Athletics)
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