June 2013 - Black Sports The Magazine

Dr. E.B. Henderson
was the first time African-Americans had played organized
basketball on a wide scale. Henderson later formed the first
African-American athletic conference, the Interscholastic Athletic
Association (I.S.A.A). Through the I.S.A.A, he was able to organize
competitions between inter-city African American youth along
the Mid-Atlantic coast, specifically in New York and Washington,
D.C. In 1909, he led the Twelfth Street Colored Y.M.C.A to the
1909-10 Black National Title, and the team finished undefeated.
The following year, he coached the 12th Streeter squad to another
undefeated season, and won the 1910-11 Colored Basketball
World’s Championship Title. He also co-edited the Spalding
Official Handbook for the I.S.A.A., which was published from
1910 to 1913.
From the International Committee:
OSCAR SCHMIDT [Player]
the city of Indianapolis.
Roger Brown
From the Early African American Pioneers Committee:
Dr. E.B. HENDERSON [Contributor]
Known as the “Grandfather of Black Basketball,” Henderson was
a true pioneer of the game. He first learned basketball in 1904 at
Harvard University, while attending a summer physical training
class for gym teachers. Upon his return to Washington, D.C., he
introduced the game of basketball to his Black students. That
Schmidt is one of the greatest players to come out of his native
country of Brazil. He was named one of FIBA’s 50 Greatest Players
in 1991, and was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2010. He
played in five Summer Olympics with the Brazilian National Team,
and was the top scorer in three of them. In the 1988 Seoul
Olympics, he averaged 42.3 points per game. Schmidt is a threetime
Gold Medalist in the South American Championship (1977,
1983, 1985), two-time Silver Medalist in the South American Club
Championships (1979,1981), won the Intercontinental Cup Silver
Medal (1977) and World Championship Bronze Medal in 1978.
Schmidt won both the South American Club Championship and
the World Club Championship with Sirio of the Brazilian
Basketball League in 1979. Drafted in the sixth round by the
New Jersey Nets in 1984, Schmidt declined the opportunity to
play in the NBA in order to maintain his “amateur” status in Europe.
He also spent time playing in the Italian League, where he won
14 BSTM June 2013