[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 159 (Thursday, November 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO JOHN B. McLENDON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 10, 1999

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a basketball 
pioneer and a leading force in desegregating collegiate and 
professional athletics. I rise today to pay tribute to the 
extraordinary John B. McLendon.
  Although Coach Mac, as he was affectionately known, was diminutive in 
stature, his influence was gigantic in the game of giants. For most, 40 
years in coaching with a career record of 523-165 is an outstanding 
achievement. For Coach Mac, it is only the beginning of the story.
  On the court, he led the men's basketball programs at North Carolina 
Central, Hampton, Tennessee State and Kentucky State. During that time 
he became the first coach to win three straight NAIA Championships. He 
also amassed four conference and two district championships.
  But it was his moves off the court that demonstrate Coach Mac's true 
grit. When he began his career as a basketball coach, the game was 
strictly segregated, including national championship competitions. In 
1950, he initiated and planned the mechanics for integrating black 
colleges into the NIAIA national tournament. During the first 
integrated national tournament in 1953, his Tennessee State team won 
the first NAIA District 29 Championship. In 1954, the same team became 
the first NBCU to participate in a National Invitation Tournament. Just 
3 years later, his team won its first NAIA Championship. The success of 
his team and other HBCUs forced the NCAA to desegregate its national 
tournament.
  As a pioneer, Coach Mac blazed a trail of ``firsts'' that are 
unrivaled. Among those accomplishments are his distinctions as: the 
first black to coach a professional basketball team, the first black to 
coach a predominantly white collegiate team, the first black coach on 
the Olympic coaching staff, and the first black coach to author a book 
on basketball. He also escorted Earl and Harold Hunter to tryouts with 
the professional Washington Caps in 1950, and they became the first 
black players to sign NBA contracts.
  Up until the day of his death, October 9, 1999, Coach Mac was 
pursuing his latest achievement, the establishment of the HBCU Heritage 
Museum and Hall of Fame. Just this year, Durham, NC was chosen as the 
site for this facility. He certainly will be one of its first 
inductees.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in honoring John 
B. McLendon. A towering figure in a profession of giants.

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