Washington Wizards Hustle Hard Competition

Monumental Sports & Entertainment Staff HBCU Graduates & Divine Nine Members

Earl Lloyd, a local DMV legend, was born in Alexandria, VA in 1928. He attended HBCU, West Virginia State College where he led the team to two CIAA Conference and Tournament Championships. Prior to the NBA Draft, Llyod along with teammates Chuck Coops and Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton played with the Harlem Globetrotters. All three players made history in 1950 when each were the first African American players drafter into the NBA, however Earl was the first to play in a professional game fo the Washington Capitals on October 31, 1950. Lloyd went on to play several seasons in the NBA, including time with the Syracuse Nationals and the Detroit Pistons, won an NBA championship while with Syracuse, and later contributed as a one of the first African American assistant coaches in the NBA and mentor. His courage and achievements helped pave the way for greater diversity in professional basketball and left a lasting impact on the sport. Dr. Edwin Bancroft Henderson was a pioneering physical education teacher who played a crucial role in bringing basketball to African American communities in the early 1900s. Known as the “Grandfather of Black Basketball”, Henderson was born in Washington, DC in 1883. He earned his bachelor's degree from Howard University, a master's degree from Columbia University and a PhD from Central Chiropractic College in Kansas City. He later attended Harvard University where he learned the game of basketball and introduced it to segregated schools in Washington, D.C. in 1905, opening the door for widespread Black participation in the sport. He organized the first all-Black athletic conferences and helped establish successful teams, including the creation of a new team, sponsored by the local Twelfth Street Colored Y.M.C.A. called the “12 Streeters”. The team featured former Amherst College All-American football halfback Edward Gray, Hudson Oliver, formerly with the Smart Set Athletic Club of Brooklyn, and Henderson himself. All players were current or former students of Howard University and they won the 1909-10 Colored Basketball World Championship title with an undefeated season. Dr. Henderson was also a prolific writer and was the first academic researcher of African-Americans in sports. During his lifetime, Henderson is known to have written more than 3,000 Letters to the Editor for the Washington Post and other newspapers and magazines on civil rights and race relations. Through his dedication to sports and education, he used basketball as a powerful tool to promote opportunity, unity, and progress within the Black community. The Washington 12 Streeters were one of the first all-Black basketball teams in the United States, formed in Washington, D.C., in 1909 under the leadership of Edwin B. Henderson. Playing out of the 12th Street Colored YMCA, the team quickly gained attention by competing at a high level and finishing an early season undefeated. Many of the players were connected to Howard University, combining their athletic talent with strong academic backgrounds. The team's success helped lay the foundation for organized African American basketball and inspired future generations of players. The Black Fives were African American basketball teams that competed from 1904 to 1950, long before the NBA became racially integrated. During this era, all-Black teams were commonly called colored quints, Negro cagers, or Black Fives, with the term “fives” referring to the five players on the court. These teams laid the groundwork for modern basketball and represent the early generations that shaped the game's development. Their contributions show that African American basketball history is deeply connected to both the sport itself and the broader story of American history. The Washington Bears was an all-black professional basketball team that was organized in 1941 by sports business entrepreneur Harold “Hal” Jackson, a Washington, D.C. native. Jackson, a sports broadcasting and journalism pioneer, leveraged his popularity as the radio play-by-play announcer for Howard University and Homestead Grays baseball games. With financial backing from local theater chain owner Abe Lichtman, the Bears had more cash to spend than New York Rens owner Bob Douglas. Under these conditions, Jackson was able to sign away the majority of Rens players including stars such as Charles “Tarzan” Cooper, William “Pop” Gates, William “Dolly” King, Wilmeth Sidat-Singh, and Zack Clayton. In 1943 the Washington Bears went 41-0 and won the invitation-only World Championship of Professional Basketball, the nation's highest basketball title, held in Chicago and sponsored by the Chicago Herald-American newspaper.