Six members of the 1950s Tennessee State University basketball program, along with Vice President and HBCU graduate Kamala Harris, met in the Roosevelt Room at the White House last Friday.
The program was led by Basketball Hall of Fame John McLendon, who helped the program win the NAIA championship less than five years after black colleges were first allowed to participate in the tournament.
The six men played for the 1957 Tennessee A&I program that became the first from a black college to win a national basketball title. The program went on to win the same title in 1958 and 1959, becoming the first college basketball program to win three consecutive national titles.
During the meeting, George Finley, Henry Carlton, Robert Clark, Ron Hamilton, Ernie Jones, and Dick Barnett shared their stories with Vice President Harris.
Barnett was the team’s star player who’d go on to be drafted into the NBA in 1959 and became an NBA All-Star and two-time champion with the New York Knicks. The 87-year-old was recently elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined in the hall this fall.
“I thought this would never take place,” said Finley, who was part of the 1959 championship team. “[Winning] the championship was big, but it wasn’t as big as being here with [Vice President] Harris today.”
Vice President Harris, a graduate of Howard University, praised the men for their willingness to tell their stories and emphasized the importance of remembering history to guide progress. She also expressed her admiration for the team’s accomplishments, calling them an inspiration to future generations.
Throughout her stint as Vice President, Harris has been a vocal supporter of HBCUs, making appearances at the NCAA Tournament and Celebration Bowl during Howard appearances and recently calling Grambling State after its NCAA Tournament win.
