A Look Back: Kappa History William "Bill" Garrett Iconic Basketball All-Star and Big Ten Pioneer
By Kevin Scott, Grand Historian nence became evident in several sports, including track (foot races), tennis and football. By the time Garrett reached high school, he was 6’2” in height and used his smaller physique and agile abili- ties to speed up a slower played basket- ball game. He incorporated a quick style of play, including jump shooting, spin moves and other gravity-defying move- ments, enabling him to often play all five positions. Garrett subsequently played center for the Shelbyville High School Golden Bears and endured constant unfair and unsubstantiated calls against him by the referees, as well as on-court physical assaults from many of the rival team players and verbal jeers and taunts from the at- tendees. In spite of these unscru- pulous actions, Garrett remained calm and resolute in response and his play was not affected. He went on to lead Shelbyville to the 1947 state title and received the honor of being conferred with the illustri- ous title ‘Mr. Basketball’ that year. Garrett subsequently led all scorers of Indiana All-Stars with 21 points against the Kentucky All-Stars and was snubbed by Indiana and Kentucky sportswriters to receive the ‘Star of Stars’ award; it was given to Garrett’s White teammate, who scored 13 points. Following the Indiana State Basket- ball Finals, John Whittaker, sports to K.L. ‘Tug’ Wilson, the Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, where he stated in part, “Virtually every coach who was in Indianapolis Saturday was agreed on two things (1) that Bill Garrett of Shelbyville was the classiest individual player ever to appear on an Indiana high school floor (2) that the attitude and conduct of the Negro contestants were above reproach at all times. editor of the Hammond Times newspaper penned an open letter
B efore Earl Lloyd broke the Na- tional Basketball Association’s color barrier as the first Black to play in an NBA regular- season game in 1950, and one year after Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947, basket- ball phenom Bill Garrett overturned the Big Nine (precursor to the Big Ten) col- lege basketball’s discriminatory practice of recruiting or playing Blacks on their teams. This unwritten ‘gentle- man’s agreement’ was widely abided by at numerous colleges and universities, extending well beyond the Big Ten. Upbringing and Pivotal Life Experiences The feat of integration of sports teams during the era which Gar- rett was playing basketball is note- worthy on its own account. To accomplish this achievement fol- lowing World War II in the state of Indiana was even more profound. Indiana had a long-standing his- tory of violence, segregation and extreme discriminatory practices with its decades-long connection with the Ku Klux Klan. These ac- tions led to a foundation of racial ideologies, designed to continue to oppress and restrict Blacks from partaking in virtually every aspect of American life which Whites freely enjoyed. The Klan’s prominence in Indiana had begun to wane by 1929, but their overlying racially intolerant views and violent actions persisted. William ‘Bill’ Leon Garrett was born in northern Kentucky on April 4, 1929 to Laura and Leon Garrett, who moved their small family to Shelbyville, Indiana in search of a better way of life than what they had available to them from their native state. The Klan’s violent actions which beleaguered many portions of Indiana were not present in Shelbyville, which
may have appealed to Garrett’s parents. Conversely, this town was not a utopia for Blacks. Shelbyville was a segre- gated town, which prohibited the Black community from the appreciation of the common privileges afforded to other township citizens such as: home ownership, competitive work wages, and restrictions for various services by stores, restaurants and other retail establishments.
Refining of Abilities and Recognition As a youth, Garrett honed his hard- wood skills on the dusty and dirt-caked outdoor basketball court of Booker T. Washington Elementary School, in Shelbyville, Indiana. Garrett’s tenacity and fierce competitiveness were fash- ioned and refined by being a product of his environment and receiving vital life lessons from his mother. Throughout his childhood, Garrett’s athletic promi-
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