Bethune-Cookman Assistant Billy Garrett, Son of IU Trailblazer, Returns to Assembly Hall

Billy Garrett, the son of Bill Garrett, who became the became the first African American to play on the Indiana varsity basketball team, returned to Assembly Hall on Thursday night as an assistant on the Bethune-Cookman coaching staff.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Billy Garrett couldn't contain his love for Indiana basketball despite sitting on the opposite bench as an assistant coach for Bethune-Cookman.

Instinctually, Billy caught himself singing along as the band played the Indiana fight song. 

"I had to realize I'm trying to compete against these guys. I can't do that," Billy said. "I'm like 'Indiana, our Indiana,' I've been doing that since I was six years old."

For Garrett, Thursday night's matchup was about so much more than a single basketball game. Although Bethune-Cookman lost 101-49 to the No. 13 Hoosiers, it was a special night for Garrett.

In 1948, Billy's father, Bill Garrett, became the first African American to play on the Indiana varsity basketball team and in the Big Ten. Bill broke the Indiana scoring record with 792 points and was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1974. In the south lobby of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall stands a statue of Bill, next to two-time national champion coach Branch McCracken.

On Wednesday, Billy and the team took a moment to see the statue and take in the history of Indiana basketball. Billy took a picture holding hands with the statue of his father, who passed away in 1974 at age 45 when Billy was just nine years old. 

"I just felt like a little kid again," Billy said. "I wanted to be a kid. That's what I felt like. I don't know how to explain it. My vocabulary is not extensive enough to find the words, but it's in my heart. I love it. I love Indiana."

Billy sent the picture to his son, Billy Jr., who currently plays for Arka Gdynia of the Polish Basketball League and spent his college days at DePaul. There's another Garrett on Bethune-Cookman, Marcus, but he is not related to Billy.

"I'm just fortunate that Scott [Dolson] and Woody gave us an opportunity to come back here and play," Billy said. "It meant a lot to me, so I appreciate it. I wish my son could have been here."

The statue of Bill Garrett (right) and coach Branch McCracken (left) stands in the south lobby of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. 

Billy's earliest memory of Indiana basketball starts when he was six years old, sitting at home with his father and watching the Hoosiers on channel four. He used to fall asleep to Martha the Mop Lady commercial, and was happy to hear Indiana now plays that video on the jumbotron before games..

After his father passed, Billy said Indiana coach Bob Knight used to let him sit on the bench when he was between eight and 11 years old. He admired players like Quinn Bucker and Mike Woodson, who Billy coached against on Thursday, and the rest of the famous late-1970s Indiana teams.

Billy's Indiana basketball instincts came up again when he was putting together the scouting report for Bethune-Cookman's matchup with the Hoosiers. Watching Jordan Geronimo, Billy was reminded of a member of the undefeated 1976 team and one of Woodson's teammates

"I put Wayne Radford and had to take it off because I was looking at the tape like 'God you look like Wayne Radford,'" Billy said. "Got his [same] number, and I was like 'Dang, what are you doing?'"

Bethune-Cookman assistant coach Billy Garrett (left) and Indiana coach Mike Woodson (right) shake hands at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Nov. 10, 2022 / Indiana Athletics

Billy called it a surreal experience to coach at Assembly Hall. Indiana will always be his second favorite team, behind the one he coaches, because of the way it shaped him at an early age.

"Everybody here has always been good to me, so I don't have any bad memories of this place," Billy said. "It's really hard for me to get out here with out crying, but I'm trying to do it."

Related stories on Indiana basketball:

• GAME STORY: Trayce Jackson-Davis scored 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting, and No. 13 Indiana made 10 three-pointers and 21-of-22 free throws in a convincing 101-49 rout of Bethune-Cookman. on Thursday night. Here is Tom Brew's game story. CLICK HERE
• WHAT WOODSON SAID: Here's what Indiana coach Mike Woodson said after Indiana's win over Bethune-Cookman on Thursday. Full video from his press conference, plus the transcript for those who prefer to read it all. CLICK HERE
• WHAT GALLOWAY, KOPP SAID: Miller Kopp made four three-pointers on Thursday night in Indiana's 101-49 victory over Bethune-Cookman. Trey Galloway had two himself and scored 10 points off the bench. The pair met with the media after the game. Here's the full video of their press conference, plus the transcript for the readers out there. CLICK HERE
• WATCH MILLER KOPP FROM DEEP: Miller Kopp drilled a 3-pointer from the corner, and Indiana is 8-for-16 from 3 in the first half. CLICK HERE
• WATCH MALIK RENEAU DRAINS 3: Malik Reneau showed he's more than an inside presence on Thursday by hitting a 3 in transition. CLICK HERE