NBA Hall Of Famer Played Role In Integrating Black Players To Major NCAA Conferences
![Mar 23, 1972; Los Angeles, CA, USA; FILE PHOTO; North Carolina Tarheels guard (35) Bob McAdoo in action against the Florida State Seminoles during the 1972 NCAA Tournament. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images Mar 23, 1972; Los Angeles, CA, USA; FILE PHOTO; North Carolina Tarheels guard (35) Bob McAdoo in action against the Florida State Seminoles during the 1972 NCAA Tournament. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2700,h_1518,x_0,y_744/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/back_in_the_day_nba/01jjsf8rdf5yvc85wjqy.jpg)
NBA great Bob McAdoo grew up watching Earl "The Pearl" Monroe play collegiately at Winston-Salem State University.
At the time, McAdoo felt he would follow in Monroe's footsteps by playing at a historically-black university. It was when few blacks were playing in major conferences.
"The ACC schools weren't recruiting blacks," McAdoo said. "When I went to North Carolina, Duke had no black players. North Carolina State had one black player ... The ACC did not just have black players at that time."
Most black players attended schools like Grambling State, Tennessee State and Florida A & M. Things started to change when "Sweet" Lou Hudson joined the Minnesota Gophers in the Big Ten in 1963. Hudson later became the No. 4 pick by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1966 NBA draft.
The floodgates then opened when the all-black starting five for Texas Western defeated Kentucky in the `66 NCAA Tournament title game. It led to McAdoo signing with North Carolina.
"We wanted to be on TV," said McAdoo, a two-time scoring champion and MVP in 1974-75. "[North Carolina] A & T, Winston-Salem and Grambling, they weren't on TV. In Carolina, you're just going to see Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, North Carolina State. Then when you got to regionals, you're going to Kentucky and of course the powerhouse at that time with UCLA."
Troy Hudson is a contributor to Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at troyehudson@gmail.com
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