University of Minnesota Athletics
Black History Month: Basketball Trailblazers
2/3/2022 5:44:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Written by Justine Reisman
Gophersports.com contributor
Sixty years ago, a trio of out-of-state athletes from different backgrounds became the first Black basketball players to receive scholarship offers from the University of Minnesota. Lou Hudson, Archie Clark and Don Yates would go on to make their mark on the Golden Gophers and beyond.
Hudson came from Greensboro, N.C., territory where segregation was codified and overt, to Minnesota, where Blacks still faced discrimination and stuck out among a mostly white population. Clark, a Detroit native from a large family, was recruited from a military base based on a tip John Kundla received from a former Gopher coaching there. After winning a state championship as a senior, Yates followed the footsteps of football players and fellow Uniontown, Pa., natives Sandy Stephens and Bill Munsey in coming to Minneapolis.
The three pioneers burst onto the scene as sophomores in the 1963-64 season. All of them boasted double-digit scoring averages, with Hudson as the leading scorer. In the offseason, Clark played center field for the Gophers' national champion baseball team. The following year, the trio helped the Gophers finish second in the Big Ten and Hudson earned All-America accolades. In the 1965-66 season, Clark took over as leading scorer when Hudson famously played through an injury by shooting left-handed.
Both Hudson and Clark went on to NBA careers and induction into the M Club Hall of Fame. "Sweet Lou" amassed 1,329 career points for Minnesota before being drafted fourth overall by the then-St. Louis Hawks in 1966. He was a six-time All-Star in his 13-year career. Both the Gophers and the Hawks organization have retired his jersey number, and the basketball community mourned his death in 2014.
"Shake and Bake" Clark became known for his use of the crossover in the NBA. He worked his way into the Los Angeles Lakers' starting lineup and was selected to two All-Star Games. Clark went on to help found the National Basketball Retired Players Association, and also was active with the NAACP in Detroit.
Yates had a brief basketball career in Europe. He became involved in youth programs in Minnesota before moving to Maryland, where he served as a correctional officer for 29 years. He is an inducted member of the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame back in Pennsylvania.
The Williams Arena rafters now hold banners recognizing five Black players' retired jersey numbers, one of them being Hudson's No. 14. Hudson, Clark and Yates helped pave the way for more Black stars like Jim Brewer and Mychal Thompson in the 1970s, and their legacy still lives on.
Gophersports.com contributor
Sixty years ago, a trio of out-of-state athletes from different backgrounds became the first Black basketball players to receive scholarship offers from the University of Minnesota. Lou Hudson, Archie Clark and Don Yates would go on to make their mark on the Golden Gophers and beyond.
Hudson came from Greensboro, N.C., territory where segregation was codified and overt, to Minnesota, where Blacks still faced discrimination and stuck out among a mostly white population. Clark, a Detroit native from a large family, was recruited from a military base based on a tip John Kundla received from a former Gopher coaching there. After winning a state championship as a senior, Yates followed the footsteps of football players and fellow Uniontown, Pa., natives Sandy Stephens and Bill Munsey in coming to Minneapolis.
The three pioneers burst onto the scene as sophomores in the 1963-64 season. All of them boasted double-digit scoring averages, with Hudson as the leading scorer. In the offseason, Clark played center field for the Gophers' national champion baseball team. The following year, the trio helped the Gophers finish second in the Big Ten and Hudson earned All-America accolades. In the 1965-66 season, Clark took over as leading scorer when Hudson famously played through an injury by shooting left-handed.
Both Hudson and Clark went on to NBA careers and induction into the M Club Hall of Fame. "Sweet Lou" amassed 1,329 career points for Minnesota before being drafted fourth overall by the then-St. Louis Hawks in 1966. He was a six-time All-Star in his 13-year career. Both the Gophers and the Hawks organization have retired his jersey number, and the basketball community mourned his death in 2014.
"Shake and Bake" Clark became known for his use of the crossover in the NBA. He worked his way into the Los Angeles Lakers' starting lineup and was selected to two All-Star Games. Clark went on to help found the National Basketball Retired Players Association, and also was active with the NAACP in Detroit.
Yates had a brief basketball career in Europe. He became involved in youth programs in Minnesota before moving to Maryland, where he served as a correctional officer for 29 years. He is an inducted member of the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame back in Pennsylvania.
The Williams Arena rafters now hold banners recognizing five Black players' retired jersey numbers, one of them being Hudson's No. 14. Hudson, Clark and Yates helped pave the way for more Black stars like Jim Brewer and Mychal Thompson in the 1970s, and their legacy still lives on.
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