Sports Nut: Integrate the Record Books

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Sports Nut Integrate the Record Books Black high-school athletes from the Jim Crow era have been denied their place in history. It's time to change that. By Evin Demirel Posted Thursday, Mar 08, 2012, at 08:52 PM ET For a state of 3 million people, Arkansas has produced more than its share of basketball heroes. Sidney Moncrief, Scottie Pippen, Derek Fisher, and Joe Johnson have accrued 18 All-Star appearances and 11 NBA titles. As high-schoolers, however, none of them stacked up to Eddie Miles and Jackie Ridgle. In the 1950s, Miles led North Little Rock's all-black Scipio Jones High School to four straight state titles. "We called him 'rocking chair' because he would absolutely rock you," one of his opponents told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 2002. "He could drop 50 on you whenever he wanted." Ridgle, who was reputed to have a 40-inch vertical leap, regularly scored in the 30-point range in leading Altheimer's Martin High School to its first all-black-schools state championship in 1966. But when you look at Arkansas' official list of all-time leading high-school scorers, you won't see Miles and Ridgle. It's not just Arkansas that omits the feats of black high-schoolers who played in segregated schools. In 1956, forward Hubert "Geese" Ausbie of Crescent, Okla., scored 186 points over three consecutive tournament games for all-black Douglas High School. Ausbie, who went on to play the role of the "Clown Prince of Basketball" for the Harlem Globetrotters, recalls averaging from 30 to 40 points a game as a high-schooler. Ausbie's name, though, isn't on Oklahoma's all-time scoring list. (He tells me he should be near the top, in the neighborhood of supposed all-time leader Rotnei Clarke.) And Ausbie ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate How Radical Was That Law Professor Obama Hugged? Game Change: Julianne Moore Is So Good, She Can Make Even a Liberal Feel Sorry for Sarah Palin Hate Groups Are Thriving. KKK Membership Is Dwindling. Why?	Advertisement
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