Don Barksdale (1987) - Hall of Fame

Don Barksdale

Induction:
1987

Although a three-year stint in the U.S. Army limited this outstanding all-around athlete to a little more than one basketball season and one track season at UCLA, Don Barksdale helped pioneer the Bruins' tradition of sports success.

During his Army service, Barksdale won the 1944 National AAU triple jump championship. He also topped all previous single-season scoring records for the basketball team. After his UCLA career, he joined the United States Olympic Basketball team, coached by Kentucky's Adolph Rupp, winning a gold medal at the 1948 Games. In doing so, he became the first African-American on the Olympic basketball team.

Barksdale's professional basketball career started late because of the "color line." He was just the third African-American signed by an NBA team when he agreed to a contract with the Bullets as a 28-year-old rookie in 1951. He played two seasons with the Baltimore Bullets and two with the Boston Celtics, and holds the distinction of being the first African-American NBA all-star (1953). After his NBA career was cut short by a foot problem, Barksdale became the chairman of a group which raises money to pay for sports programs in poor school districts.

Barksdale, who died at 69 in 1993, was inducted posthumously into the African-American Hall of Fame.