Black History Month, Indiana Basketball, Bill Garrett, the Big Man

    I was thinking about writing about how big men in basketball can determine how really successful teams do in their games, their trajectories.

    Ed Pinckney was big enough to counter Patrick Ewing for one huge game and upset in 1985. I loved it.

    Two years later, Dean Garrett for my hometown IU Hoosiers was big enough to pull through for arguably my favorite sports team of all time, the Indiana men's team of 1987.

    Ahh, what a team, what memories it inspires in me.

    Today in 2026 we have Sam Alexis and Reed Bailey. Will they be enough for any run in March? Obviously the forwards and guards will likely have the most say in the team's results, but notable big men over the years can make a profound difference.

    It starts in the middle.

    Brigham Young has a few, but we remain to see the effects of Abdullah, Keita, Mboup and perhaps a little Mihaelovic.

    Okay, but what about this Bill guy, mentioned above?

    I have written of it before: the Big Ten in the 1940s did not permit integrated sports with black athletes and the whites who competed.

    However, Indiana's best hoops player was Bill Garrett, a tremendous center who was fresh out of a stellar high school career. IU bucked the racial rule, and took the center.

    Policies change, and this was a good thing. This was the future.

    Talent begets fairness, or competitiveness demands the best. Right?

    Right.

    We should celebrate the integration of sports more than only Jackie Robinson in baseball.

    It all worked for today's good.

   And there is much good still to be made. Including Indiana basketball. 

    PS: What happened to the IU women? They have lost their mojo...

    The men have been working on it for decades.

    Happy Black history month, all.

    Celebrate the big and small achievements, the steps of advancement and little and big victories.