More than 60 years after their historic victories, a champion HBCU men’s basketball team was able to finally visit the White House.
In 1957, the Tennessee A&I Tigers from Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State University in Nashville created history when they won a national championship as the first HBCU team. Later, in 1957 and 1959, they repeated as the first collegiate team to win three consecutive national crowns.
Vice President Kamala Harris honored the team during a round-table discussion in the Roosevelt Room on Friday, and Mr. Barnett, George Finley, Ernest Jones, Henry Carlton, Robert Clark, and Ron Hamilton were present at the private event held at the White House, according to The New York Times. 67 years have passed since the team’s inaugural national championship.
“Thanks to heroes like the ones I’m looking at right now, our country has accomplished so much,” Harris said. “I stand on your broad shoulders, each and every one of you, like so many of us.”
“This is the best day of my life,” Finley remarked, adding, “I thought this would never happen.”
Related stories
The championship was won, of course, but it wasn’t nearly as significant as being present with [Vice President] Harris today, Finley continued.
After the event, the team awarded Harris a personalized jersey and gave him a tour of the White House.
There were several challenges in their way to this much-postponed visit. “During their return trip home from Kansas City following their victory at the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) championship game in 1957,” the squad was the target of a bomb threat, according to CBS.
Furthermore, decades would pass before the Tigers were admitted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. After a protracted public relations campaign that was featured in the PBS documentary “The Dream Whisperer,” this accolade was eventually given out in 2019.
Representative Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY) “led a letter joined by more than 50 Members of Congress to President Biden to respectfully request that he invite the surviving members of the 1957–1959 Tennessee A&I Tigers Men’s Basketball Team to the White House,” marking a step forward on this front in January. According to a statement, “I am happy that my request has been granted and that the Tennessee Tigers enjoyed a long-overdue celebration to honor their historic accomplishments.”
The men’s basketball team of Tennessee A&I broke down boundaries on the floor and combated injustice off it.
Vice President Kamala Harris posted on Threads that “they were the first HBCU to win a national championship in 1957 before becoming the first team to win three in a row.” “Welcoming them to the White House for the first time was an honor for me.”
Later this year, Barnett—who also participated in the 1970s championship-winning New York Knicks—will have another reason to celebrate. It was announced that “Barnett will be inducted into the Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame” on Saturday during the Men’s Final Four competition.
