Born in Gary, Indiana in 1936, Dick Barnett’s dream began with a ping-pong ball and a tin cup at the Campbell Friendship House. Soon thereafter he was introduced to the game of basketball and became an All-State player at Roosevelt High School. In 1955, he led his team to the first game in Indiana basketball history where two all black teams met for the state basketball championship. Led by the great Oscar Robertson, Crispus Attucks High School went on to win that championship game but history was made and racial barriers were broke down.
Shortly thereafter, Barnett was discovered and recruited on the courts of Gary, IN by Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Coach John B. McLendon to come play for him at Tennessee A&I. Three consecutive National Championships later, Barnett went on to play an illustrious fourteen year career as an NBA All-Star and two-time champion with the New York Knicks. He then retired from the NBA in 1974 and was Assistant Coach under Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Red Holzman.
- Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
- NCAA Hall of Fame
- Small College Basketball Hall of Fame
- NAIA Hall of Fame
- Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame
- Tennessee Basketball Hall of Fame
- Jersey #12 is immortalized in the Madison Square Garden rafters
- Six-time Champion