Friday, February 15, 2019
Jumpin' Johnny Wilson
Occasionally, I am
lucky enough to have a wonderful story placed right in front of me to
share with you. Such is the case this week.
A good friend of ours,
here at Majestic Palms, comes from a town in Indiana. His name is
Mike Richey, and the town is Anderson. He spent his high school years
there, and got to meet two of the town's fine citizens: Carl Erskine
and “Jumping” Johnny Wilson. I wrote previously about Erskine, a
member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Richey is a Vietnam
veteran, and he shared with me the honours he received while in the
forces: The Combat Infantry Badge, the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star,
an Army Commendation, A good conduct Badge, Vietnam Campaign Ribbons,
The Cross of Gallantry, and the National Defence Medal. I had to prod
that information out of him because he is a remarkably modest person.
Erskine, Wilson, and a
third pal, Jack Rector, often went to the movies in Anderson. They
sat in the balcony. This was in the 1940s, a time when African
Americans had to sit in the balcony in the theatres. But they were
pals, and they stuck together.
In 1946, Wilson
captained his high school basketball team to the state championship,
scoring 30 of the team's 65 points. He was named Indiana's “Mr.
Basketball”, and earned the nickname because he was the only player
on the team who could dunk the ball. He wanted to attend Indiana
University, but was denied because of the “Big Ten's” unspoken
policy of not recruiting African Americans. He attended Anderson
University, and was named as an All-American twice.
He went on to play with
the Chicago American Giants in the “Negro League”, and played for
the Harlem Globetrotters from 1949 to 1954. One of his tricks was to
drop kick the basketball from centre court to the basket. He was
successful 70 times out of 300 tries. He received a bonus of $ 100
for every successful kick! Not too shabby, in those days!
He eventually completed
his degree in education at Anderson. He coached for 8 years at Wood
High School in Indianapolis, followed by 16 years as head coach and
athletic director at Malcolm X College. He coached in Anderson as
well, and, he recruited students from Anderson who would not have
gone to college without his assistance. At the time of his death, two
weeks ago, he was the assistant basketball coach at Lock Haven
University. He was 91 years old.
“Jumpin'” Johnny
Wilson is a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, and the
Anderson University Athletic Hall of Fame. He was also named as one
of Indiana's 50 best basketball players. And yes, a chap named Larry
Bird, from French Lick, Indiana, would also be on that list.
Thanks, Mike.
# posted by James Hurst @ 8:14 PM 
