Coy, John.
GAME CHANGER : JOHN MCLENDON AND THE SECRET GAME
Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, 2015
IL 3-6, RL 6.1
ISBN 1467726044

“Who are you? What are you? Why are you here on this earth?  Where are you going?”

 John McLendon asked his players on the North Carolina College of Negroes basketball team these questions.  Coach McLendon believed the sport of basketball could help break down the color barrier that existed in America in 1944. He snuck his players to Duke University where the Eagles played a secret game against the all-white team from Duke University Medical School. At first, the teams played carefully to avoid touching each other.  Eventually, the sport took over and when the buzzer rang, the Eagles won by an overwhelming score of 88-44.  The players continued to play that day, and as relationships formed, prejudices reduced.  The teams agreed to keep their game a secret to protect themselves and their coaches.  Years before Jackie Robinson, the integration of the NBA, Martin Luther King, Jr,, and the Civil Rights Act, a secret game of basketball and a courageous coach changed the hearts of several young men.  (Oklahoma Children’s Sequoyah 2018)