Breaking Through

John B. McLendon, Basketball Legend and Civil Rights Pioneer

Milton S. Katz, Billy Packer, Ian Naismith

• Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
• Year: 2007
• eBook ISBN:
  9781610750844
• Print ISBN:
  9781557289513
  9781557288479

Winner, William Rockhill Nelson Award

John B. McLendon was the last living protégé of basketball's inventor, Dr. James Naismith, and one of the "top ten basketball coaches of the century" in Billy Packer's opinion. McLendon's amazing records in college and pro basketball earned him a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame (the first black coach to be inducted), and his coaching philosophy has had a huge influence on basketball coaches. Breaking Through is also a powerful and inspirational story about segregation and a champion's struggle for equality in 1940s and 50s America.

Black Magic, ESPN's Peabody Award–winning documentary about players and coaches who attended historically black colleges and universities, covers many of the events in McLendon's life that Katz writes about in his book.

John McLendon was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Forward by Billy Packer
• Forward by Ian Naismith
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• CHAPTER 1: A Kansas Childhood and the Love of the Game, 1915–33
• CHAPTER 2: The University of Kansas and Dr. James Naismith, 1933–36
• CHAPTER 3: Establishing a Tradition of Excellence: North Carolina College, 1937–52
• CHAPTER 4: A Pioneer for Integration: The National Basketball Association and the National Athletic Steering Committee, 1950–53
• CHAPTER 5: Groundbreaking Championship Years at Tennessee A&I State University, 1954–59
• CHAPTER 6: Blazing New Trails: The Cleveland Pipers, 1959–62
• CHAPTER 7: Back to the College Game: Kentucky State College and Cleveland State University, 1963–69
• CHAPTER 8: The First Black Coach in the American Basketball Association: The Denver Rockets, 1969
• CHAPTER 9: National and International Ambassador of Basketball for Converse, Inc., 1969–89
• CHAPTER 10: Return to Cleveland State University: Professor, Advisor, Historian, and “Just a Man,” 1989–99
• Appendix
• Notes
• Bibliography