Rankings and Statistics

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1. Dick Barnett – Tennessee State University - 4-year NAIA All-American at Tennessee State and member of 3 NAIA national championship teams, being named tournament MVP in 1958 and 1959…He was selected #1 by the Syracuse Nationals of the NBA and spent14 years in NBA with Syracuse, Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks. At 6-foot-4-inches, Barnett was known for his unique jump shot, in which he contorted his body into a question-mark shape and leaned back at a seemingly impossible angle before releasing the ball. The Knicks retired his jersey #12 in 1990. Dr. Dick Barnett is now a professor of Sport Management at St. John’s University in New York
2. M.L. Carr - Guilford (N.C.) (1970 & 73) – inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1987… helped Quakers to 1973 national title…in 1970 as a freshman, had 27 points and 20 rebounds in upset of top seed Stephen F. Austin (30-0) in quarterfinals…all-tournament team pick in 1970 and 1973…10-year pro career in ABA and NBA including member of two world championship teams for Boston Celtics…retired from playing in 1985 and began working in the Boston Celtic front office…currently the president of the WNBA franchise’s Charlotte Sting.
3. Clarence "Bevo" Francis – Rio Grande (1953-54) – Bevo captured the basketball nation in 1953 when he scored an NAIA record 116 points in one game. He went on to average a record setting 50.1 points per game and lead the Redmen to a 39 – 0 record. In 1953-54, Bevo led Rio Grande across the country playing against top competition. They finished with a 21-7 record in 1953-54 and a trip to Kansas City in the NAIA National Tournament. Bevo averaged 48 points per game that season. His record of 50.1 points per game, 1,954 points in a season still stand as NAIA records.
4. Lloyd (World B.) Free - Guilford (N.C.) (1973) – played in just one tournament and was MVP, leading all players in scoring with 120 points…Had 30 points in title game…two-time All-America selection…declared hardship for 1975 NBA draft and was drafted by Philadelphia 76ers as 22^nd pick…played 13 years in the NBA, scored 17,955 points…he is currently the 76ers Community Relations Player Representative.
5. Daryl Jones – St. Benedict’s (KS) (1965 & 67) – led Ravens to the 1967 national championship and led the tournament in rebounding with 62 in five games…four-time NAIA All-American…was inducted into NAIA Hall of Fame in 1982…co-captain of championship teams in 1967 Pan American Trials and 1968 Olympic trials.
6. Kevin Loder – Alabama State (1980) – played in only one tournament, but led all players with 123 points in five games, pacing the Hornets to 2^nd place…two-time consensus All-American…1^st round pick of Kansas City Kings in 1981 NBA draft.
7. John McLendon - originally from Kansas City, Kansas (Sumner High School), coached Tennessee State (then Tennessee A&I) to three consecutive national titles (1957-59). His greatest legacy was rising from the discrimination and disappointment of being unable to play college basketball because of the "color-line," to becoming one of the foremost leaders of the NAIA’s ground-breaking efforts to achieve integration in the game. McLendon is a member of both the NAIA and Naismith Basketball Halls of Fame and was named as one of five coaches on the NAIA Golden Anniversary All-Star Team. "The three consecutive championships were certainly great moments for me and a credit to some tremendous players and quality people that I was fortunate enough to be associated with, but a victory over Rockhurst College in the 1954 NAIA Tip-Off Tournament and becoming the first black team to be allowed to stay in a downtown Kansas City Hotel was equally as important. That made it easier for many other teams." McLendon continued his love affair with basketball as a representative for Converse, traveling the world as a diplomat for the game. He always cleared his calendar for the NAIA tournament, which he called the "best test of basketball ability anywhere."
8. Earl "The Pearl" Monroe - Winston-Salem State (N.C.) – "The Pearl" played in only one NAIA tournament, but he dazzled Kansas Citians with 66 points in three games…inducted in NAIA Hall of Fame in 1975…named to NAIA Golden Anniversary Team in 1986…2^nd pick in NBA draft in 1967 by Baltimore and had standout 13-year career with Bullets and NY Knicks…his number 15 was retired by the New York Knicks in 1986…named to NBA 50^th Anniversary All-Time team.
   

See the past two issues of newsletters - Issue 3, Feb. 20 and Issue 4, Feb. 27 - for descriptions of significant events.

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