who was the first black basketball player at the university of kentucky
Tom Payne (basketball) A 7-foot, 1-inch center, Payne played with the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA during the 1971-1972 season.[2] He was also the first African American ever to play basketball for the University of Kentucky. Payne is currently incarcerated in Kentucky State Reformatory in LaGrange, Kentucky.[3]
History of basketball The game of basketball as it is known today was created by Dr. James Naismith in December 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, to condition young athletes during cold months. It consisted of peach baskets and a soccer style ball. He published 13 rules for the new game. He divided his class of eighteen into two teams of nine players each and set about to teach them the basics of his new game. The objective of the game was to throw the basketball into the fruit baskets nailed to the lower railing of the gym balcony. Every time a point was scored, the game was halted so the janitor could bring out a ladder and retrieve the ball. After a while, the bottoms of the fruit baskets were removed. The first public basketball game was played in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 11, 1892.[1]