Harlem Globetrotters

History in the Making with the Harlem Globetrotters!!!!!!

After 82 years of touring, the Harlem Globetrotters continue to thrill audiences around the world. And they are making their way into the Frank Erwin Center ONCE AGAIN on February 7, 2008!!!!

The team is a predominantly African American professional US basketball team that plays exhibition games all over the world, drawing crowds as large as 75,000 to see the players’ spectacular ball handling and humorous antics.

For over seven decades, the Harlem Globetrotters have had an impact on the sport of basketball around the globe. This legendary groundbreaking team provided African Americans the chance to play professional basketball. The Globetrotters were instrumental in the development of the fast-break offense, the slam dunk, the development of a scouting system to recruit players, and introduced the figure-eight “weave” offense. Recently, the Globetrotters have amazed fans by setting world records in the vertical slam dunk, climbing to seemingly impossible heights.

The team was organized in Chicago in 1926 as the all-black Savoy Big Five. Sports promoter Abe Saperstein acquired the team soon after and owned it until his death in 1966. In January 1927, the team debuted in Hinckley, Ill., under the name New York Globetrotters. The name was changed in 1930 to Harlem Globetrotters to capitalize on the cultural notoriety of one of New York’s African American neighborhoods. The spectacular team combined an impressive record over the next decade and in 1939 participated in the first professional basketball championship, losing to the Harlem Rens in the final game. The next year the Globetrotters won the tournament.

It was about this time that they first experimented with adding comedic routines to their games such as the “Magic Circle”. Inman Jackson was the first to assume the role of “clown prince” on the team. As the National Basketball Association became racially integrated in the 1950s, the opportunities for competitive games on the barnstorming circuit dried up. As a result, the team made comedic entertainment its central focus. Some outstanding Globetrotters were Reece “Goose” Tatum, Marques Haynes, Clarence Wilson, “Meadowlark” Lemon, Wilt “the Stilt” Chamberlain, Herb “Geese” Ausbie, and Lynette Woodard, the first woman to play for the team.

The Harlem Globetrotters made history and headlines around the world on January 12, 1998, when the team played their unprecedented 20,000th career basketball game. No professional sports team, including the NBA, MLB, NHL, and NFL, has ever reached this historical milestone.

Comedy. Sportsmanship. Hard-work. Traditions. The Harlem Globetrotters represent so many American values that are an undeniable part of our history. One that has lasted generations and we can only hope that it will last generations more. We welcome them back to the Frank Erwin Center with clapping hands, smiling faces and a whistle of “Sweet Georgia Brown” on our lips.