Richard “Dick” Barnett began his basketball career playing for Gary Roosevelt High School in Indiana where he led his team to the state championship. In 1955, Barnett came to Tennessee State A&I (now Tennessee State University) to become arguably the best player in the university’s history.
Today, he remains TSU’s all time leading basketball scorer with 3,209 career points from 1955-1959. He, along with the “whiz kids” were under the leadership of Basketball Hall of Fame Coach John B. McLendon. The Tigers won an unprecedented three consecutive NAIA National Basketball Championships in 1957, 1958 and 1959 and became the first historically black college to ever win an integrated national championship.
During those championship seasons, Barnett was a three time All-American and was named the NAIA Tournament MVP for two consecutive years. His 1957 All-American honor marked the first time an African American was ever named to the National All-American team.
Barnett was a number one draft choice in the National Basketball Association with the Syracuse Nationals. He played in the American Basketball League with the Cleveland Pipers owned by George Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees in 1962 and led them to an ABL Championship. Dick Barnett rejoined the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers and played with the likes of Elgin Baylor and Jerry West for three seasons.
He was later traded to the New York Knicks where he played on the only two championship teams in Knicks’ history (1970 and 1973). His number was retired and hangs in the rafters of Madison Square Garden. Dick Barnett retired as an active player in the 1970s after a long fifteen-year professional career. He continued to pursue his educational studies and received a Doctoral degree in education from Fordham University.
Dr. Barnett is now President of ARM, the Athletic Role Model Educational Institute, a non-profit organization with a focus on education for at risk students. He has recently been named the Commissioner of the WBL, a professional basketball league in New York. Dr. Barnett has been inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame, Indiana Sports Hall of Fame, and the Tennessee State University Sports Hall of Fame (1983). He is the first TSU athlete to ever have his jersey retired (#35).