Marques Haynes to be inducted into Small College Basketball Hall of Fame

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Small College Basketball announced its 2019 National Hall of Fame Class in Kansas City, Mo. this past weekend. Naismith Hall of Famer and Langston University Alumni Marques Haynes was selected for inclusion in this year's class.

Haynes attended the now-defunct Booker T. Washington High School in Sand Springs, helping his team to Oklahoma Black High School Class B State Championships in 1940 and 1941, and a Negro League National Championship in 1941. The section of Highway 97 that runs through Sand Springs is named in his honor.

With an initial $25-church scholarship Marques Haynes enrolled at Langston University. He was an athlete-student there from 1942-46. During that time the team went 112-3, including a 59-game winning streak. He was named the Langston MVP and a Southwestern Athletic All-Conference member all four years , leading the team to Historic Black Colleges & University (HBCU) National Championships in 1944 and 1946.

In 1946 his Langston team upset the Harlem Globetrotters. Haynes would gain international acclaim as a member of the Globetrotters and as an ambassador of the game. Considered to have been among the game's greatest ball handlers, he was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1985, the Sand Springs Education Foundation Hall of Fame in 1990, the Jim Thorpe Hall of Fame in 1993, the Langston University Hall of Fame in 1995, the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2011. Observers claimed that Haynes was able to dribble a ball three times in a second and control the ball just an inch or two off the floor.

"We are very excited to welcome the Class of 2019 into our Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame," said SCB founder John McCarthy. "This is a tremendously accomplished and impressive class, and I am very thankful to our Hall of Fame Committee, as they have spent a great deal of time researching and analyzing many, many potential candidates for this prestigious induction. Congratulations to every member of this special class."

To view the additional selections to this year's SCB Hall of Fame class and for more information on the Small College Basketball Association click here.