Submitted by Edwin B. Henderson, II and Nikki Graves, Apr 8, 2007 17:37

This article reflects the sentiments of the Edwin B. Henderson family perfectly. We believe EB should have been inducted this year! For the past two years we have been working dilligently on getting EB Henderson into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. We have documented, in a scholarly fashion, EB's contributions to the sport of basketball produced (at our own expense) a 7 minute video highlighting his role in basketball's infancy and forwarded all this information to the Hall of Fame. We have forwarded dozens of support letters including letters from all 4 athletic conferences, sports organizations, sports historicans, writers, historians (including Dr. John Hope Franklin) and others, such as Bill Cosby, Phil Chenier, James Brown, sportscaster, Earl Lloyd (Hall of Famer) the Afro Sports Hall of Fame, Omega Psi Phi fraternity national president and vice president to mention a few, to the Hall of Fame. We believe that people need to understand how African Americans went from exclusion from the game of basketball to domination of the courts! EB Henderson laid the groundwork! We need to raise the level of awareness of the history of basketball, and players, coaches, administrators, and team owners who have benefited from the inclusion of African Americans (which began long before the integration of the NBA) need to throw their support behind this effort --your article was a step in the right direction. . . Thanks!! Worst case scenerio, we are finishing a book on EB (who was also an early civil rights activist) - Do we have to "wait till the movie comes out" before the Hall of Fame wakes up!!! Edwin B. Henderson, II (grandson of EB) ebhenderson22@mac.com and fiancee' Nikki D. Graves

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