Across the Line: Tales of the First Black Basketball Players in the ACC and SEC

In the 1960s, African American college sports players had to brave often hostile crowds during the civil rights era, including Perry Wallace, Ronnie Hogue, Craig Mobley, C.B. Claiborne, Wendell Hudson, and Al Heartley. Barry Jacobs has written a book about this long-neglected story of race, sports, and social history.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 454 pages
Publication date: 01 January 2023
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

In the 1960s, college sports demanded more than mere athletic prowess from African American players. For many pioneering basketball players on 18 teams in the Atlantic and Southeastern conferences, the game was a means of navigating the tumultuous era of civil rights. Perry Wallace, for instance, feared for his life when he first stepped onto a court in his Vanderbilt uniform. During a road game in Georgia, Ronnie Hogue bravely faced a hostile crowd with a chair. Craig Mobley, along with other black students, had to flee the Clemson campus. C.B. Claiborne was unable to attend the Duke team banquet held at an all-white country club. Wendell Hudson's mother shed tears of anguish when her son decided to play at the University of Alabama, and Al Heartley locked himself in a campus dorm at North Carolina State for safety on the night of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination.

This compelling narrative is rooted in the civil rights struggles that unfolded on college campuses throughout the South. The voices of players, coaches, opponents, and fans shed light on a long-neglected chapter of race, sports, and social history. Barry Jacobs, a renowned sports writer, has authored several books, including Coach K's Little Blue Book. He currently resides in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Weight: 45g
Dimension: 222 x 155 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781493069217
Edition number: Revised and Updated