DURHAM, N.C. -- Students from two North Carolina universities will hold a basketball tournament to commemorate a game between the two schools that was illegal at the time it was played.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that students from North Carolina Central and Duke universities will stage the event to remember the March 12, 1944 game between N.C. College vs. Duke Navy Medical School.
No official record of the game exists. Jim Crow laws of the time, which mandated segregation in public places, meant the game was illegal. The all-white Duke team and the all-black N.C. College team played behind closed doors.
The N.C. College team, which was led by legendary coach John McClendon, won the game 88-44. Details remained secret until they were reported in The New York Times Magazine in 1996.
Information from: The News & Observer
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
