Henry Coleman III is a Duke basketball freshmen just a few days into his first year of classwork and months from his college debut, but a campus rally confronting racial injustice and systemic racism wasn’t too big for his world awareness.
He was among those who addressed the crowd that gathered near Cameron Indoor Stadium designed to also spur voter registration. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and assistant Nolan Smith organized the Thursday rally and were among the speakers along with women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson.
When Coleman’s turn came, his teammates gathered behind in support for the moment. He took it to the basket with heartfelt words as a moved the audience. He spoke with the authority of a guy that was his high school senior class president at Richmond (Va.) Trinity Episcopal.
“We will demand change. We will demand justice. We will gain equality. We will be great.”
Coleman, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound 4-star forward, gained enough attention on social media and the media that Duke made him available to the media on a Monday Zoom call. He spoke of the daily degradations a young African-American experiences.
“My whole life it’s been micro-aggression,” he said. “Nothing too crazy. It’s been going to the store and having people follow you around. Running through the neighborhood and having people look at you a certain way. It’s a constant feeling of going out the door every day, ‘Will I make it home?’ It’s something you have to live with. It’s something a lot of African-Americans in the country have to live with.”
He has a deeper awareness from listening to his parents and also began to question what he was taught in history classes while growing up in a city that was the capital of the Confederacy. A statute of Robert E. Lee has stood at the center of the city since 1890.
“Growing up it was something you had to get used to,” he said. “As a young kid I had it explained in history classes this was the head Confederacy during the Civil War. You got used to seeing it.”
But in the wake of George Floyd protests, Virginia Gov. Robert Northern announced on June 4 plans to remove the statue. Coleman was stunned but pleased by the sudden change of events.
“It was truly unbelievable to see what happened. I was speechless. I knew a lot people who went down there. It was true work of art.”
Coleman also is mauture enough to understand the influence from Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson, the College Basketball Hall of Famer that died on Sunday, even though Thompson coached his last game in 1999. Thompson was the first African-American coach to win a national title in his 28 seasons at the Washington, D.C. school.
“I definitely know a lot of him,” he said. “He was super influential in the area and also across the country and across the world. I had a coach named Robert Churchill who played under him. He had a ton of quotes he used almost every day during practice. He was somebody my parents (Hank and Cynthia) talked about. My parents were big fans of him.”
Coleman’s father played football at Virginia Tech, 1991-95.
As for Coleman’s game, he has been compared to Justise Winslow, one of three one-and-done NBA first-round draft picks that led Duke to the 2015 NCAA title. Winslow was strong to the basket as a 6-6, 222-pounder.
“A guy that can get down hill and use his strength,” Coleman said of how he would compare his game to Winslow. “I think on that 2015 team a lot of people overlooked how good of leader he was. He brought energy whether he scored 3 points or 30. He had a knack for winning. That’s something I hopefully can do for this team, and I know that I have.”
Coleman averaged 22.8 points, 12.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists a game last year.
COACH K ON JOHN THOMPSON
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski released a statement on the passing of John Thompson, Georgetown’s College Basketball Hall of Fame that died Sunday at age 78.
“Our hearts are filled with sorrow and pain with the loss of the great John Thompson Jr.” Coach K said. “No one had a larger impact on college basketball. John built a program at Georgetown that was second to none. He was an incredibly strong person who always put his players first and fought for them at every turn.
“Repeatedly, I was amazed at his passion for doing what is right, even when unpopular and no one was looking. Given his record of success and dedicated advocacy for college basketball and other social issues, John was a one-of-a-kind leader and an absolute treasure.
“He was a Hall of Fame coach, an outstanding mentor to so many, and on a more personal level, a great friend. I loved him, admired him, and will miss him dearly.”
* * *
I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055
Tom Shanahan, Author: Raye of Light http://tinyurl.com/knsqtqu
— Book on Michigan State’s leading role in the integration of college football. It explains Duffy Daugherty’s untold pioneering role and debunks myths that steered recognition away from him to Bear Bryant.
http://shanahan.report/a/the-case-for-duffy-and-medal-of-freedom
Don’t believe the myths at Duffy Daugherty’s expense about Bear Bryant’s motivation to play the 1970 USC-Alabama game or myths about the Charlie Thornhill-for-Joe Namath trade. Bear Bryant knew nothing about black talent in the South while he dragged his feet on segregation.
http://www.shanahan.report/a/forty-four-underground-railroad-legacy-facts
http://shanahan.report/a/myths-that-grew-out-of-1970-alabama-game-with-usc
http://shanahan.report/a/mystery-solved-in-thornhill-and-namath-myth
David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize winner and biographer; “History writes people out of the story. It’s our job to write them back in.”
Raye of Light: Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, The Integration of College Football, and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans
https://www.augustpublications.com/
Make you follow the All Sports Discussion Twitter account at @AllSportsDACC and please like our Facebook Page
Leave a Reply