A Brief History of Basketball at West Virginia University

Men's basketball at West Virginia University first appeared in the winter of 1903-04. During its initial years the team played a limited schedule and scheduled games with "local" colleges: Waynesburg, Bethany, Davis and Elkins, Washington and Jefferson, and Fairmont. According Fred Schaus, "There were no African-American players that I had as a teammate in the 1946-1949 years." He also stated that when he returned to WVU in 1954 there were still no African American players at the club. He attributed the lack of African-American presence on West Virginia University basketball team to the fact they "did not recruit African American players because the state of West Virginia had very few African-American players that would draw attention of the college coaches."

First African Americans to Play Basketball at West Virginia University

In 1965, WVU sport history was made as the university freshman basketball team listed four African-American players:Jim Lewis, Ron Williams, Ed Harvard, and Norman Holmes.