William Pop Gates

William "Pop" GatesFrom Hoopedia
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Pop Gates in his prime, playing for the New York Rens.William "Pop" Gates (August 30, 1917 – December 1, 1999) was a professional basketball player. Gates was born in Decatur, Alabama and attended high school in New York, New York, helping to lead Benjamin Franklin High to the Public Schools Athletic League championship in 1938.

After attending Clark College in Atlanta for one semester, he returned to New York; he said he could not adjust to the segregated lifestyle then prevalent in the South. He started playing with the Harlem Yankees. But the Renaissance saw him work out and bought his contract for $100. A few weeks later he was helping the Rens win the World Professional Basketball Tournament championship. He is the only player to play in all ten World Pro tournaments.

He played with the legendary Harlem Renaissance from 1938 to 1946. In 1946 he became one of the first African American players in the National Basketball League, playing for the Buffalo Bisons. In 1948-49 he became the first African American to coach in the NBL, when he was player-coach for the Dayton Rens. He concluded his playing career in 1955 after serving as player-coach of the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters for five years.

Gates is one the few athletes who, in the space of a little over one year. went from a high school championship (Benjamin Franklin High School (NY), 1938) to a world championship (New York Rens, 1939 World Professional Basketball Tournament champs).

Gates was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1989.

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