A few years ago I collaborated with a friend who is a filmmaker about doing a documentary on Solly Walker's story. We did a lot of research and eventually we put together a "film treatment" that we wanted to present to Mr. Walker. Unfortunately some obstacles came up & we were never able to get the project off the ground. Now with this passing, I thought I'd share the treatment that we were going to use for the documentary.
Solly Walker - From Brooklyn to Lexington
Act 1 – The Early Days.
Born in the South Carolina, Solly Walker came to New York City when he was 5 years old. His family settled in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. For several years during the summer months, Solly would return to South Carolina with his family to visit his grandmother. What he was exposed to during those summer trips as a young child was nothing short of disturbing. Though excited with the anticipation of seeing his grandmother, each summer Solly would see things that frightened him so much, all he could do was look forward to returning to his safeguard in Brooklyn. When Solly was in the 8th grade, he was introduced to the game of basketball by a junior high school math teacher. A year later Solly Walker was playing in Madison Square Garden for the Daily Mirror Championship. Mickey Fisher, coach of the Boys High School basketball team took notice of Solly’s play and recruited Solly to play at Boys HS.
Act 2 – Decisions. Solly was not able to play basketball at the high schools he initially wanted to attend for reasons such as not being accepted because of his race. He would follow Coach Fisher’s advice and enroll at Boys HS. During the next four years, Solly would achieve academic and athletic excellence. He would graduate from Boys HS after receiving All Scholastic and All American honors. In June, 1950, Solly Walker’s parents received a call from Frank McGuire. McGuire scheduled a recruiting visit with Solly & his family. Up until that time, the school that Solly was contemplating attending was in the south. Solly’s childhood experiences made the prospect of attending school in the south very difficult. Frank McGuire came to the Walker home and offered Solly an opportunity to play at St. John’s, in Brooklyn. Solly welcomed the possibility of attending school in New York City and continue playing basketball. College basketball was larger than life in New York City. Just a few months prior to Frank McGuire’s visit, CCNY had made history becoming the first school to win both the NIT & the NCAA championship in the same year, both titles were won at Madison Square Garden. Despite being located in his very hometown of Brooklyn, St. John’s never had a black student play for their basketball team. Solly Walker would change this and make history. Before Solly could accept this opportunity, he and his parents were informed that St. John’s was scheduled to play in Lexington, Kentucky during the 1951-52 season, against Adolph Rupp & the University of Kentucky. This would be the season when Solly would be eligible to join the varsity basketball team at St. John’s. Despite strong protests from Solly’s parents, they were assured by coach McGuire that Solly would go anywhere that Coach McGuire would go. Thus in the fall of 1950, Solly Walker enrolled at St. John’s and became a member of the freshman basketball team. Solly Walker had made history, but it wouldn’t be the last time.
Act 3 – Making History As a freshman at St. John’s, Solly encountered both positive and negative experiences. He continued to excel on the court. He averaged 15 points per game that year and his freshman team finished with a 17-2 record. That same year the varsity team at the University of Kentucky finished the season as NCAA National Champions. As the 1951-52 school year began, Solly Walker would join the varsity team at St. John’s. With notables such as Jack McMahon & Bob Zawlouck, St. John’s was ranked #1 in the nation as their showdown loomed with #2 ranked Kentucky. The game however almost never happened. Jim Crow laws still existed in the State of Kentucky. No black player had ever played against Adolph Rupp in Lexington. Reports surfaced in several newspapers that Adolph Rupp warned Frank McGuire not to bring Solly Walker with the team. Coach McGuire’s response to Coach Rupp was for Kentucky to cancel the game, otherwise Solly & the rest of the St. John’s team planned on showing up. Having promised Solly’s parents that Solly would be taken care, the St. John’s team boarded a train in New York City, bound for Lexington Kentucky, with Solly Walker among them. Upon reaching Washington DC, the team was told that Solly could not ride in the same car with the rest of his teammates and coaches. Frank McGuire would have none of it and after some tense moments, the team rode together the remainder of the trip. At 2:00 in the morning the train finally reached Lexington. Very tired and hungry, Solly and his teammates went to a local diner for a quick meal. The proprietors told them that Solly was not allowed to be seated inside. Frank McGuire refusing to let Solly eat alone, took him and ate in the kitchen with him and two assistant coaches, while the rest of the team ate. The following evening Solly Walker would make history once again. He would take the floor as the first black player ever to play against Adolph Rupp in Kentucky. Solly immediately makes his presence felt as his scores the first 6 points for St. John’s before he is undercut by a Kentucky player on a layup attempt. This play resulted in Solly landing several rows into the stands and with him being injured. The message was sent. The Kentucky fans applauded as Solly came out of the game for the first time. The game was quickly over as Kentucky trounced St. John’s 81-40. This would not be Solly’s last trip to the “south” that year, nor would it be his last meeting with Kentucky. With the regular season over with, St. John’s was invited to play in the 1952 NCAA Tournament. Their reward was a trip to Raleigh, North Carolina, where St. John’s would play North Carolina State University in the East Regional Semifinals. St. John’s defeated NC State 60-49. Next up for Solly and his teammates, a rematch with the #1 ranked defending National Champions Kentucky Wildcats. This game was also going to be played in North Carolina. St. John’s would exact revenge beating Kentucky 64-57 and denying Adolph Rupp and second straight national title. St. John’s would go on to lose in the NCAA Title game to the Kansas Jayhawks but never again would there be a question as to whether a black player could play in Kentucky against the Wildcats after the 1952 season.
Act 4 – The Rewards. The 1952-53 season saw Solly Walker help lead St. John’s to the NIT Championship game at Madison Square Garden. St. John’s would fall to Seton Hall. The 1953-54 year was Solly Walker’s senior year at St. John’s. He would go on to lead the team in scoring and rebounding and would eventually be drafted by the New York Knicks in the NBA Draft. But just as a junior high school teacher had introduced him to the game of basketball when he was in the 8th grade, Solly Walker would bypass a career of professional basketball so he could join the ranks as a teacher and educator. After graduating college, Solly began a career as a teacher with the Bureau of Continuing Education of the New York City Board of Education. This road would help Solly to later becoming one of the first African-American principals in New York City. Solly would go on to become a director of a NYC Night Center, where he would teach and inspire young men in the same manner that he was when he was a young student himself. Solly Walker reflects back on what could have been a life as a professional athlete with no regrets. He addresses the issues facing the youth of today in both athletics and in life. He would go on to win several awards & distinctions where he would recount his experiences, most recently winning the 2008 Pressler Award (an award honoring high school coaches whose dedication and skill have had a positive impact on NYC youths) at the 10th Annual Frank McGuire Awards Dinner, which was present to him by Len Elmore (current ESPN college basketball analyst).
Credit Footnotes
-Frank McGuire would ironically leave St. John’s after the 1952 season to coach in the south. He became the head coach at North Carolina for the 1953 season and would guide the Tar Heels to the 1957 NCAA Championship and then later coach at South Carolina from 1964 to 1980 to become the winningest coach in South Carolina history. He was elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1977
-In 1972 Adolph Rupp would retire as basketball coach at Kentucky. 3 years later Rupp Arena opens as the new home court for the Kentucky Wildcats.
-In 1985, St. John’s would advance to its second NCAA Final Four. That year the Final Four was held in Lexington, Kentucky’s Rupp Arena.
-St. John’s loses to Georgetown in the national semifinal game. Georgetown is coached by John Thompson, Georgetown’s first African American coach.
- May 12, 1997 Orlando "Tubby" Smith is names the head coach at Kentucky, becoming the first African American coach in school history. In his first year as head coach, Kentucky wins the 1998 NCAA National Championship.
-Sept 19, 2002 Solly Walker is inducted into the NYC Basketball Hall of Fame.
-2008 Solly Walker is named to the St. John's All Century Team.
