More than a decade after fans and historians first moved to get Cumberland “Cum” Posey into the Basketball Hall of Fame, the effort has finally paid off.
The official announcement of his election to the hall was made at a press conference at Duquesne University April 4.
Posey, recognized as the university’s first Black athlete, played at Duquesne from 1916-18, and is the first Duke to achieve basketball’s highest honor.
The Pittsburgh native, who later gained fame as a player and owner of the vaunted Homestead Grays baseball team of the old Negro Leagues, led the Dukes in scoring for three seasons and is considered to have been instrumental in introducing basketball to the African American community in the early 1900s.
“Today, we honor a man who could be called Pittsburgh’s forgotten champion,” said Duquesne president Charles Dougherty.
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