Junius Kellogg

Junius Kellogg (March 16, 1927 – September 16, 1998) was an American basketball player, coach, and civil servant. He was the first African-American to play basketball for Manhattan College.

In 1951, Kellogg, a standout 6'8" center, was offered a $1,000 bribe to shave points, before a game against De Paul. Although he was working for minimum wage at a frozen custard shop near campus, he refused to take it, reporting the solicitation to his coach, Kenny Norton. Norton sent him to the district attorney, Frank Hogan. To get evidence about the corruption, he wore a wire when he was again approached in a nearby bar. His whistle blowing touched off the largest college betting scandal in American history. Ultimately, the investigation involved 32 players from seven colleges and encompassed 86 games between 1947 and 1950, including three stars from the 1950 City College of New York team. CCNY (now CUNY) had won both the National Invitation Tournament and the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, in 1950, the only time that has ever been accomplished.[1]

Kellogg left college for a stint in the Army; he then returned to Manhattan College, where he doubled up on courses. He graduated in 1953 and began playing for the Harlem Globetrotters. In 1954, he sustained a cervical spinal cord injury in an automobile accident and was paralyzed. Three fellow Globetrotters were unscathed during the accident.

Kellogg received treatment at the Veterans Administration Hospital in the Bronx, New York City, New York. He became an ardent supporter of wheelchair athletics. He coached the Pan Am Jets as well as the Brooklyn Whirlaways. He was head coach of the USA Stoke Mandeville Games team as well as the head coach of the 1964 US Paralympic Basketball Team where the USA team won the gold medal. He was inducted into the National Wheelchair Basketball Association's hall of fame in 1981.[2] In 2000, Kellogg was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

Kellogg served for many years on the board of directors of Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association (later the United Spinal Association) and worked for New York City from 1966 until his death in 1998. He served at the first deputy commissioner and director of strategic planning for the Community Development Agency. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Manhattan College in 1997.

References
  1. Junius Kellogg is dead at 71 Refused bribe in '50s scandal, New York Times, Frank Litsky, September 18, 1998. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  2. Hall of Fame profile at the National Wheelchair Basketball Association
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