RE: Mizzou had a black hoops player 10 years before the SEC

Posted on: February 13, 2018 at 16:39:18 CT

The face of Missouri basketball, and all Mizzou sports, changed in early 1956. Alfred Abram Jr., a seventeen-year-old from Sumner High in St. Louis, became the university's first black scholarship athlete. Sparky Stalcup could hardly have chosen a better candidate to break Missouri's color barrier. At six-foot-five and 198 pounds, Al Abram was a model athlete and citizen. An exemplary student, Abram was president of his senior class, yearbook editor, choir member, and National Honor Society inductee, and he compiled a perfect attendance record through all his years in high school. Abram even earned his diploma a semester early and enrolled at Mizzou in January 1956. In choosing Missouri, he turned down offers from Purdue, St. Louis University, and others. He did not make his choice to be a pioneer, but he did not shrink from that role either. "The chance to be the first of my race ever to be awarded an athletic scholarship at Missouri didn't sway me one way or the other," he said, "but now that I'm here, I'm going to try my best to be worthy of the honor." Because of freshman ineligibility, Abram had to bide his time on coach Clay Cooper's freshman team. His varsity career would have to wait until the second semester of the 1956- 57 school year.

Upon joining the varsity after the semester, he had the unenviable task of defending ku's Wilt Chamberlain in the Tiger's matchups with the jayhawks during his 8 games of varsity action. The next season he avged 9.4 ppg and 6.6 rebounds and led the team in FT% but again played a shortened season of 14 games after failing to earn enough credits and being declared ineligible. Abram returned in what would be the first year of the Big 8, and led the Tigers in scoring at 16.1 ppg, FG%, and rebounding at 9.3. In doing so, he became on the 4th Tiger ever to score 400 points in a season including a 28 point performance against ku.

However, because you were afforded only 3 years of varsity in those days Abram entered his final season knowing that it would conclude at semester and he would not be able to play out the remainder of the games. Against Tulsa, he played is final home game and scored 18 points and grabbed 10 boards, leaving to a standing ovation. Abram played professionally briefly with Seattle of the old National Industrial Basketball League. He later worked for the City of St. Louis, as well as the Internal Revenue Service , and passed away in his hometown of St. Louis, Mo., in 1982 at the age of 44.