Talk:David "Big Dave" DeJernett

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This is my first attempt at "talking" on this page. We have seen a couple of objections to the David DeJernett article. One is that DeJernett was "one of a handful of pioneers" of integration in early basketball history instead of simply "a pioneer." I believe the latter construction is not only more elegant but more sensible.

A second objection regards the significance of Mr DeJernett's rebuffing offers to turn pro for the New York Renaissance club in 1933 (the edition that was named to the Naismith Hall of Fame) and instead staying in school to play out his college career. Big Dave was not the first well-known college star to do this (the article cites Roy Burris, Stretch Murphy, and John Wooden, all Hoosiers like DeJernett to provide context), but he was the first four-year African-American collegian to do so and then turn pro for a team of the NY Rens' calibre (Burris and Murphy played for the Akron Firestones and Murphy and Wooden played for the Indianapolis Kautskys, both of whom formed the NBL that the NY Rens later joined). For example, George Gregory of Columbia also played four years of college ball, but he did not play professional basketball for a team like the Rens, who were considered amongst the best of their day. The rest of the Rens players pre-DeJernett, by contrast, were not college stars who stayed in school as eventually became the norm.

Staying in school is significant to history because eventually the four-year "standard" became entrenched in pro basketball. The objector mentioned an "industry standard" during the time DeJernett played. Our point to remember is that there was no industry standard in the early 1930s. The NBA didn't come along until after WWII, and its four-year rule coincided with another Example set by George Mikan, a four-year star at DePaul before turning pro and the most celebrated player of his time. Thus to understand the four-year rule, especially in the context of the Spencer Haywood "hardship" case that dealt directly with Haywood's being black, it is historically helpful for readers to know that before DeJernett no comparable examples exist of Afro-American college stars opting to stay in school rather than turn pro, and later achieving that professional dream with a club of the calibre of the Rens. I look forward to discussing Mr DeJernett's place in greater pro basketball history with anyone interested!Keith Ellis (talk) 15:26, 18 May 2010 (UTC)