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ARCHIVE FROM THE PAST (FRED PAHKLE.COM) May 2015
Known as “the world’s greatest dribbler”, Marques Hayes died today (May 22, 2015) of natural causes in Plano, Texas. From wiki: Many consider him the premier ball handler who ever lived, and his game influenced players such as Bob Cousy, Pete Maravich, and Fred “Curly” Neal. It is possible that Haynes has played more professional basketball games than anyone else in history, staying active well into his sixties. Marques is known for his catch phrase, “I’m Marques Haynes, I’ll show you how!” Born in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, Haynes attended Langston University (Langston, OK) from 1942-1946. While at Langston, a significant event led to his future fame in basketball. As reported by wiki: he once dribbled out the clock in a conference tournament game to ridicule an opponent, Southern University, which had just run up the score against an inferior team (Sam Huston College, later Huston-Tillotson University), which incidentally, was coached by a young Jackie Robinson. Haynes’ own coach, the legendary Zip Gayles, reprimanded him for the showboating display, but it helped draw the attention of the Globetrotters, always on the search for trick ball handlers; Langston was invited to play an exhibition game against the Globetrotters in Oklahoma City. In that game, Haynes led Langston to a 4-point win and was immediately invited to join the Globetrotters, and (after returning to Langston to complete his degree) his long professional career began. Playing with the Trotters from 1947-53, Haynes turned down a contract to play for the Philadelphia Warriors of the NBA worth $35,000, which would have made him the second highest player in the Association at the time. Haynes was inducted into the Naismith National Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. Mr. Haynes getting his Hall-of-Fame of Oklahoma award below.
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Feature Photo: New York Times