Notable Connecticut Black Athletes

JAMES BLAKE, FAIRFIELD

Born in New York but raised in Fairfield, James Blake attended Fairfield High School before playing collegiate men’s tennis at Harvard for two seasons in which he was ranked as the No. 1 college player in the country in 1999. His professional career peaked in 2006 when he was ranked the No. 4 player in the world and won five ATP titles. Over his 14 years in the pros, he won 10 singles titles, seven doubles titles and recorded an all-time record of 366-256. He was honored as the 2008 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of Year and is the namesake of Fairfield’s tennis courts.

RENEE MONTGOMERY, UCONN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Originally from West Virginia, Renee Montgomery played at UConn from 2005-2009 and helped the Huskies win their 2009 national title. The 2009 Nancy Lieberman Award winner was the No. 4 overall pick that year by the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA Draft. Her professional career spanned 11 years and four teams, playing five seasons with the Connecticut Sun. She was selected as WNBA All-Star (2011) and named the WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year (2012). With the Lynx, she won the 2015 and 2017 WNBA Championships. Montgomery sat out the 2020 WNBA season to focus on social justice initiatives. On Feb. 9, she announced her retirement from the sport.

NYKESHA SALES, BLOOMFIELD

Bloomfield native Nykesha Sales was named the USA Today High School National Player of the Year her senior season at Bloomfield High School in 1994. At UConn, she was the Big East Player of the Year (1998) and helped the Huskies win the 1995 national championship. Sales joined the WNBA in 1999 playing for the Orlando Miracle and stayed with the program as it became the Connecticut Sun in 2003. An eight-time WNBA All-Star, she finished her professional career in 2007 and holds the Sun’s record for career points (3,955) and steals (490). Sales was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014 and has been an assistant coach for University of Central Florida women’s basketball team since 2016.

LEVI JACKSON, NEW HAVEN

Levi Jackson, who was born in Branford and starred at both Hillhouse High and Yale as a running back, was the first African American captain of the Yale football team in 1949. Jackson, who rushed for 2,049 yards for a Yale team that was ranked nationally in the Top 25 poll, graduated with 13 Eli records. Jackson went on to become the first African American executive at the Ford Motor Company. He worked the New Detroit Committee after the 1967 Detroit riots to create job opportunities for inner-city residents at Ford and other companies. He worked at Ford until his retirement as vice president in 1983. Jackson died in 2000.

FLOYD LITTLE, NEW HAVEN

Raised in New Haven, Floyd Little started his football career at Hillhouse High School. His career at Syracuse included three All-American honors and two fifth-place finishes in the Heisman Trophy voting. The sixth overall pick in the 1967 NFL Draft, Little rushed for 6,323 yards and 43 touchdowns in his nine seasons with the Denver Broncos. ‘The Franchise’ was selected to five bro bowls and inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (1983) and the Pro Football Hall of Fame (2010). The New Haven Athletic Center was renamed in his honor to the Floyd Little Athletic Center in 2011. The Hall of Famer died on Jan. 1, 2021.

CALVIN MURPHY, NORWALK

Calvin Murphy’s basketball career first took off at Norwalk High School where the two-time All-American led the program to the 1966 state championship. The high school renamed its street address in honor to ’23 Calvin Murphy Rd.’ Murphy was selected with the first pick of the second round in the 1970 NBA Draft by the San Diego Rockets (later becoming the Houston Rockets). After 13 seasons with the Rockets, Murphy retired in 1983 after recording 17,949 career points and 4,402 assists in 1,002 games played. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993, and at the time, was the shortest-player to do so standing at just 5-foot-9.

MARLON STARLING, HARTFORD

Originally from Hartford, Marlon ‘Magic Man’ Starling started his professional boxing career in 1979. With a career record of 45-6-1 and 27 KOs, he won both the WBA welterweight title (1987) and the WBC welterweight title (1989). He’s been inducted to three Hall of Fames: the Rochester Boxing Hall of Fame (2019), New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame (2018) and the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame (2005). He was awarded the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance Gold Key in 2016.

BRIA HOLMES, NEW HAVEN

Born in New Haven, Bria Holmes attended Hillhouse High School, helping the Academics to three state titles (2009, 2010, 2011) before attending West Virginia for her collegiate career. In 2016, she became the program’s highest draft pick when she was selected 11th overall in the 2016 WNBA Draft by the Atlanta Dream. After two seasons with the Dream she was traded to the Connecticut Sun in 2018 and most recently signed with the Los Angeles Sparks heading into the 2021 season.

VIN BAKER, OLD SAYBROOK

The four-time NBA All-Star and gold-medal Olympian attended Old Saybrook High School before playing at the University of Hartford (1989-1993). Vin Baker holds the record for most career points (2, 238) on the Hawks’ all-time list. Picked 8th overall in the 1993 NBA draft by Milwaukee, Baker would play for six different teams during his 15-year professional career. Baker has been open about his struggles with addiction and depression, writing a book about how he turned his life around and has since created The Vin Baker Foundation, which aims to raise funds to open rehab and detox centers in the state of Connecticut with its annual 5K race in Old Saybrook.

CHRIS SMITH, BRIDGEPORT

UConn men’s’ basketball all-time leading scorer with 2,145 points, Chris Smith was born in Bridgeport and attended Kolbe Cathedral High School. After a standout career at UConn (19881992), Smith was drafted with the No. 34 overall pick in the second round of the 1992 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves and played eight seasons in the NBA. Since returning to Connecticut, he coached the Kolbe boys’ basketball team for six year before resigning in 2015.

MARCUS CAMBY, HARTFORD

Named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2007), yet never an All-Star, Marcus Camby got his basketball start in Hartford. Camby split his high school career at Conard High School and Hartford Public High School, the latter of which he helped lead the boys’ basketball team to win the Class LL state title in 1993. As a standout collegiate player at the University of Massachusetts, he was awarded both the Wooden Award and the Naismith Player of the Year Award in 1996. He was selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors.