NOTABLE ARKANSANS

He was born in El Dorado and grew into a tall, slender athlete with long arms that reached his knees when he was a teenager. He excelled in basketball, but his first love was baseball and he eagerly signed a contract to play first base for the Louisville Black Colonels. Although he was an outstanding baseball player, it was his clowning antics on the field that made him a crowd favorite.

In 1941 the owner and coach of the Harlem Globetrotters, Abe Saperstein, noticed the young man and felt he could bring a new dimension of entertainment to basketball. He was right! Not only did this young Arkansan become a great ball handler, he invented the hook shot that brought fans to their feet.

For the next 15 years, except for the four years he spent in the Army Air Corps, he starred throughout the world as one of the most famous basketball players of all time. In 1953, at the end of his career with the Globe Trotters, he was making $50,000 per year, reported to be the highest salary made by a professional basketball player. Sixty years after his first season his number 50 jersey was retired. Who was this “Clown Prince” of the Harlem Globe Trotters from El Dorado who died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 45?

Who was this “Clown Prince” of the Harlem Globe Trotters from El Dorado who died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 45? Reese “Goose” Tatum