This Game is No Secret
#duke #endracism
About Jack Berlin
Founded Accusoft (Pegasus Imaging) in 1991 and has been CEO ever since.
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The 4th annual “This Game is No Secret” will take place Jan. 29 – Feb.4, 2024. Teams across the
country will again honor the legacy of Coach McLendon by wearing t-shirts with those words five
words -- THIS GAME IS NO SECRET. It is an opportunity for players, coaches, and fans to learn
more about Coach McLendon who is one of the greatest coaches in basketball history.
WHAT WAS THE SECRET GAME?
In 1944, coach John McLendon at the North Carolina College for Negroes (now North Carolina
Central) felt he had one of the best teams in the nation. The Eagles routinely defeated their
opponents by lopsided margins. Only, there was no way for McLendon to know how his team in
Durham, North Carolina stacked up against the nation’s other heavyweights. The Eagles, like
other black colleges, were banned from competing in the NCAA tournament and the NIT.
Across town, the Duke University Blue Devils won the Southern Conference championship that
year, but they were hardly the best team on campus. Rather, another all-white squad on campus,
the Medical School intramural team, was plowing through its opposition. These former college
basketball stars from across the nation were at Duke because the Army and Navy had started
World War II training programs there.
Despite Jim Crow laws that banned interaction, the YMCA chapters from Duke and North
Carolina College had begun to meet on occasion in 1943, according to Scott Ellsworth’s book, the
Secret Game (published in 2015). During one of these meetings, a Duke student was boasting
about the Medical School team’s excellence. From this conversation, a game was born.
McLendon, the legendary coach who revolutionized the game with an up-tempo style and
fastbreak offense, wanted to see how his team would fare. He set up the game in the North
Carolina College gym. (The basketball arena at North Carolina Central is now named in his
honor). He arranged a referee and scorekeeper. A black reporter who found out agreed not to
write about it, and McLendon scheduled the game for a Sunday morning, March 12th, when most
of Durham - including the police force - would be attending church. There were no spectators.
After a nervous start from both teams, the Eagles hit their stride. Their frenetic pace and
fastbreak offense overwhelmed the squad from Duke, no different than other opponents. The
Eagles won the game 88-44. Following a short break, players from the two teams mixed their
squads and scrimmaged again.
No other news reporters or local police
learned about the game until years later. A
scorecard does not exist. Without question,
the Secret Game was a landmark event, and
within the next 25 years, college basketball
was racially integrated in the south, due in
part to the courage of those who arranged
and participated in this game.
By Scott Ellsworth – Published in New York Times Magazine – March 31, 1996
ERACISM is a social inclusion movement committed to bringing forth change through education,
awareness, and action with current and former college basketball coaches leading the way.
America is a socially diverse nation that continues to make progress against racism through
education and creating awareness through enhanced dialogue. ERACISM is committed to
bringing forth change through education, awareness, and action because we can no longer just
sit on the sidelines.
LEARN MORE: www.Eracism4Ever.com
country will again honor the legacy of Coach McLendon by wearing t-shirts with those words five
words -- THIS GAME IS NO SECRET. It is an opportunity for players, coaches, and fans to learn
more about Coach McLendon who is one of the greatest coaches in basketball history.
WHAT WAS THE SECRET GAME?
In 1944, coach John McLendon at the North Carolina College for Negroes (now North Carolina
Central) felt he had one of the best teams in the nation. The Eagles routinely defeated their
opponents by lopsided margins. Only, there was no way for McLendon to know how his team in
Durham, North Carolina stacked up against the nation’s other heavyweights. The Eagles, like
other black colleges, were banned from competing in the NCAA tournament and the NIT.
Across town, the Duke University Blue Devils won the Southern Conference championship that
year, but they were hardly the best team on campus. Rather, another all-white squad on campus,
the Medical School intramural team, was plowing through its opposition. These former college
basketball stars from across the nation were at Duke because the Army and Navy had started
World War II training programs there.
Despite Jim Crow laws that banned interaction, the YMCA chapters from Duke and North
Carolina College had begun to meet on occasion in 1943, according to Scott Ellsworth’s book, the
Secret Game (published in 2015). During one of these meetings, a Duke student was boasting
about the Medical School team’s excellence. From this conversation, a game was born.
McLendon, the legendary coach who revolutionized the game with an up-tempo style and
fastbreak offense, wanted to see how his team would fare. He set up the game in the North
Carolina College gym. (The basketball arena at North Carolina Central is now named in his
honor). He arranged a referee and scorekeeper. A black reporter who found out agreed not to
write about it, and McLendon scheduled the game for a Sunday morning, March 12th, when most
of Durham - including the police force - would be attending church. There were no spectators.
After a nervous start from both teams, the Eagles hit their stride. Their frenetic pace and
fastbreak offense overwhelmed the squad from Duke, no different than other opponents. The
Eagles won the game 88-44. Following a short break, players from the two teams mixed their
squads and scrimmaged again.
No other news reporters or local police
learned about the game until years later. A
scorecard does not exist. Without question,
the Secret Game was a landmark event, and
within the next 25 years, college basketball
was racially integrated in the south, due in
part to the courage of those who arranged
and participated in this game.
By Scott Ellsworth – Published in New York Times Magazine – March 31, 1996
ERACISM is a social inclusion movement committed to bringing forth change through education,
awareness, and action with current and former college basketball coaches leading the way.
America is a socially diverse nation that continues to make progress against racism through
education and creating awareness through enhanced dialogue. ERACISM is committed to
bringing forth change through education, awareness, and action because we can no longer just
sit on the sidelines.
LEARN MORE: www.Eracism4Ever.com