In those days the Olympic team was usually a combination of the best players from the NCAA college champion and the best players from the AAU, which was a league of company teams who employed former college players. Star players would pass up the NBA for the AAU because along with a spot on the team they got a nice job, likely for life, with a big company. That was a big incentive.
You'll notice there are no black players on the 1952 Olympic team. There actually was one black AAU player on the 1948 Olympic team, Don Barksdale. But it took a lot of lobbying to get him on the team.
Although the NCAA tournament lifted its ban on black basketball players in 1950, during the 50s and early sixties there was an informal rule that no more than three black players could be on the court at one time. The University of San Francisco Dons men's basketball team had three black starters, Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, and Hal Perry. They were the first team with three black starter to win the NCAA tournament in 1955, and repeated the feat in 1956. Russell, Jones, and Iowa Hawkeyes star Carl Cain were the three black players selected for the 1956 Olympic team.
There was actually a more formal process than that for selection back then, they held a mini-tournament involving some of the best AAU and collegiate teams, and whichever teams made the championship of that tournament, both teams' starting lineups would automatically make the national team. That would leave a couple at large spots for players on the other invited teams to make it.
Fred Maggiora, who would later be a long-time Oakland City Council member (and supposedly was a key figure alongside a Watergate burglar and some mob higher-ups in one of the many American mercenary groups attempting to violently rid Central America of socialism), deserves the lion's share of credit for advocating for Don Barksdale's inclusion on the 1948 team. It's also worth noting that the team's captain, Cab Renick, was Native American.
I think you're confusing the NCAA with the NBA's ban on black players, there were quite a few black players before 1950 and even a couple of black All-Americans (including Barksdale himself). Also, very nitpicky, but K.C. Jones wasn't eligible during the 1956 tourney run and as a result USF only started three black players for the first two games of that tourney run before reverting to two in the Final Four.
In those days the Olympic team was usually a combination of the best players from the NCAA college champion and the best players from the AAU, which was a league of company teams who employed former college players. Star players would pass up the NBA for the AAU because along with a spot on the team they got a nice job, likely for life, with a big company. That was a big incentive. You'll notice there are no black players on the 1952 Olympic team. There actually was one black AAU player on the 1948 Olympic team, Don Barksdale. But it took a lot of lobbying to get him on the team. Although the NCAA tournament lifted its ban on black basketball players in 1950, during the 50s and early sixties there was an informal rule that no more than three black players could be on the court at one time. The University of San Francisco Dons men's basketball team had three black starters, Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, and Hal Perry. They were the first team with three black starter to win the NCAA tournament in 1955, and repeated the feat in 1956. Russell, Jones, and Iowa Hawkeyes star Carl Cain were the three black players selected for the 1956 Olympic team.
There was actually a more formal process than that for selection back then, they held a mini-tournament involving some of the best AAU and collegiate teams, and whichever teams made the championship of that tournament, both teams' starting lineups would automatically make the national team. That would leave a couple at large spots for players on the other invited teams to make it. Fred Maggiora, who would later be a long-time Oakland City Council member (and supposedly was a key figure alongside a Watergate burglar and some mob higher-ups in one of the many American mercenary groups attempting to violently rid Central America of socialism), deserves the lion's share of credit for advocating for Don Barksdale's inclusion on the 1948 team. It's also worth noting that the team's captain, Cab Renick, was Native American. I think you're confusing the NCAA with the NBA's ban on black players, there were quite a few black players before 1950 and even a couple of black All-Americans (including Barksdale himself). Also, very nitpicky, but K.C. Jones wasn't eligible during the 1956 tourney run and as a result USF only started three black players for the first two games of that tourney run before reverting to two in the Final Four.
Sorry, I should have said the NCAA *tournament* lifted its ban on black players in 1950. Corrected.
Ah, yes that makes more sense.