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The Lockefield Dust Bowl Tournament: A special moment in Indiana History

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – It’s surrounded by fast food restaurants, a hospital and college classrooms now.

But not that long ago, there was a basketball court in Indianapolis that attracted the greatest that played the game.

It gave birth to Oscar Robertson, and by some accounts, even better players.

24-Hour News 8 spoke with Fred Robinson and David Williams, two former players who lived the glory days of the Lockefield Dust Bowl Tournament.

“There wasn’t very much for black kids to do back then, basketball was one of the favorite sports,” said Robinson.

“Lockefield basketball court was the mecca, there was where you wanted to go, this was where you wanted to be known as Fred Robinson basketball player.”

It may look just like any other basketball court today, but on this land, now owned by IUPUI, some of the best that ever played the game, dribbled, juked and jump shot their way into dust bowl history.

“I knew that I was in the presence of greatness,” said Williams. “It was just like an old fashioned carnival type atmosphere.”

“Just imagine a Saturday afternoon, just imagine you would have a hundred, 200 kids around this court wanting to play basketball, and you had to be good in order to play,” said Robinson.

“They were so quick, they would make modern day players, well of this era, like Alan Iverson look like they had cement, cement in their shoes, they were so quick,” said Williams. “A lot of the ladies would dress up in their finest, to be very, very, attractive, to walk around the Dust Bowl catching the eyes of the young men.”

The court was the best because it was asphalt, so how did the Dust Bowl tournament get its name? There are a few different versions of the story, but Oscar Robertson, the most famous dust bowl alum, had his own version.

“Oscar tells the story,” said Robinson. “They played on this area so much that the grass just turned to dust and they beat down the dust so that the ball would just not bounce because there was so much dust there.”

This game that was played here was a different game,” said Robinson.

“We had NBA players that played in this tournament, OK, that did not win…that got…were given their suitcase to go back home by these guys that played here every day, it was something spectacular.”

“There were a number of black college coaches from the southern historical black colleges that would come through here recruiting basketball players to play for those universities down there.”

But, as safe as the courts were, with no fighting, just good basketball, as children, Williams says he and his friends were afraid when they saw a group of strangers come to the court, asking about Robinson.

“Right after the Emmit Till murdered down in Mississippi,” said Williams, “There were 3 white men who came into the Lockefield gardens and they asked us little kids, how can we find Oscar Robertson? The fact that they had southern accents, we were terrified, we thought they were the Ku Klux Klan coming to find Oscar, Bailey, and Henry Robertson, so we didn’t tell them,” said Williams.

And while Williams and Robinson are both sad to see that the Dust Bowl is no longer, they are grateful to have been a part of the incredible legacy of the Dust Bowl Tournament.

“It’s truly a blessing to be here, to have lived it, and to be able to come back and share this,” said Robinson. “Whether it’s with you or with other students.”

Many players from the Dust Bowl went on to play for Crispus Attucks’ legendary team.

There is a documentary that focuses on the dust bowl players, in particular the Attucks team and high school, that will be featured in the Heartland Film Festival in August.

For more information, click here.

David Williams is an historian who wrote the book, “Indianapolis Jazz: The Masters, Legends, and Legacy of Indiana Avenue.”

For more information on his book, click here.

Also Fred Robinson is the President of the Crispus Attucks Alumni Association, to contact them, click here.

Members of that legendary Attucks team, including Oscar Robertson, will be honored at the Pacers game Wednesday.