Year graduated
1939
Major accomplishments
Mr. Basketball; Indiana All-Star; Indiana Basketball Hall of Famer; Indiana Baseball Hall of Famer
In 1989, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series, The Indianapolis Star, sponsor of the event, presented golden basketballs to the living members of its first All-Star team during a reception in the Indiana Convention Center at Indianapolis.
It was the first, and only time, golden basketballs have been given to former Indiana All-Stars. The players on that first All-Star team in 1939 were George Crowe of Franklin, Indiana’s first Mr. Basketball; George Fields, Mooresville; Don Frazier, Greencastle; Bud Goodwin, Bloomington; Fred Krampe, Indianapolis Shortridge; Roger Bundy, Salem; Wayne Payton, Spencer; George Taylor, Greencastle; John Williams, Indianapolis Southport; and Howard Mitchell, Indianapolis Attucks.
That first Indiana All-Star team played coach Everett Case’s state high school championship team, the Frankfort Hotdogs, on August 18, 1939, in Butler Fieldhouse (now Hinkle Fieldhouse). The All-Stars won, 31-21, and for Crowe, who later became the first African American from Indiana to play Major League Baseball, it was a game of redemption.
Crowe, younger brother of the late Ray Crowe who coached Attucks to state championships in 1955 and ‘56, led Franklin to the state finals in ‘39. Despite the fact that Crowe scored 13 points on six field goals and a free throw, the Cubs lost to Frankfort, 36-22, in the championship game before a crowd of 14,983.
In that game, Franklin and Frankfort were tied, 5-5, at the end of the first quarter. But according to one newspaper account at the time, “From the opening minute of the second quarter on, the Hot Dogs [sic] took complete control of the game and tied up the Cubs with the exception of Crowe, Franklin’s great colored center who proved to be the best individual player in the tournament. He contributed 13 points to Franklins cause, and in addition to playing a bang-up game on offense turned in some beautiful work on defense.”
Crowe was named center on the Indianapolis News’ all-state team of 1939. Bill Fox, the News sports editor then, wrote of Crowe: “I saw two games of the Tech semi-final tournament and the three games in the [Butler] Fieldhouse … and where I sat George Crowe, Franklins center, was the tournament’s outstanding player. And according to a good old News custom the word tournament applies to the last sixteen teams in the field of 779. Richly endowed physically and tutored in his court knowledge by the greatest individual performer as well as team man that this state has ever produced [that’s Fuzzy, you know], George Crowe carried the fight at night as he did in the afternoon when Franklin won from those [Muncie] Burris Owls, 31 to 25.”
Fuzzy, of course, referred to Robert “Fuzzy” Vandivier, the coach of that ‘39 Franklin team. Vandivier, who helped the Cubs become known as the Franklin “Wonder Five” by becoming the first team to win three consecutive state titles in 1920, ‘21 and ‘22, called Crowe “the best money player I ever saw.”
The ‘39 state tournament championship game brought together two teams that had won three titles. A Franklin victory would have given Vandivier, who is in both the Indiana and National Basketball Halls of Fame, four championships, three as a player and one as a coach. Case, who also is in the Indiana and National Halls of Fame, beat him to No. 4. He earlier had won titles as the Frankfort coach in 1925,1929 and 1936.
It was that same that The Star decided to showcase Indiana All-Stars in competition during the summer following the state tournament (Kentucky became Indiana’s opponent in 1940). The first two Indiana teams were selected by a popular vote of fans in the state. Crowe won Mr. Basketball in a landslide, and even though his statistics in the first All-Star game weren’t awesome by today’s standards, he did the honor proud.
The Star published a history of the All-Star series during that golden anniversary year. In describing the first game, in which the Indiana All-Stars held Frankfort scoreless in the third quarter, the late Don Bates of The Star wrote: “Franklin’s George Crowe, the first Mr. Basketball, was the All-Stars’ most effective defense weapon. Playing in the middle, he repeatedly denied inside access to the basket and forced Frankfort to take lower-percentage shots. Crowe hauled in 10 rebounds and scored five points in helping the All-Stars out-rebound the taller Hotdogs.”
From 1940 through 1954 a single All-Star game was played in Indianapolis. A home-and-home format with Kentucky was begun in 1955. A girls’ series was started in 1976. In 1941, the balloting process was changed to include only sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the state. In 1978, voting was expanded to include sportswriters, broadcasters, and coaches.
If fate hadn’t smiled on him, Crowe might never have become Mr. Basketball. Crowe didn’t participate in competitive sports until he was a junior at Franklin High School.
“I didn’t even try out,” he said, “because they never had any black players, you know? Other guys who were good enough, they weren’t allowed to play.”
Crowe got the opportunity to represent his school when a new junior varsity basketball coach arrived at Franklin High. “I was in his gym class,” said Crowe. “He saw me play and told me to come out for his team. So I went out and made the team, and after a while we practiced against the varsity. We beat ‘em pretty good. The next day, I was promoted to the varsity basketball team.”
In the late ‘30s and early ‘40s, opportunities in sports were limited for blacks. Like his older brothers Ray and Richard, Crowe enrolled at Indiana Central College [now the University of Indianapolis] after graduating from Franklin High. He became a star in basketball, baseball, and track for the school on the southside of Indianapolis, and he was inducted into the Greyhound Club Hall of Fame in 1986.
After earning a degree in physical education, Crowe went into the army and served as a first lieutenant in a segregated unit in the quartermaster corps in Asia. When he returned home, Crowe played professional basketball for seven years with the Los Angeles Red Devils, New York Renaissance and the Harlem Yankees.
In 1947 Crowe played for the New York Black Yankees baseball team in the Negro National League. A year later the Black Yankees team went broke, but by then Branch Rickey had broken Major League Baseball’s color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson to a Brooklyn Dodgers contract.
The Boston (now Atlanta) Braves invited Crowe to spring training, and the 6-foot-3, 212-pound first baseman was impressive enough to earn a minor league contract. Crowe played for ten years in the major leagues with the Milwaukee Braves before they moved to Atlanta, the Cincinnati Reds, and St. Louis Cardinals. He retired in 1961.
During his major leagues years, Crowe fell in love with the Catskill Mountains in New York, and after retirement spent 11 years in a one-room log cabin without electricity, running water, or central heating. He later returned to a regular house in Long Eddy, New York.
Crowe once said he regretted that he didn’t get to play enough when he was young. “That’s one of those born too soon things,” he added, but quickly stated, “I had fun during my time.”
He also has golden memories. He was selected to play in the 1958 Major League All-Star game, in addition to being inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976 and the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004. In his honor, the Franklin High School baseball field was named Crowe Field.