Harold Hunter (basketball coach)

Harold Hunter (April 30, 1926 – March 7, 2013) was an American basketball coach and player. On April 26, 1950, Hunter became the first African American to sign a professional contract with any National Basketball Association (NBA) team when he joined the Washington Capitols. He was cut from the team during training camp and never played for an NBA team. He later coached basketball for the United States men's national basketball team, Tennessee State University, and the U.S. Olympic basketball team.

Hunter was born on April 30, 1926, in Kansas City, Kansas. He graduated from Sumner High School, now known as Sumner Academy of Arts & Science, in 1944. The school, which had a top ten national ranking in science at the time, was the only all-black high school left in the city. In 2000, a group of Sumner alumni published a book on the history of the school, "The Sumner Story," which focused on Hunter's career.

Hunter played as a guard for North Carolina College, now known as North Carolina Central University, in Durham, North Carolina. He is credited with helping the North Carolina Central men's basketball team win the 1950 Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament championship and was named the most valuable player of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament that year.

In 1984 the university inducted Hunter into its Athletic Hall of Fame. The university also retired his basketball jersey in 2009 to mark the university's centennial. The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) inducted him into its hall of fame in 1987.

In 1950, Harold Hunter was drafted during the 10th round of the 1950 NBA draft into the Washington Capitols basketball team. He signed a contract with the Capitols on April 26, 1950, the day after the draft, becoming the first African American player to sign a contract with any NBA basketball team. However, he was cut from the team during the Capitols' training camp and did not play professionally for any NBA team.

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