Wayne Hightower
Wayne A. Hightower was an American professional basketball player who had a long and productive career in the National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association from 1962 to 1972. He stood and primarily played the forward positions. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and attended Overbrook High School from 1955 to 1958, where he played basketball. His professional career began in 1961 after his departure from the University of Kansas at the end his junior year. Hightower stated he did so to financially support his family, but he would have been ineligible to play basketball his senior year due to his poor academic standing.
NBA rules barred players with college eligibility from being drafted or signed to a team, so Hightower signed with the Pittsburgh Rens of the upstart American Basketball League for the 1961–62 season. The ABL's commissioner voided the contract when the Kansas City Steers protested that they had territorial rights to Hightower since he went to the University of Kansas. Instead of signing with the Steers, Hightower joined the Spanish team Real Madrid Baloncesto. He was both the EuroLeague Finals Top Scorer and the Spanish League Top Scorer in 1962.
During the 1962 NBA draft, the San Francisco Warriors selected Hightower in the first round with the seventh overall pick. In the NBA, Hightower played for the Warriors, the Baltimore Bullets and the Detroit Pistons. After joining the ABA in 1967, he played for the Denver Rockets, the Los Angeles / Utah Stars, the Texas Chaparrals and the Carolina Cougars. He also played for the Harrisburg Patriots of the Eastern Professional Basketball League during parts of the 1965–66 season, while still under contract with the Baltimore Bullets.
During the off-season before the 1967–68 season, Hightower was one of the first active NBA players to sign with the fledgling ABA, which lent credibility to the new league. Denver Rockets head coach and general manager Bob Bass would later say that the acquisition of Hightower was the most important moment in the team's first year. During parts of his ABA career, Hightower would serve as the vice president of the ABA Players Association, a labor union that represented the league's players. In 1973, Hightower sued the ABA for backed wages and damages. He claimed he was blacklisted from professional basketball. The parties settled the case the following year.
After his basketball career was over, Hightower volunteered for the Peace Corps, which dispatched him to Tunisia. He later returned to his hometown of Philadelphia, where he coached youth basketball. Hightower had poor cardiac health. During his tenure with the Chaparrals, Hightower was diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg. In 1988, he estimated that had suffered three or four heart attacks over his life. He died of a heart attack on April 18, 2002, aged 62, in Philadelphia.
Amateur career
High school
Hightower attended Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played on the school's varsity basketball team. He was the first selection to the all-public basketball team by the Philadelphia Inquirer during the 1956–57 season. He was also named second team all-Pennsylvania by the United Press International and third team all-Pennsylvania by the Associated Press that season.In December 1957, Overbrook won the Cambria County War Memorial Basketball Tournament after they defeated Charleroi High School, 72–58. Hightower was named the tournament's most outstanding player. The UPI named Hightower to the first all-Pennsylvania high school basketball team during the 1957–58 season. Overbrook defeated Bishop Neumann High School for the 1958 Philadelphia High School Basketball Championship. Following the tournament, Hightower was named the Philadelphia Inquirer Most Valuable Player. At the end of the season, Hightower was named second team All-American by Parade. In 1999, Gannett News Service writer Dave Krider named the 1957–58 Overbrook team the eighth best high school basketball team of the 20th century.
Following his senior season, Hightower played for the Chester Times All-Star basketball team at the YMCA in Chester, Pennsylvania. During the summer, with school out of session, Hightower played in the Wildwood Crest, New Jersey Basketball League and the Catskills Basketball League at Shawanga Lodge. The AP reported that at least 33 colleges showed interest in recruiting Hightower, who was drawing comparisons to former Overbrook center Wilt Chamberlain. Jack McCloskey, the head coach of Penn Quakers men's basketball team, told sportswriter Ronnie Christ that he tried to recruit Hightower – but due to his poor grades he would not be accepted by the university.
College
Hightower played college basketball at Kansas, with the Kansas Jayhawks. He played on the freshman basketball team during the 1958–59 season. He averaged 25.7 points per game, but other stats for the season are unavailable. During the summer, he returned to Pennsylvania and played in the Narberth Summer League. His first season on the Kansas varsity team was 1959–1960. Hightower played in 28 games and averaged 21.8 points per game and 10.1 rebounds. He led the Big Eight Conference in scoring and was second in rebounding on the Jayhawks behind center Bill Bridges. Kansas finished with a first place record in the Big Eight during the 1959–60 season. During the semi-finals for the Midwest region of the 1960 NCAA University Division basketball tournament, Kansas was matched up against the Texas Longhorns. The Jayhawks, led by a 34-point performance from Hightower, won the game 90–81. During the finals of the Midwest region on March 12, Hightower shot 8 for 24 from the field and scored a total of 22 points against the Cincinnati Bearcats. Kansas lost the game 82–71 and was eliminated from the tournament. After the season, Hightower returned to the Narberth Basketball League in Pennsylvania, where he played for a team coached by Jack McKinney.Hightower gave an interview to the Philadelphia Daily News in 1960 criticizing the selection process for the United States men's national basketball team leading up to the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. He was named an alternate for the team, but was never allowed to practice. Dutch Lonborg, the athletic director of the University of Kansas and the chairman of the United States men's basketball Olympic committee, sent a letter to Hightower telling him that no alternates would be selected for the team as all of the original selectees agreed to join the team. Furthermore, Lonborg wrote that, "I believe Jim Darrow and possibly Dick Boushka would be the coach's first and second choice ." Hightower called for transparency in the Olympic select committee process.
In 1960, Hightower said he was considering joining an Amateur Athletic Union team at the conclusion of his college career instead of signing with a professional club. The Buchan Bakers of Seattle, Washington, reached out to Hightower and asked him to commit to joining their team. Hightower stated he had interest in joining the Phillips 66ers of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, but thought it was a longshot due to his race. In the summer of the 1960, Hightower served as a councilor at Camp Canadensis where Neil Johnston and Jack Ramsay were running a youth basketball camp.
Throughout his college basketball career, Hightower wore one high-top shoe on his right foot and one low-top on his left foot. The right show was a size 13 and the left shoe was a size 13. Around the University of Kansas campus, Hightower was known as being interested in fashion and he regularly drove a white convertible with his initials, W. H., on the trunk. People referred to Hightower as "The Dragon", but he stated he did not know why people called him that. According to Hightower, his social life was non-existent as none of the Kansas fraternities wanted African Americans at their parties. Despite that, Hightower said he was not subject to racial segregation when the team traveled. Only once, when the team was in North Carolina, did he get denied service at a hotel. In response, the entire team left the hotel and opted to stay at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill infirmary.
On March 11, 1961, Hightower was ejected from a game against the Missouri Tigers after getting into a fist fight with Tigers player Charley Henke and several spectators. Henke was also ejected from the game. He was the third junior in Big Eight Conference history to score 1,000 career points, the others being Wilt Chamberlain and Clyde Lovellette. At the conclusion of his junior season, Hightower averaged 20.7 points per game and 11.6 rebounds in 25 games played. Before his senior season, Hightower announced he was leaving the University of Kansas and moving back home to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to financially support his mother, two brothers and sister. The Associated Press reported that Hightower would have been ineligible to play basketball during his senior season due to his poor grades. He finished his varsity career at Kansas with 1,128 total points scored and 573 rebounds in 53 games.
Professional career
First professional season (1961–62)
After leaving college, Hightower signed with the Pittsburgh Rens of the American Basketball League for the 1961–62 season. He reported to training camp, but a few days later his contract was voided when Kansas City Steers management entered a protest to league president Abe Saperstein. They alleged that the Rens violated their territorial draft rights when they signed Hightower and Saperstein agreed. Hightower stated he would transfer to Waynesburg University to finish his education, allowing the Rens to have his territorial rights, but he never followed through with the plan. He eventually left the Rens for a councilor position with a United Jewish Fund camp located in the Pocono Mountains. The Rens still hoped to keep Hightower on the payroll so he would play for them during 1962–63 season, when Kansas City's territorial rights to him would expire. Pittsburgh owner Lenny Litman sent Hightower an offer from the Easton Madisons of the Eastern Professional Basketball League that would be partially paid by the Rens, but Hightower declined the offer.In September 1961, Hightower signed with the Allentown Jets of the EPBL. Before the start of the season, Hightower met Pedro Ferrándiz, the head coach of Real Madrid Baloncesto — who traveled to Philadelphia to offer Hightower a one-year contract worth $6,000. Hightower agreed to the offer and abandoned the Jets. He had also verbally committed to joining the Harlem Globetrotters, which he was unable to do after he moved to Spain. Angered over his acquisition of Hightower, Globetrotters owner Abe Saperstein sent Ferrándiz a letter threatening his arrest if he re-entered the United States. The two men would later form a friendship. Hightower led Real Madrid to the 1961–62 season Spanish national domestic league championship, and the 1962 final of FIBA European Champions Cup, which the team lost. He led the Spanish League in scoring that season. Hightower scored 56 points in Real Madrid's 112–84 victory over Alsace de Bagnolet on December 23, 1961, in Paris, France. Following the season, he entered into contract negotiations with the Harlem Globetrotters, but never signed. Hightower finished his college education at the Complutense University of Madrid.