African American sports pioneers Ray and George Crowe of Franklin, Indiana rank in the highest echelon of Indiana basketball royalty. George was Indiana’s first “Mr. Basketball,” an honor he earned by a landslide popular vote in 1939 as a member of the Franklin High School Grizzly Cubs. He would go on to play pro basketball for the New York Renaissance before becoming a Major League Baseball star. As their head coach, Ray led Crispus Attucks High School of Indianapolis, Indiana to two straight Indiana state high school basketball championships with a team that featured future Basketball Hall of Fame player Oscar Robertson, the first time an all-Black squad had won that title. The squad was sponsored by Short’s Café, a local diner owned by White proprietors Archie Short and his wife Marie, which was located at the corner of West Jefferson and West Court streets near the Johnson County Courthouse. “This team, known as the Short’s Café Five, is really a Crowe family outfit for it is composed of Crowe brothers and their cousins,” wrote the Kokomo Tribune, noting that the team, led by “Negro ace” George Crowe, would be “a feature of the tournament.” They were great representatives not only for Franklin, and Indianapolis but also for the entire state of Indiana. A portion of net proceeds from the sales of our Black Fives assortment will benefit the The Black Fives Foundation, which works to inspire excellence by preserving, teaching, and honoring the pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball.
