Celebrating Black History and Who Is Wilbur Wood?

Nebraska Returns Home to Host Penn State

Uniforms Honor Husker Pioneer Wilbur Wood

Randy York N-Sider

Official Blog of the Huskers

Before World War I, Wilbur Wood, a University of Nebraska student-athlete from 1907 to 1910,became the first Husker African-American basketball player. A three-year letterwinner, Wood helped Nebraska earn three straight runner-up finishes in the Missouri Valley Conference. He was the second African-American to play college basketball at a predominately white institution. After his playing career, Wood went on to be a graduate student in Chemistry and Pharmacy and became the coach for Nebraska’s freshman team.

On Saturday, Nebraska, in collaboration with apparel partner adidas, will celebrate Black History Month at Pinnacle Bank Arena by wearing throwback uniforms and paying tribute to Wood and his trailblazing teammates. Even though Wood is the staple in Nebraska’s unique way to honor him and celebrate Black History Month simultaneously, only small pieces of information are at the fingertips of Husker fans who embrace milestones and treasure tradition.

Unfortunately, Google only delivers stories that have been written, so after researching and seeing rare glimpses of Nebraska basketball from more than a century ago, my mission became a question that should be relevant this weekend – exactly who is Wilbur Wood?

Believe me, the answer is not as simple as the question sounds, but with a little help from two new friends and an old friend, every point we make and every photo and graphic we use in this N-Sider is more than 100 years old. Yikes!

Love Library Workers, Husker Historian Help Paint Wilbur Wood’s Portrait

Nebraska players, who will be wearing throwback uniforms Saturday in a 5:05 p.m. Big Ten matchup against Penn State, are well aware that Wood played basketball less than two decades after the game was invented.

This column is designed to dig deeper than that and give Husker fans a chance to climb inside a time tunnel and understand the significance of a gifted pioneer.

Thanks to worthy assists from UNL Love Library archivists Joshua Caster and Pete Brink and a consulting session with veteran Nebraska sportswriter/historian Mike Babcock, I’ve focused on the storied archives of the Daily Nebraskan this weekand learned that Wood was considerably more than your average trailblazer.

One of Nebraska’s best basketball players, Wood (pictured above) was a dedicated dribbler, a devoted defender and a solid strategist. He received a University of Nebraska degree in June of 1909 and played his final season as a graduate student in pharmacy.

Babcock’s research found evidence that Wood played guard and “was easily the star” of a 1910 Nebraska vs. Kansas game the Huskers lost. One newspaper account said Wood “stuck to Johnson of Kansas with a persistence that kept the Kansan on the run.”

Wood also did such an outstanding job of dribbling that “towards the end of the game, the crowd began cheering every time he secured the ball and started to dribble.”

After Earning His Nebraska Degree, Wood Coached Husker Freshman Team

Enrolling at Nebraska in 1905, Wood graduated with an A.B. degree in June of 1909 and went on to do graduate work. According to the Cornhusker yearbook, Wood (pictured above, second row, far left) coached Nebraska’s freshman basketball team in 1910-11.

“He withdrew from the university on March 16, 1911, at which point his story seems to end,” Babcock said. “I’ve tried to find more about him, but to no avail.”

Love Library and the Daily Nebraskan helped fill in some blanks. Combing through history, you learn that Nebraska played home basketball games in those days at Grant Hall. The Huskers even played local teams like Cotner University and the YMCA in exhibition games at the Armory. Tipoff wasn’t until 8:15 p.m. and admission was 25 cents.

Home-court advantages were different in basketball's early era. Wood, for instance, experienced one season where Nebraska beat Kansas in Lawrence but lost to the Jayhawks in Lincoln.

If today’s sportswriters sometimes puzzle you, consider how results were documented then. A Daily Nebraskan headline declared “Cornhuskers Beaten by the Jayhawkers” followed by two major sub-headlines: 1) Kansas Men Win First Game by Score of 20 to 40; and 2) “Woody (Wilbur) The Star of the Game”. In 1909-10, Wood’s final season as a player, Nebraska finished with a 6-10 record, beating Drake four times and Iowa State twice while losing four games to Kansas and two each to Kansas State, Iowa State and Minnesota.

Despite a Lopsided Loss to Kansas, Wood Was Clearly the Star of the Game

Reading the game story helps you understand why Wood was “the star” in a lopsided loss at Kansas. “Throughout the game Wood was the star,” The Daily Nebraskan reported. “He (Wood) was pitted against the Kansas captain, Johnson, and his (Wood’s) defensive playing was so excellent that he succeeded in keeping his opponent down to throwing in only two goals, the smallest number made by him this winter.

“Captain Johnson was removed from the game in the last few minutes of play for having fouled five times during the game. These fouls were all made while he was trying to stop the classy work of Wood, who was featured in stellar plays and made the most of the points for his team.”

Wood also was a well-respected coach of Nebraska’s freshman team after his varsity playing days ended. Here’s a paragraph we found in another Daily Nebraskan write-up: “Coach W.S. Wood, the Nebraska ex-star forward, has developed remarkable material from the freshman candidates. Some of these men are easily on a par with the varsity class and will indeed crowd the present varsity members hard next year.”

Too Much Credit Can Hardly Be Given 'Woody' for His Old-School Efforts

Acknowledging “conspicuous examples of the first-year cohorts”, the reporter goes on to write: “Too much credit can hardly be given ‘Woody’ for his efforts to hew out some real basketball timber, similar to the old-school (style) to which he belongs.”

Back in his day, Wood was considered every bit as crucial to his team then as Shavon Shields has proven to be now. Such evidence is reflected in this Feb. 1, 1910, Daily Nebraskan headline: Gloom Hangs Heavy in Basketball Circles

The cause of that gloom? The Huskers’ two starting guards, including Wood, who did not register for the upcoming semester. The loss of Wood and a stellar teammate were deemed “a severe blow” to the hopes of Cornhusker supporters.

“Wood has played on the Nebraska team for the past two years and has held down the position of guard,” the Daily Nebraskan reported. His work has put him in the first class of basketball men in the Missouri Valley. His work there, keeping his opponent from scoring field goals, has won him a place as the best guard in the Missouri Valley. With his loss, the team will be severely handicapped. It was through his good work in dribbling the ball down the field that Nebraska won the games they did from Ames (Iowa State) and Drake.”

Good News Ending to the Wilbur S. Wood Tale: A Champion Fencer Emerges

Even though Wood was a graduate student who had earned his degree the previous spring, he continued to accept university-related work for his post-grad opportunities. “Having only been on the team for two years, he was eligible this school year,” the Daily Nebraskan reported. “This interferes with his studies and thus, he has been unable to register for this semester.”

Unfortunately, national rules were as tough then as they are now, even though the most recent NCAA rules would have allowed Wood to continue to compete post-graduation.

We have a good news ending to the tale of Wilbur Wood and his prominent place in Nebraska basketball history. Both Love Library collaborators found an interesting post-grad achievement in a short story carrying the headline “Woods Wins Championship.”

Touche! Prominent Student-Athlete a True Pioneer in Every Sense of the Word 

Get this. Wilbur Wood may have been a post-grad ineligible in basketball, but he won the University of Nebraska’s fencing championship and was awarded the shield that was donated by Dr. Clapp. “Wood did excellent work and his victory was merited,” the Daily Nebraskan reported. “His footwork was fast and his fencing form fine.”

In the finals, Wood won “in a fast bout” and the ending paragraph came to this conclusion: “Wood has been prominent in athletics before, playing on the basketball team for several seasons. He is, however, a graduate student and for this reason cannot participate in the western intercollegiate meet to be held at Minnesota in the near future.”

Morgan, the fencer Wood beat quickly and handily, “will probably be Nebraska’s representative there,” the Daily Nebraskan reported, referring to a fencing championship at a higher level.

I wish I knew more about the life and times of Wilbur S. Wood, but I can only hope that Husker fans who see the commemorative uniforms live or on television this weekend – and on NU road games Feb. 17 at Indiana and Feb. 25 at Penn State – appreciate why Nebraska is so proud to honor a true pioneer in every sense of the word.

More Insight from Babcock and an Interesting Find from HuskerMax.com

According to Babcock, University of Nebraska records confirm that Wood withdrew from school, with no reason given. “I’m not sure that the eligibility rules were as stringent as suggested,” Babcock told me. Why? “Because Johnny Bender earned five letters in football, and apparently a little cash on the side, just a couple of years earlier,” Babcock said. “There were obviously ways around such things. I’ve always wondered about the influence of race here. Clint Ross, a player on Jumbo Stiehm’s 1913 Nebraska football team that upset Minnesota, was the last black athlete to earn a letter at Nebraska until Charlie Bryant and Jon McWilliams earned their letters in 1953.

“Things changed dramatically at Nebraska following World War I,” Babcock said. “As near as I can determine, blacks were prohibited from participating in extracurricular activities after 1917. I still can’t figure out why Wood would have withdrawn, at about age 26."

Information about Wood is indeed scarce, but this column may have attracted a fact that appears definitively accurate. Joe Hudson, the editor of HuskerMax.com, is a research guru who may have solved a major puzzle for Huskers.com. Hudson unearthed a probable gemstone in a Saturday, July 17, 1920 edition of the Kansas City Sun. The newspaper reported that Wilbur S. Wood became “the sole proprietor of the beautiful White-Wood Drug Store at 19th and Vine Streets, which is pronounced by visitors and experts as the most beautiful drug store owned by the race anywhere.”

If I were a betting man, I would say this is the same Wilbur S. Wood that Nebraska will honor Saturday, plus two more times at Big Ten schools before the season ends. I would also say that this possible fact, buried in Kansas City newspaper archives, could kick start more information that will be captivating to read and nice to know.

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Voices from Husker Nation

Great story and stellar digging for the facts. Hope this young man was treated with kindness and respect while on the team. So sad that there are hints of discrimination, though not surprising. Certainly hope he was the same man who operated the store in KC. Andrea Durfee, Lincoln, Nebraska

Great story on UNL’s first black basketball player. Wondering if you could check state registration of pharmacists or possibly the state he was from – or is he a native Nebraskan? Would love to know what he did with the rest of his life. Possibly military service? He’d have been the right age for WWI. Enjoyed your story! Jan Lightner, Federal Way, Washington

Appreciate the research and effort dedicated to the recognition and service represented by this Husker pioneer. Heroic effort, given the historical context of the early 20th Century. Great stuff and hope you can find additional narrative on Wilbur going forward. Always enjoy historical perspective on Cornhusker athletics. Keith Kucera, Lincoln, Nebraska