The Secret Game: A Wartime Story of Courage, Change, and Basketball's Lost Triumph by Scott Ellsworth, Paperback

From the Publisher

"As a member of the Duke community, I have long been aware and proud of the secret game. Now Scott Ellsworth has brought it to light. The true story behind this extraordinary, long-buried game goes beyond any one school or any one state. The Secret Game is a triumphant look at how basketball has broken down barriers, and helped create a new kind of America. Every citizen needs to know this story—and to know it now."—Mike Krzyzewski, head coach of Duke Men's Basketball

"There is a basketball on the cover, but this is much more than a story about basketball. Yes, there was a ground-breaking basketball game played in Durham, N.C., seven decades ago, and it is recounted in great detail by Scott Ellsworth. But what we really have here is indispensable social history. White people need to read this book. People of color need to read this book. Whoever you are, you need to read this book."—Bob Ryan, Boston Globe, ESPN, author of Scribe: My Life in Sports

"A powerful book that is a page-turner from start to finish.... Ellsworth has written an important book that should appeal to people of all colors."—Bob D'Angelo, Tampa Tribune

"A fascinating new work of cultural and sports history.... Through a mixture of oral history and archival research, Ellsworth captures the rich human details of a whole generation of largely forgotten basketball players."—Nick Romeo, Boston Globe

"It would be difficult, if not impossible, for me to overstate my admiration for Scott Ellsworth's magnificent The Secret Game. It's a book about race, a book about the South, a book about America, a book about the '40s, a book about change as well as how things remain the same. This is one of the smartest and most eloquent books I've come across in a long time. A masterpiece."—Steve Yarbrough, author of The Realm of Last Chances

"A historian with the soul of a poet, Ellsworth offers a remarkably nuanced, vibrant, and eloquent account of life in the South during WWII, and his portraits of the principal players in this secret drama are multitextured and complex."—Wes Lukowsky, Booklist (starred review)

"Ellsworth has unearthed a brave moment in basketball, forgotten to history, which resonates far beyond the court."—Billy Heller, New York Post

"Scott Ellsworth has unearthed the facts of this little-known but hugely important moment. His research is as overwhelming as his story-telling style is accessible and engaging. If you love basketball, truly love the game and all that it means in terms of this country and its civil rights history, you'll want to read and reread The Secret Game."—Roland Lazenby, author of Michael Jordan: The Life

"Ellsworth skillfully puts this story in the context of World War II, which forced this country to face — albeit slowly — its unjust treatment of those who also spilled blood to protect American democracy. He lets us know what happened to each of the players after the secret game — their lives and their triumph no longer lost or forgotten."—Cliff Bellamy, The Herald Sun

"Riveting."—Kevin Nance, Chicago Tribune

"Amazing."—Robert Gray, Shelf Awareness

"Beautifully paced, its eloquence cloaked within a common touch."—Jeff Calder, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"A compelling story about basketball, race and transformation...."—D.G. Martin, Winston-Salem Journal

"[The Secret Game] should be read by anyone with an interest in basketball history, or American sports history. Or maybe even American history for that matter."—Bill Reynolds, Providence Journal

"Ellsworth tells their story in the vein of Seabiscuit and The Boys in the Boat.... He reminds us who heroes are and what they can be."—Daniel Solzman, The Kentucky Democrat

"Ellsworth chronicles a groundbreaking matchup....He weaves 50 years of story lines...[and] the takeaway is the unimaginable bravery of both teams."—Lisa Sorg, Indy Week

"Mesmerizing.... An elegant, deeply talented writer."—Jennifer Conlin, frequent contributor to the New York Times

"Engrossing..."—Chris Skaugset, The Daily News

"A riveting, little-known story reminding readers of a rising generation of risk-takers who fought against Jim Crow laws and ushered in the Civil Rights Movement."—Genesis Jackson, Duke Today

Library Journal

03/01/2015
Duke history professor Ellsworth's first book in more than 30 years (Death in a Promised Land) tells the story behind the first racially integrated college basketball game in the American South, a secretly planned and played 1944 contest pitting the high-scoring, fast-breaking Eagles from the North Carolina College for Negroes (NCCN; now North Carolina Central University) against an all-white, geographically diverse military recruit squad from Duke School of Medicine. Ellsworth focuses on each of the various coaches, players, professors, and college administrators involved in this covert, dangerous, and historically significant matchup while framing their consistently fascinating profiles within the contexts of Southern racial prejudice in the World War II, pre-Civil Rights era and the rising popularity of basketball in gymnasiums across America. Innovative NCCN coach John McLendon and Duke's influential team leader David Hubbell feature prominently, but there are many other participants whose intertwined and impressively detailed biographies are woven into a compelling tale that is told in the author's impeccably clear prose. The first book-length story of the participants in this momentous event is similar in theme and tone to Peter McDaniel's Uneven Lies. VERDICT This thoroughly researched but accessible book is recommended to both sports fans and American history buffs. [See Prepub Alert, 9/29/14.]—Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia

Kirkus Reviews

2015-01-04
An account of a little-known basketball game in which the opponents played as much against Jim Crow as each other.One morning in March 1944 in the segregated South, an all-white team from the Duke University Medical School played an exhibition against the Eagles of the North Carolina College for Negroes. The game occurred in a mostly empty gym behind locked doors; even key school officials were left unawares. Most other facts about the game are less than clear, as no known documents survive. From the kindling of surviving participants' memories, Ellsworth (African-American History and African Studies/Univ. of Michigan; Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, 1982) constructs a book heavy in historical context and biographical sketches but noticeably short on the particulars of the game referred to in the title. It's not the author's fault that the only reporter to witness the game tore up his notes or that the game registers and score sheets of Eagles coach John McLendon were lost by a former player. However, the brevity of the game account, which comes deep into a detail-laden narrative, would have benefited by greater disclosure of sources (it's not always enough to tuck a note at the back). In order to get to the game, readers must travel distant byways (overseas with James Naismith, for instance), as the author gives significant space to an assemblage of characters that aren't easily understood as significant. Many sports books bog down in play-by-play detail, but that's not the problem here. Even so, like many sports books, the prose contains heightened language—e.g., "a juggernaut of speed and finesse that left opponents demolished, referees exhausted, and fans in awe"—and mentions of "revolution" and a "new kind of basketball." Given the game's clandestine nature, there's little evidence that it changed societal perceptions. Again, no foul there. An intriguing sports tale more suited to a magazine piece than a book.

The Secret Game: A Wartime Story of Courage, Change, and Basketball's Lost Triumph

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