Wee Willie Smith Explained

Willie Smith
Position:Center
Height Ft:6
Height In:5
Weight Lb:230
Birth Date:22 April 1911
Birth Place:Montgomery, Alabama
Death Place:Cleveland, Ohio
Nationality:American
High School:East Tech (Cleveland, Ohio)
Career Start:1931
Career End:1949
Years1:1931–1942
Team1:New York Renaissance
Years2:1943–1944
Team2:Cleveland Chase Brassmen
Years3:1948–1949
Team3:Dayton Rens

William T. "Wee Willie" Smith (April 22, 1911 – March 14, 1992) was an American professional basketball player.

Career

Smith played for several semi-professional leagues in the Cleveland, Ohio area before being signed by the New York Renaissance, an all-black professional team, in 1932. From 1932 to 1936, Smith and his six teammates won over 400 games, including an 88-game winning streak from January 1, 1933 to March 27, 1933. The entire 1932–33 Renaissance team was collectively inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1963. Smith played for several other professional teams, including the Cleveland Chase Brassmen of the National Basketball League. He was one of the few black players in the history of the NBL.[1]

After retiring from professional basketball, he worked as a custodian in the Cleveland Public Schools and operated a beverage shop. He was inducted into the Harlem Hall of Fame and the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame in 1977.[2]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Ron Thomas. They Cleared the Lane. Hoopshype. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  2. http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=SWT Wee Willie Smith