Every July there is a Kindred reunion in Atlanta, Illinois — hometown to a slew of Kindreds over the years. One July, Larry Kindred was among us.
My father’s cousin and a former Atlanta resident, he traveled from out of state to reconnect with relatives, enjoy a potluck meal and swap stories. One in particular piqued my interest.
It involved Jackie Robinson.
Robinson had long since broken Major League Baseball’s color barrier, becoming MLB’s first Black player in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. His name was known to all and, rightfully, was revered. Still, a pudgy young Kindred learned something about Robinson on this second Saturday of July.
Larry Kindred had played basketball against him in 1940, when Illinois State Normal University, as it was called at the time, faced Robinson and UCLA. ISNU was known as the Red Birds (two words) and Larry Kindred was a starter that night (Dec. 21) at McCormick Gym, the era’s home for Red Bird basketball.
Decades later, in the Atlanta Memorial Home, cousin Larry shared how gifted Robinson was, still marveling at his mix of speed, strength and quickness.
For a 1996 “Where are they Now?” Pantagraph article, he told Roger Cushman, “I tried to guard him and we collided. He hit me in the shoulder and it was numb for two or three days. He was quite an athlete.”
Kindred left the game early in the second half to get X-rays. He finished with eight points in a 37-21 ISNU victory. The star of the night was Red Birds center John Scott, who matched UCLA’s team total with 21 points.
Pantagraph sports editor Fred Young called Scott “a combination of poetry and motion on wheels” in the Sunday, Dec. 22, paper. A day earlier, Young had touted the game as a duel between two of college basketball’s outstanding Black athletes: Robinson and Scott.
Scott prevailed, with Robinson scoring only four points. Cushman was 7 years old and lived in Normal, but did not attend the game. He later served as Illinois State’s sports information director from 1966 to 1979 before becoming the Director of News Service in January 1980.
He knows plenty about ISU athletics and ranks the game among the most memorable in school history.
“UCLA, even then, was quite a big name,” said Cushman, now 90 and living in Las Cruces, New Mexico. “And Jackie Robinson was a pretty famous athlete at the time. He lettered in four sports at UCLA. I mean, he was pretty well known.”
Fred Young, also a referee in the game, credited ISNU’s “T” defense – now termed a 1-3-1 – with keeping Robinson in check. There may have been another factor.
“You have to consider that he (Robinson) was coming right out of football season,” Cushman said. “He was a key running back for the football team, so maybe he didn’t have his basketball conditioning.”
Robinson went on to a Hall of Fame baseball career and was a symbol/champion for civil rights. He died in 1972 at age 53, leaving a legacy that includes retirement of his No. 42 throughout the Major Leagues. Each year, all MLB players wear 42 on April 15, anniversary of Robinson’s first game with the Dodgers.
His trip to Normal in 1940 likely included some of the prejudice he faced on his journey to the big leagues.
“Bloomington and Normal were pretty much segregated towns back then as far as the restaurants and movie theaters were concerned,” Cushman said. “It was a much different era.”
Larry Kindred was a basketball and baseball standout at ISNU from 1939-42. He was inducted into the Illinois State Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame in 1973.
He served 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. He fought in the South Pacific in World War II and was the commanding officer of the Marine detachment on the battleship Missouri for three years. He also held a management position with Westinghouse in his post-military career.
About 25 years ago, during a church service in Normal, it was time to “greet those around you.” Among the people to offer a handshake was an older gentleman in the row in front of us.
“I enjoy your stuff Larry,” he said.
It was a compliment for my writing. I thanked him. As for “Larry,” I smiled and rolled with it.
Being called Larry Kindred was something to embrace. He did a lot of special things before he died in 2001 at age 80.
One was sharing a court with Jackie Robinson.
