Editor's Note: With Texas Tech's 1,000th game approaching on Saturday, The Avalanche-Journal is revisiting defining moments in Red Raiders football history.
Other black athletes had come out for Texas Tech teams on their own before, but Danny Hardaway became the Red Raiders' first black scholarship athlete when he signed in February 1967.
Even though he led the Red Raiders in rushing in 1969, Hardaway's legacy at Tech stems from his pioneering role.
"Of course, I wasn't thinking about that back then ... but I knew I was put on this earth for something," Hardaway said on a return trip to Lubbock in 2011. "When I had the opportunity to come to Tech, I was really honored that they thought I was the guy to do it."
The stepson of a career U.S. Army man, Hardaway had lived all over and attended integrated schools.
Just months after SMU's Jerry LeVias integrated the Southwest Conference, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Hardaway came to Tech from Lawton, Oklahoma. He was a wide receiver who'd caught 55 passes for 996 yards as a high school senior.
Hardaway played more for the Red Raiders at running back. He lettered in 1969 and 1970, but didn't get along with Tech coach Jim Carlen and transferred to Cameron for his senior year. In 1999, Hardaway said he'd been proud to wear Donny Anderson's No. 44 at Tech and was bothered that Carlen took it away and gave him No. 31.
Back in Lubbock four years ago to speak at a Black History Month event, Hardaway said Tech coaches JT King, Burl Barlett, Bob Bass, Corky Oglesby and Jess Stiles made it easier for him.
"Those guys really led in making sure that I was protected and made as smooth a transition as possible," he said. "If it weren't for them, and also some of the kids I met, I probably couldn't have made it."
Source: Defining moments: Danny Hardaway was the Red Raiders' first black scholarship athlete
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