Reflecting on the trailblazers that set the stage for Black athletes at UNC –
Written by Black Hot Fire Network on February 6, 2025
In 1967, Charlie Scott became the first Black athlete on scholarship at North Carolina. He was also the first Black athlete to play on the varsity men’s basketball team.
In Art Chansky’s book, “Game Changers,” the author chronicles Scott’s life. He grew up poor in Harlem, New York City, but came to North Carolina to attend high school at the Laurinburg Institute in 1963. While there, Scott caught the attention of then head coach Dean Smith, who recruited him to play at UNC despite some threats from boosters.
During his two years at North Carolina, Scott averaged over 22 points and won the ACC regular season and ACC tournament title with the Tar Heels in 1968 and 1969. He also played in the 1968 national championship game.
After leaving UNC, Scott spent eight years in the NBA.
In 2018, Scott was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Rochelle Small-Toney
Nearly a decade later, in 1977, Rochelle Small-Toney became North Carolina’s first Black varsity women’s basketball player — four years before the NCAA included women’s basketball in 1981.
Small-Toney grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, watching broadcasts of UNC basketball. But when she arrived as a student, Small-Toney had no basketball experience.
After joining the Black Student Movement’s intramural team and then the junior varsity squad, the 6-foot-1 Small-Toney was encouraged by her coach to try out for varsity. Then varsity head coach Jennifer Alley gave the senior center a spot on the team.
In her one season of varsity basketball, Small-Toney led the Tar Heels in scoring on several occasions, including games against Virginia and Indiana.
The BSM publication, Black Ink, awarded Small-Toney the co-female athlete of the year award in 1977.
Sonya Bright
To get the day’s news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
Almost 30 years after Okoroma took the field, Sonya Bright became the first Black softball player at UNC in 1989.
Bright was recruited from the slow-pitch softball team at Jordan High School in Durham, North Carolina. A substitute teacher at her high school and a former UNC strength and conditioning coach, George Nevole, noticed her at a practice.
Touted for her speed, the left fielder became the leadoff hitter, which paid off for the Tar Heels.
In her first two years, Bright became known for her running slap bunt designed to get on base. But each season added new abilities to her game.
In her senior year, Bright had a .393 batting average and stole 32 bases. She is top-10 all time at UNC in career stolen bases (73), hits (230), runs (158) and triples (15).
After graduating, Bright played professionally for three years.
window.fbAsyncInit = function() {
FB.init({
appId : ‘386215825139752’,
xfbml : true,
version : ‘v2.10’
});
FB.AppEvents.logPageView();
};
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
Reader's opinions
Continue reading
