Alumni in the News: Dick Barnett

Here's a sport's trivia question: Name the only person who played on two NBA championship teams and also played on a championship team owned by the late Geroge Steinbrenner.

The answer is Dick Barnett, whole played guard and forward for the great New York Knicks team of 1970 and 1973, and also played for Steinbrenner's Cleveland Pipers in the American Basketball League (ABL), a defunct competitor to the NBA that folded after its only season in 1962. Barnett played in all 82 games for the 1970 Knicks at the age of 33, averaging just under fifteen points a game.

After he retired as a player and coach, Barnett became an educator. Barnett earned a master's degree in Public Administration from NYU while playing for the Knicks. After he retired, he completed a doctorate in education at Fordham University. He later taught sports management at St. John's University. Three years ago he also became president of the Athletic Role Model Institute, a non-profit that focused on the education of at-risk students. Barnett also wrote four books, including a book of poetry. In 2007 he published The Athlete Negro: The Awakening under his own imprint: Fall Back Baby Productions.

Read the complete post at Educated Quest here.