The Timeline of Black History within Colorado State Athletics
Colorado State Athletics' history of Black excellence is long and distinguished, full of achievement and success over the department's 130 years. From trailblazers like Robert Van Ness Johnson to Lillian Greene-Chamberlain, there is no shortage of moments and individuals to celebrate year-round as we recognize their contributions to our programs' histories.
History is never-ending, and as more research is completed, more information may be added to this page.
A Timeline of Trailblazers and Excellence in Black History at CSU…
1892 – A student-led athletic association is created on March 21, 1892 to form teams to compete against other colleges of the Rocky Mountain Region. On December 12, 1892, the first football team is formed and the first game is played on January 7, 1893.
1896 – Grafton S. Norman is the first African American student to graduate from Colorado Agricultural College. Although he did not play on any athletic teams, this is when the college is first integrated.
1905 – Research in 2021 has discovered that the man previously known as Alfred Johnson had a first name of Robert. Johnson was the first Black athlete in school history, playing football for the Aggies in 1905 and 1906. He is the first Black athlete to score points for a CSU team and also the first to letter in any sport. Johnson left Colorado Agricultural College due to lack of playing time when new head coach Claude Rothgeb took over in 1906 and brought his own “ringers” to Fort Collins. Robert Van Ness Johnson later studied engineering and finally dentistry at Harvard, Dartmouth and Northwestern University. In 1919, he opened his own dentistry practice in Chicago and died in 1931.
(Aggies to Rams: The History of Football at CSU, pg 53-55)
1906 – Robert Van Ness Johnson receives the first varsity letter in CSU history for his play in the 1905 football season. He also plays for the Aggies in 1906 and is credited with being the first Black athlete at CSU to score a touchdown in a collegiate game.
1938 – In January of 1938, a sophomore from Denver named Howard Kinchelow broke the color barrier at Colorado State in the sport of wrestling. He was the first Black athlete to compete in any varsity sport at the school since Robert Van Ness Johnson in 1906 and the first to compete on a conference championship team helping the Aggies win in 1939. Kinchelow was more than a pioneer on the mat; he also was a leading member of the Cosmopolitan Club, which was formed at the school in 1927 to break down racial and ethnic barriers among students and staff. Kinchelow fought for the army in WWII, finished his degree at Colorado A&M and then fought in the Korean War; he died in Denver March 25, 2003 at the age of 85.
1939 – A national merit scholarship winner from Manual High School in Denver, John Mosley came to Colorado State in the fall of 1939 and is to CSU athletics what Jackie Robinson was to Major League Baseball. In the fall of 1939, Mosley played football for the Aggies’ freshman team and joined the wrestling team in January of 1940. He made the varsity football team in the fall of 1940 becoming the first Black athlete to play in that sport since 1906. When Mosley lettered in both wrestling and football, it made him the first Black two-sport lettermen in school history. After the 1942-43 school year, Mosley was named the MVP of the football team and was named to the all-conference wrestling team. He went on to become one of the famous Tuskegee Airmen, flying in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He retired as a Lt. Col in the US Air Force and before his death in 2015, CSU established the John W. Mosley Athlete Mentoring program to help student athletes during their college careers.
(Aggies to Rams: The History of Football at CSU, pg 174-175)
Gallery: John Mosley
1940 to 1943 – John Mosley is the first Black athlete at CSU to be named to an all-conference team as a wrestler. He is also the first two-sport Black athlete and first in the Mountain States Conference to play football.
1947 – Football athlete George Jones becomes the first Black athlete to play men’s basketball and compete on the track and field team. Already an outstanding end, Coach Harry Hughes invites Jones to run track after the 1946 football season and Jones also joins the basketball team.
1948 – Jones joins the wrestling team becoming the first and only four-sport Black athlete in school history. During the 1947-48 school year, he earns letters in track, football, wrestling and basketball.
1949 – January 1, the Colorado A&M football team fields three Black athletes in the New Year’s Day Raisin Bowl: Eddie Hanna, Jones and Alfred Dawson. It is the most Black athletes to play in a bowl game for a predominantly white school during the 1948-49 Bowl season. Hanna scores two touchdowns in the loss to Occidental, becoming the first Black athlete in state history to score two touchdowns in a bowl game.
September 17, Hanna dies from a heart attack. He is the first Black athlete at CSU and in Colorado history to have their number retired. The very popular Hanna is mourned by students and student-athletes throughout the campus of Colorado A&M.
1950 to 1954 – Alex Burl was a two-sport athlete from Denver’s Manual High School, the same high school as CSU legend John Mosley. While he excelled in football, he set records in Track and Field becoming the first Black All-American athlete in any sport at CSU in the 100-meter event in 1952, repeating his feat in 1954 placing 6th in the 100-meter and 5th in the 220 meter. Burl went on to become the first Black football player from the state of Colorado to play in the NFL when he played for the Chicago Cardinals.
He was a highly respected educator in the Denver Public School system and is a member of the CSU Hall of Fame and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. He died in 2009 at the age of 78.
1960 to 1963 – Lillian Greene-Chamberlain came to Colorado State in the fall of 1960 – 11 years prior to the creation of Title IX – and was the first Black female athlete at the school when she helped establish the first women’s track team in school history. She was also the first woman to receive an athletic scholarship.
In 1961, mentored by legendary coach Virginia Frank, Greene-Chamberlain was named an All-American as the world-record holder in the 440-meter indoor race. Following graduation in 1963, Greene-Chamberlain earned masters and doctoral degrees from Fordham University. From 1978 to 1988 she served as the first and only woman and American director of the Physical Education and Sports Program for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Gallery: Lillian Greene-Chamberlain
1961-63: Bill Green remains as arguably one of the top three greatest CSU men’s basketball players of all time. He came to CSU when basketball was played in a small gym on College Avenue and left as the only All-American in Men’s basketball in school history. A first round pick by the Boston Celtics, Green chose a career in education rather than in the NBA. He continues to hold or rank in the top three in season and career records at CSU. A charter member of the CSU Hall of Fame in 1988, green died in 1994 working as the principal of Mott Jr. High School in Bronx, NY at the age of 52.
1963-66: Lonnie Wright holds the distinction of being the first Black athlete to simultaneously play both professional football and professional basketball in all of professional sports. A native of New Jersey, Wright came to CSU to play basketball for Coach Jim Williams and became a star on the team after Bill Green graduated. While Wright did complete in track and field in 1963 only, he never played football for the Rams while at CSU. In 1966, Wright was drafted by the St. Louis (now Atlanta) Hawks of the NBA but he did not sign opting to play for the Denver Broncos for the 1966 season. He remained with the Broncos in 1967 and after that football season ended, the Denver Rockets (now Nuggets) of the ABA signed him to a pro basketball contract for the 1967-68 season. Following the 1968 basketball season, Wright left the Broncos but remained with the Denver Rockets and played with the Miami Floridians of the ABA for 1971-72 season. He not only was the first Black professional basketball and football athlete, he was only the third athlete in professional sports history to compete in the two sports during the same seasons. Wright was inducted into the Newark Sports Hall of Fame in 1988, and CSU Sports Hall of Fame in 1989. He died in 2012 at the age of 68.
1969 – As a part of the 1969 football coaching staff, head coach Mike Lude - then in his eighth season - broke the racial barrier in the coaching staff ranks at Colorado State when he named Jim Hillyer as his offensive line coach. One of the top high school coaches in Texas, Hillyer became the first Black assistant coach in CSU history and spent Lude's 8th and final season with the program.
1974 – In 1974, Rams men's basketball standout Floyd Kerr returned to his alma mater to serve as an assistant coaching to the legendary Jim Williams, his own coach while in college. Kerr was the first Black assistant coaching for the men's basketball program and went on to a highly impactful and successful career in athletic administration with stints as the Athletic Director at Southern University (2000-05) and Morgan State University (2005-16).
1976 – Possibly the greatest overall sprinter in school history, Pamela Greene received the All-American Award for the 200-meter in both 1973 and 1976. She competed in the 200-meter at the 1972 Olympics while still attending high school at Denver Manuel. In 1973 she won the AIAW championship in the 200-meter competition. She is the first Black athlete from CSU to compete in an Olympic Games and was inducted into the CSU Hall of Fame in 1990.
1987–1991 Marijke (Wullink) Landon becomes the first Black female swimmer at Colorado State to achieve NCAA All-American status.
1990 – Dr. Albert Yates is named president of Colorado State University becoming the first and only Black president in CSU history. During his 13-year tenure as president of the university, CSU Athletics saw its greatest period of athletic successes since the Harry Hughes and Charles Lory years between 1912 and 1935.
1998 – In 1998, CSU hired Ritchie McKay as the new head men's basketball coach, making him the first Black head coach in school history. A graduate of Seattle Pacific, McKay worked as an assistant coach for numerous colleges until 1995 when he was hired by Portland State for the 1996 college basketball season. In McKay’s two seasons at CSU, he guided the Rams to a record of 37-23 (.617).
2005 - Dawn Burton hired to lead the spirit squads - cheer and dance - at Colorado State. A graduate of New Mexico State, Burton was the second Black head coach of a CSU program overall.
2012 - Colorado State's Janay DeLoach (2004-08) makes CSU history as the first woman and the first Black athlete to win an Olympic medal when she finished third in the long jump to bring home a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games. She went on to compete in the 2016 Olympics and was inducted into the CSU Hall of Fame in 2017.
2021 - Jay Norvell becomes the first Black head coach of Colorado State's football program and the second Black head coach of a varsity program.
