The First Black Athletes in the Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference was established in 1932 by teams which had previously been in the Southern Conference.
Three charter members of the SEC, Georgia Tech*, Sewanee*, and Tulane, later withdrew their memberships. The SEC added two new member institutions, Arkansas and South Carolina, in 1991, and two more, Missouri and Texas A&M, in 2012.
The University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma petitioned for membership in the SEC in July 2021. They will join the conference in 2025.
|
School |
Joined/Left Conference |
Sport(s) |
Athlete Name(s) |
Year Integrated |
| Alabama | 1932 | Basketball |
Wendell Hudson |
1969 |
| Arkansas | Joined 1991 | Basketball |
Thomas Alonzo Johnson |
1967 |
| Auburn | 1932 | Basketball |
Henry Harris |
1969 |
| Florida | 1932 | Football |
Leonard George |
1969 |
|
Willie Jackson |
||||
| Georgia | 1932 | Track & Field |
Maxie Foster partial scholarship |
1968 |
| Basketball |
Ronnie Hogue full scholarship |
1970 | ||
| Kentucky | 1932 | Football |
Nate Northington |
1966 |
|
Greg Page** |
||||
| LSU | 1932 | Basketball |
Collis Temple, Jr |
1970 |
| Mississippi | 1932 | Basketball |
Coolidge Ball |
1970 |
| Mississippi State | 1932 | Basketball |
Larry Fry |
1971 |
|
Jerry Jenkins |
||||
| Missouri | Joined 2012 | Basketball |
Al Abram, Jr. |
1956 |
| South Carolina | Joined 1991 | Baseball/Football |
Ansel “Jackie” Eugene Brown |
1969 |
| Football |
Carlton Haywood |
|||
| Tennessee | 1932 | Football |
Lester McClain |
1968 |
| Texas A&M | Joined 2012 | Track & Field |
Curtis Mills |
1967 |
| Tulane | 1932; Left 1966 | Baseball |
Stephen Martin |
1966 |
| Vanderbilt | 1932 | Basketball |
Perry Wallace |
1967 |
| *Sewanee (The University of the South) and Georgia Tech were charter members of the SEC but left the conference in 1940 and 1964, respectively, so neither school ever had a Black athlete play in SEC competition. | ||||
| **Greg Page was paralyzed because of a tragic accident during pre-season practice in 1967 and died on September 29 of that year, the day before Nate Northington became the first Black football player to participate in an SEC game. | ||||