Alex M. Rivera Athletics Hall of Fame
Albert Russell “T-Ball” Conner started in 98 of the 100 basketball games of his career at North Carolina College. He was chosen best defensive player for the 1965-66 season, when he was named to the All-CIAA second team. He guarded such players as Earl Monroe and Freddie Neal, and was also the team’s top free-throw shooter for two seasons.
But his most memorable moment, he recalls, was a jump shot at the final buzzer to defeat North Carolina A&T 80-78.
Conner, who was at NCC from 1962 to 1966, also played in 1966 on the first Eagle golf team. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1966 and played on a championship team at San Antonio’s Fort Sam Houston. That team won the Fourth Army Championship.
(bio from program at the time of induction)
