Awards

School of Public Health John R. Endwright Alumni Service Award - 2000

Z.G. Clevenger Award - 1992

IUB Athletics Hall of Fame - 1982

Olympians - 1960

Men's Basketball

United States of America

Rome, Italy

Basketball

Gold Medalist

About Walter Bellamy, Jr.

The career of Walt Bellamy at Indiana University may not have led IU to any form of solidified greatness, but he is one of those players that contributed greatly to Indiana's legacy while he was here.

Walt Bellamy was born in New Bern, North Carolina and chose to play at Indiana because of the Hoosiers stance on accepting African-Americans to the university. Bellamy was quoted in 2007 as saying the reason he chose to play at Indiana, "Indiana at the time was the closest school to the South that would accept African-Americans. It was an easy transition for me to make. Not that I was naive to what was going on in Bloomington in terms of the times, but it didn't translate to the athletic department or the classroom. Every relationship was good."

The relationship between Bellamy and Indiana turned out to be mutually beneficial to both parties. Bellamy ended up graduating in 1961 with the most rebounds ever for an Indiana Hoosier in a three year career. He still holds four school records in that rebounding category. He holds the record for most rebounds in a season (649), most rebounds in a single game (33), most double-doubles (59) and the previously stated three year career record. Those kind of numbers were good enough to earn him All-American status in both his junior and senior years.

Bellamy left Indiana after he graduated in '61 and was immediately drafted first overall in the NBA draft by the Chicago Packers. He was Indiana's first #1 overall pick and their first Rookie of the Year selection. Bellamy went on to have a 14 year long Hall of Fame career in the NBA where he averaged a double-double throughout.