Hubert Eugene "Geese" Ausbie (born 25 April 1938) is a retired professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player. He was born in Crescent

Crescent, Oklahoma

Crescent is a city in Logan County, Oklahoma, United States. The population inside the city limits was 1,281 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

.

Ausbie played basketball at Philander Smith College

Philander Smith College

Philander Smith College is a private, historically black college that is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It is located in Little Rock, Arkansas. The student body averages around 850 attendees, with around 30% of that figure attending part time. Although known historically as a school...

 in Little Rock

Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...

, Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

, where he earned All-Conference and All-American honors. Ausbie was one of the leading college scorers in the NCAA's College Division (later called Division II). (The only other prominent professional athlete from Philander Smith was Elijah Pitts

Elijah Pitts

Elijah Eugene Pitts was an American football halfback in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers, the Los Angeles Rams, and the New Orleans Saints. He played college football at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas.Pitts scored two touchdowns in the original Super Bowl...

, a halfback

Halfback (American football)

A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...

 with the Lombardi

Vince Lombardi

Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...

-era Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

.)

Tenure with the Harlem Globetrotters

Ausbie was offered contracts by Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 and National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 teams. He joined the Harlem Globetrotters

Harlem Globetrotters

The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater and comedy. The executive offices for the team are currently in downtown Phoenix, Arizona; the team is owned by Shamrock Holdings, which oversees the various investments of the Roy E. Disney family.Over...

 after his wife sent numerous letters describing his play to Abe Saperstein

Abe Saperstein

Abraham M. Saperstein was an owner and coach of the Savoy Big Five, which later became the Harlem Globetrotters...

, the team's founder. Ausbie gained fame as a Globetrotter from 1961-1985. After the retirement of Meadowlark Lemon

Meadowlark Lemon

Meadow "Meadowlark" Lemon is an American basketball player, actor, and minister. For 22 years, Lemon was known as the "Clown Prince" of the touring Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. He played in more than 16,000 games for the Globetrotters and is a 2003 inductee of the Naismith Memorial...

, Ausbie took his place as the "Clown Prince of Basketball" for his dazzling play and irrepressible pranks on the court.

Retirement

Ausbie received a Globetrotters Legends ring, a recognition given to only a few elite former players. He retired from the team in 1985, but returned in 1995 to become head coach

Head coach

A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...

and manager of operations for the Globetrotters.

External links

• "Geese" Ausbie entry in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture