Sports
Spencer Haywood
born 1949 · basketball player
Mississippi-born Hall of Famer who moved to Detroit as a teenager, led one of the great teams in Michigan high school history, and starred at the University of Detroit before a groundbreaking pro career.
- Born
Silver City, Mississippi
age 77- Detroit years
- 1964–1969
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Haywood moved to Detroit in 1964 to live with his brother in the Krainz Woods neighborhood, part of a family migration from rural Mississippi. He joined a legendary Detroit high school team that also featured future ABA All-Star Ralph Simpson, still remembered as one of the strongest teams in Michigan prep basketball history. After winning Olympic gold with Team USA in 1968, Haywood came home to a hero's welcome, greeted at the airport by 4,000 fans and Michigan governor George Romney, and enrolled at the University of Detroit that fall. In his only college season he led the nation in rebounding and scored over 32 points a game. Haywood went on to a Hall of Fame professional career and later successfully sued the NBA to let players turn pro before finishing college, a case that changed the league's rules permanently. The University of Detroit Mercy inducted him into its athletics hall of fame in 1993.
Highlights
- Moved to Detroit's Krainz Woods neighborhood as a teenager in 1964
- Led the nation in rebounding at the University of Detroit, 1968–69
- Greeted by 4,000 fans at the Detroit airport after winning 1968 Olympic gold
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, 2015
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Lived here · 1964–1968
Krainz Woods, Detroit
The east-side Detroit neighborhood where he lived with his brother as a teenager.
Studied here · 1968–1969
University of Detroit Mercy
Where he led the nation in rebounding in his only college season; inducted into its athletics hall of fame in 1993.