Louis Dunbar, First of the Big Guards : 6-9 Globetrotter Played Three Positions at Houston in Early ‘70s

Harlem Globetrotter Louis Dunbar was once the exception instead of the rule.

When he played for the University of Houston in the early 1970s, the 6-9 Dunbar was one of college basketball’s first big guards. He helped blaze the trail for players like Laker guard Magic Johnson, who was tearing up opponent’s at his junior high school at the time Dunbar was playing for the Cougars.

Dunbar’s overall ability also made him one of a rare bred of generic players--men who are so gifted they can play guard, center or forward.

But while Johnson was destined to a bright future in the NBA, Dunbar has chosen the lower-profile route of playing for the Harlem Globetrotters.

Dunbar first developed his game at the battered backboard in the backyard of his family’s home in Minden, La.

“I used to play by the hour in my backyard, taking shots from outside and learning how to dribble,” he said. “The older guys used to come by and play with me. I was a little shorter than they were so I played guard.”

However, the young Dunbar soon began to tower over his classmates and was put into the post position.

“I didn’t play guard again until I was on the varsity in high school,” he said, “and the coach only did it to keep me out of foul trouble.”

Dunbar captured the attention of college scouts nationwide as he led his team to a Louisiana state high school championship his senior year. He was honored as the state’s MVP and was named to numerous high school All-America squads.

He finally narrowed his choices and picked Houston as the school he would attend.

Dunbar averaged 22 points and 7.7 rebounds a game during his career at Houston. He was then drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1975, but failed to reach an agreement with the team.

“I spoke to them (the 76ers) over the phone a couple times, but the way they were talking, I didn’t think it was worth the time to negotiate,” Dunbar said.

Instead to heading to the economic promised land of the NBA, Dunbar went to Europe and played with a team in Switzerland.

“Swiss ball wasn’t too good,” he said. “But we won the national title my second season. I was the only American on the team, so I learned how to speak Italian very quickly to be able to communicate.”

In 1975, Dunbar decided he had had enough of living overseas and came back to take a shot at the NBA team. He joined the Houston Rockets squad in the Southern California Summer Pro League, but before the NBA franchise could get a good look at him, he was approached by a scout for the Globetrotters.

“The Trotters asked me to come to their camp and try out,” he said. “I felt I had nothing to lose so I went. Now I’m entering my eighth year with the team and have no regrets about never having played in the NBA.”

Dunbar tours with the squad six months a year, playing nearly every day. The Globetrotters came into the San Francisco Bay Area from Phoenix on Feb. 2. They played a pair of games on Feb. 3 in Oakland, a contest in nearby Palo Alto on Feb. 4 and then played in Stockton on Feb. 5.

The grind becomes mind-boggling, Dunbar says.

“People just don’t realize the schedule we have to meet,” he said. “There have been times where I’ve woken up in a city and not known what city I was in.”