30 Facts About Tommy Curtis

Thomas Lewis Curtis was an American college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins.

Tommy Curtis played on two undefeated national championship teams at UCLA.

Tommy Curtis did not lose a game in college until his final season, helping the school to a record 88-game consecutive win streak.

Tommy Curtis was the first African American to play basketball at his high school in Florida, where he was named the state's basketball player of the year in 1969.

Tommy Curtis left his home state of Florida to attend college at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Tommy Curtis was born in Albion, Michigan, into an affluent family, and grew up in Tampa, Florida.

Tommy Curtis's mother, Johnye Rogers Curtis, was a social activist and a co-founder of the Florida chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Tommy Curtis was one of the first 50 black students to attend Leon High School in Tallahassee.

Tommy Curtis considered attending the University of Florida or Florida State, but his mother encouraged him to be independent and move away from home.

Tommy Curtis earned a scholarship to UCLA, where he played basketball under Wooden.

Tommy Curtis began at UCLA along with Larry Farmer on the freshman squad; players were not allowed to play varsity basketball their first year in college, a National Collegiate Athletic Association limitation at the time.

Tommy Curtis did not play his second year, having redshirted, as the Bruins won the national championship.

Wooden believed Tommy Curtis would be more valuable providing a needed spark to the team off the bench, a role the coach did not believe Lee could fill.

Tommy Curtis continued a Wooden tradition of quick, strong-shooting, black point guards at UCLA, established earlier by Walt Hazzard, Lucius Allen, Mike Warren, and Henry Bibby.

Tommy Curtis became a starter his junior year, beating out the incumbent, Lee.

Tommy Curtis started the first 10 games of the season before becoming ill with the London flu.

Tommy Curtis was out for two weeks, and his weight dropped from 170 to 153 pounds.

When he returned, Lee had re-established himself as the starter, and Tommy Curtis became a key reserve.

Tommy Curtis did not brood over his new role, and Wooden called him a good team player.

Tommy Curtis's play was cited by both Wooden and opposing coach Bob Gaillard as keys to the game's outcome.

Tommy Curtis, who trash-talked during games, was accused afterwards by Notre Dame's Dwight Clay of taunting.

Tommy Curtis criticized Curtis for his overdribbling and trash-talking, and lamented Lee's lack of playing time.

Tommy Curtis later earned an MBA degree at UCLA as well.

Tommy Curtis became a mortgage broker with First Interstate Mortgage Company in Pasadena, California.

Tommy Curtis moved back to Florida in 1984 because his grandmother was ill.

Tommy Curtis became an international trade representative in Tallahassee with the state Department of Commerce.

Tommy Curtis's job put him into contact with the Central Space Coast Minority Purchasing Council, which assisted minority businesses in working with purchasing agents for government agencies and private industries.

Tommy Curtis learned to practice Transcendental Meditation during college from Walton, his UCLA teammate.

Tommy Curtis was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Tommy Curtis died at his home in Port St Joe, Florida, on August 3,2021.