Meadowlark Lemon

At Williston Industrial High School, Wilmington's all-black school, Lemon excelled at both football and basketball. He also found a friend and father figure in coach E. A. "Spike" Corbin. Throughout high school, Lemon spent many weekends at Corbin's house perfecting his game or just hanging out. At Williston, Lemon averaged 20 points per game his sophomore year and close to 30 his senior year.

As an All-State in both football and basketball, Lemon was courted by colleges across the United States. But he didn't want to go. All Lemon wanted to do was become a Globetrotter. Lemon spent the summer after high school graduation working with his father at the recycling company. Then one day, Lemon's father packed his suitcase and put him on a train to Tallahassee, Florida, saying he'd accepted a scholarship for Lemon to Florida A & M. College life didn't agree with Lemon, and he grew uneasy waiting for basketball season to begin. When his draft notice came, Lemon left college, although he could have received an education deferral and stayed. The United States was deep into the Korean War, and Lemon figured serving his country wasn't such a bad idea.