TCU's Cash a True Pioneer, Visionary
10/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Jay Hinton, TCU Athletics Media Relations
FORT WORTH, Texas -- As a teenager at I.M. Terrell High School in Fort Worth, James Cash knocked on the door of opportunity and when it opened to him, he jumped through it.
Little did he know that his leap of faith would build him the resume he holds today: bachelor's degree in mathematics from TCU; master's degree and doctor at Purdue University; chairman of the Harvard University MBA program; and part-owner of the Boston Celtics, just to name a few.
During the early 1960s his focus was on making good grades to keep his parents happy and whether or not the school's football team and basketball team was winning.
Segregation was a hot topic in the country, yet Cash, after graduating from high school, accepted a scholarship to play basketball at TCU, instead of one of the nearly 100 other scholarship offers he had. He eventually went on to become the first African-American to participate in the Southwest Conference in 1966.
To this day, the Southwest Conference, which inducted Cash in the SWC Hall of Fame Monday, holds a special place in his heart.
"This was during a time of significant social unrest in the country and the evolution of what happened in the Southwest Conference in terms of the whole integration experience, how it went without major incident and how quickly the transition occurred," said Cash prior to his induction into the SWC Hall of Fame Monday at the Omni Hotel in downtown Fort Worth.
"If you took a snapshot just a few years later you never would have known about the segregation that existed. I think it's a real tribute both to the ethics and culture of the schools and the environment of the Southwest Conference. Quite honestly, it gave me the confidence to constantly put myself in similar situations. I don't know if it was naivitate, but it encouraged me to seek out situations where I could make a difference in terms of social terms, and it's done me well over my life."
Taking that initial step wasn't easy for him, however.
"If you think about what was going on in the country at that time, and unfortunately some parts of the media were sensationalizing a lot of things like what it happening now, and it would cause you to be concerned, but I had strong support from my parents, I had strong support from local community and I had a personal relationship that had developed over two years with Garvin Isaacs (a TCU basketball player) who was two years ahead of me. He was a freshman at TCU when I first met him," Cash said.
At the time with his first meeting with Isaacs, Cash was still in high school.
"I had no thoughts about going to TCU and I didn't think it was feasible and by the time the opportunity developed I knew I had at least one person who I knew extremely well and my family was totally comfortable with the fact that there would be at least one person there looking after me," he said. "We were both honored and pleased and we felt like it was our time to contribute to what was going on in the country at that time."
A freshman requirement at TCU was that Cash stay on campus and that he have a roommate. He was the only African-American in the basketball team's freshman class.
"The coach of the basketball team asked the other freshmen coming in if anyone would be willing to room with me," Cash said. "The issue there wasn't necessarily about me, it was all of the pressure that that person was going to receive from anyone who thought segregation was right and integration was a bad idea. Can you imaging a 17-year-old putting himself in harm's way, and I think you can under why he and I are such great friends."
The teenager: Bill Swanson, a graduate of neighboring L.D. Bell High School in Hurst, Texas.
"It was the right thing to do," Swanson said. "My parents were very open-minded and were impressed with doing the right thing and having a strong faith. It took a nanosecond for me to make the decision. If James needed a roommate that was fine with me and we had a great time together as freshman roommates."
For Swanson, the decision was an easy one, and little did he know what a significant event that would be in his life, too.
"James mentioned Garvin and he mentioned me so it was very significant to him, but I think the significance of it has become more heightened the further we get away from it," said Swanson. "Clearly he was a trailblazer and did a magnificent job representing himself, his high school and his family. I love to tell the James Cash story because he has made such a difference."
The flack Cash thought Swanson would receive by being his roommate never came.
"Fortunately, my teammates and classmates appeared to be color blind," Swanson said. "I don't think it mattered and it certainly didn't matter to our teammates that James was African-American. I never experienced any pushback toward me for rooming with James."
Cash went on to have a stellar basketball career at TCU. He is one of just 32 players in school history surpass 1,000 career points (1,026). In is career he averaged 13.6 points per game while shooting 45.2 percent from the field.
In the 1967-68 season the Frogs (15-11, 9-5) won the Southwest Conference Championship and beat Kansas State, 77-72, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
"We had enough success where we won the conference my junior year, we were able to play in the NCAAs, we were able to win what would be called a Sweet 16 game today and play in the Elite 8 game against the University of Houston (lost 103-68) who was a really elite team at the time," Cash said. "Those are things that enhance your confidence as a young person in ways you really don't understand at that time."
During his time at TCU he also earned Academic All-American honors.
"Thanks to the exposure that you get from opportunities that are presented and the blessing that you get from God, these other doors open up, and at least in my case, I felt compelled to try them," he said. "Thanks to may others, I have been blessed with great opportunities and experiences."
He went on to earn his master's degree in computer science at Purdue and doctorate in philosophy in management information systems at Purdue.
"He set a wonderful example with his academic program and he was visionary getting into the computer field at that point in time," Swanson said. "In 1969-70 it was in its infancy. He was visionary to get involved in that industry."
He went on to become a professor at the Harvard Business School where he helped build the school's curriculum in the area of computer-based technology. He later served as chairman of the Harvard MBA program from 1992-1995 and senior associate dean for Harvard Business School Publishing from 1998 until his retirement in 2003. He is also an accomplished author.
Cash, who had his No. 54 jersey retired in 2011, has served on several board of directors including Wal-Mart, General Electric and the Chubb Corporation. He also served on the boards and Knight Ridder, Microsoft, Alcon Labs and Radio Shack. He also serves as a trustee for the Bert King Foundation, Massachusetts General Hospital, Partners Healthcare and the National Association of Basketball Coaches Foundation.
"My experience at TCU and in the Southwest Conference gave me the confidence to then go on to lots of other environments at that time," Cash said. "All that (opportunity) stems from the experience TCU provided me. I feel like if I'm not doing something pioneering I'm letting down all those people who made opportunities for me in the past."
