A&T grad, Basketball Hall of Famer Al Attles dies at age 87

NORTH CAROLINA A&T ATHLETICS

North Carolina A&T graduate Al Attles, who won back-to-back CIAA basketball titles as a player and an NBA title as coach of the Golden State Warriors, holds his Aggies jersey during a number retirement ceremony on the Greensboro campus in 2015. Attles, a 2019 inductee to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, died Aug. 20 at age 87.

Before making NBA history, Al Attles made CIAA history as a North Carolina A&T Aggie.

Mr. Attles, who died Aug. 20 in the San Francisco area at age 87, was part of an A&T program that won consecutive CIAA titles in 1958 and 1959. He went on to an 11-year NBA playing career with the Philadelphia/Golden State Warriors, then coached the franchise for 14 seasons, including the 1975 title – making him the second Black coach to do so.

Mr. Attles, who spent more than six decades with the Warriors franchise, was also general manager and team ambassador.

Mr. Attles, a native of Newark, New Jersey, played at A&T from 1956-60 for CIAA Hall of Fame coach Cal Irvin and graduated in 1960 with a degree in physical education and history.

“I have so much respect and admiration for coach Irvin,” said Mr. Attles, who also earned All-America honors in 1959. “When he first recruited me to A&T, the furthest south I had ever been was Philadelphia. He taught me how to dress nicely, show up properly, and have respect for my peers and professors.”

In 1960, Mr. Attles, one of five Warriors to have his number retired, was drafted and after retiring in 1970, made the transition to coaching, where he led the team for 14 seasons. Powered by high-scoring guard Rick Barry, a Hall of Fame inductee, Golden State swept the Washington Bullets in the 1975 Finals for the franchise’s first title since moving west.

In 2015, Mr. Attles became the first athlete in A&T history to have his number – 22 – retired.

“I had the best time of my life at A&T, and I always tell people if I had another opportunity to come back, I would do it all over again,” Attles said at the ceremony.

In 2019, Mr. Attles was among 12 inductees enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

“Mr. Attles left an indelible mark on the school he loved, North Carolina A&T State University, and the entire basketball world,” A&T athletics director Earl Hilton said in a statement. “In so many ways, he exemplified Aggie Pride in how he carried himself as a professional and a fixture in the Bay Area community.”
 

Comments