JOE FORTENBERRY - INDUCTEE #1
Hall of Fame Fast Fact:
Joe Fortenberry, a four time AAU All-American born in Slidell, Texas, but raised in Happy, scored eight points to lead the United States in the first-ever gold medal basketball game at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. The game against Canada was played outdoors in rain and mud.
Joe Fortenberry
6-foot, 7-inch farm boy from Happy, Joe Fortenberry made the short drive to West Texas State Teachers College in Canyon and dominated for the Buffaloes over a three-year span. Fortenberry led WT basketball to consecutive 20-win seasons in 1932-33, in which he earned All-American honors.
After WT, he played for the Ogden Boosters in Utah and for the renowned Globe Refiners in Kansas. He was an easy choice for the first U.S. Olympic basketball team and was named team captain for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Fortenberry led the Americans with eight points; the United States won 19-8.
Fortenberry was a four-time AAU All-American, leading Phillips to three Missouri Valley AAU titles and the 1940 AAU national championship. Fortenberry continued to play on various Army Air Corps teams during World War II. Fortenberry established himself among the best amateur players during basketball’s formative years of the
1930s.
Fortenberry lived in Amarillo after World War II until his death on June 3, 1993 at age 82.
