New York Rens


New York Renaissance aka Rens

Name: New York Rens®
Location: Harlem, New York City
Home Court:
Renaissance Casino
Nickname:
“Renaissance Big Five”, “Big R Five”
Colors:
Navy, Gold
Manager:
Robert “Bob” Douglas

The New York Rens were the first Black-owned, all-Black, fully professional basketball team in history, formed in Harlem in October 1923. That year, basketball manager Robert “Bob” Douglas made a deal with Harlem real estate developer William Roach, the owner of the Renaissance Casino, a newly opened ballroom.

BEGINNINGS

Douglas previously owned and managed an African American basketball team called the Spartan Braves, which was a leading contender for the Black national championship title. His basketball club had no home court. The Renaissance Ballroom, with its perfect location in the center of Harlem, its spacious floor, and its balcony seating that looked down from above, would be the ideal venue.

This new Black Fives x HOMAGE graphic tee celebrates the New York Rens.

Douglas asked Roach if the Spartans could play their home games at his ballroom in return for changing the name of the team to the “New York Renaissance” to promote the dance hall far and wide.

After some negotiating, Roach agreed. Douglas, now armed with a permanent home court, next introduced full-season player contracts to lock in his players. The “Rens” attracted the best African American talent in basketball.

EARLY TEAMS

The team’s original lineup included Clarence “Fats” Jenkins and James “Pappy” Ricks, as well as Frank “Strangler” Forbes and Leon Monde.

A collage of photographs relating to the New York Renaissance basketball team.
A collage of photographs relating to the New York Renaissance basketball team.

All four of these men also played professional baseball in the Negro Leagues. All four would also be enshrined collectively as part of the 1932-33 team that was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a unit in 1963.

By 1924-25 the “Rens” had won the first of many Colored Basketball World Championships and thereafter proceeded to dominate not just Black basketball, but all of basketball for the next 25 years.

During that period, the Rens routinely beat championship-caliber White basketball teams such as the Original Celtics, the Philadelphia SPHAS, the Oshkosh All Stars, and the Indianapolis Kautskys. The irony is that the leagues in which these teams played did not allow African American players or teams to join.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

In 1939, the New York Rens won the inaugural World Championship of Professional Basketball, an invitation-only tourney with a field made up of America’s twelve best pro hoops teams. The title game saw the Rens defeating the Oshkosh All Stars. Oshkosh had been the champion of the National Basketball League, a Whites-only league.

The 1948-49 Dayton Rens; l. to r. Bob “Longie” Powell, George Crowe, William "Pop" Gates, Robert “Sonny” Wood, Lenny Ford, Tom Sealy, William “Dolly” King, Jim Usry. (The Black Fives Foundation)
The 1948-49 Dayton Rens; l. to r. Bob “Longie” Powell, George Crowe, William “Pop” Gates, Robert “Sonny” Wood, Lenny Ford, Tom Sealy, William “Dolly” King, Jim Usry. (The Black Fives Foundation)

HALL OF FAME

Though the 1932-3 New York Rens were enshrined as a team, just two Rens players were enshrined individually, Charles “Tarzan” Cooper (1977) and William “Pop” Gates (1989), until the Basketball Hall of Fame created a special committee in 2009 to focus on this discrepancy. Since then, five additional Rens players have been enshrined through this committee: Nat Clifton, John “Boy Wonder” Isaacs, Zachary “Zack” Clayton, Clarence “Fats” Jenkins, and Wyatt “Sonny” Boswell. In addition, Rens owner Robert “Bob” Douglas was inducted as a contributor in 1972.

Gates and Cooper were arguably the best centers in the game during their time. Isaacs, a fiery competitor, and a floor leader, was like the glue for the team. Clayton was the “center of the defense.”

There are several additional Rens players who deserve consideration for individual enshrinement in the Naismith Hall of Fame, including Willie “Wee Willie” Smith, William “Dolly” King, and Clarence “Puggy” Bell.

Bell and Clayton are enshrined in the New York City and Philadelphia Basketball Halls of Fame, respectively. King is enshrined in the Long Island University Sports Hall of Fame.

CURRENT NEWS

2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the New York Rens in 1923, and their first season during 1923-4. Numerous commemorative events and celebrations will be taking place. Stay tuned by joining our mailing list.

The New York Rens as well as other teams, players, and pioneers from the Black Fives Era are featured in detail in the book, The Black Fives: The Epic Story of Basketball’s Forgotten Era (Abrams, 2022).

Rens® and New York Rens® are registered trademarks of the Black Fives Foundation. All rights reserved.