Harlem Globetrotters

Whistlin’ Their Way to Austin

The Frank Erwin Center will once again welcome the World Famous Harlem Globetrotters on February 7! The Harlem Globetrotters are no strangers to the Erwin Center, and have been known and loved throughout the country for 82 successful years.

The U.S. basketball team, that plays exhibition games all over the world, draws crowds as large as 75,000 to see the players’ spectacular ball handling and humorous antics. Don’t let the fact that this team plays “exhibition” games fool you—the games are definitely real basketball games, full of competition and talent, for the first 15-20 minutes that is! During this time, the Globetrotters establish the tone of the game, and then begin to show their fans all sorts of antics once the team gains a safe lead. They combine athleticism and comedy to create one of the best-known sports entertainment franchises in the world.

The team was founded in 1926 by Abe Saperstein, who was considered by some to be the greatest promoter in all of sports. He made the Harlem Globetrotters both a championship team and a global icon. Mannie Jackson, a former player, purchased the team in 1993 and continues to keep the Globetrotters’ name a familiar one. In 2000, the team returned to competitive play with a series of exhibition games against top collegiate teams. In 2002 the team was even enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame! The song “Sweet Georgia Brown” came to be the Globetrotters’ theme song in 1952, and is still whistled wherever they trot around the globe.

Some current members of the team include Eugene “Killer” Edgerson, Shane “BeBe” Christensen, Robert “Big Stick” Turner, Dwayne “Swoop” Simpson, and Curley “Boo” Johnson, all of whom deliver high Globetrotter energy and pure athletic talent with the rest of the team. They have skills that dazzle everyone from children seeing the Globetrotters for the first time to the fans who have followed them since the beginning.

So if you are ready for some competitive basketball and would also like to be entertained with some on-court comedy, come see the Harlem Globetrotters in action on February 7 and have the best of both worlds!