CALDWELL, Idaho — "In his time, what he did was unheard of," said Regan Rossi, vice president of athletics at The College of Idaho.
The College of Idaho is renaming its basketball arena in honor of NBA legend and civil rights icon Elgin Baylor.
"We had a little piece of that, and it started at the College of Idaho because we were the only school in the country that gave Elgin that opportunity," Rossi said.
Elgin Baylor enrolled at The College of Idaho in 1954 and joined the school basketball team alongside five other Black students at a time of racial segregation in the United States. His presence on the College of Idaho basketball team marked a major step toward integration in college athletics and set the stage for the societal changes that would follow.
"Our founder, Judson Boone, said, 'Let them come, let them all come, we will see what they can do," Rossi said.
I spoke with Rossi about the decision to rename the arena and the timing behind it.
"We are about providing those opportunities, and so why now? Why Elgin Baylor Arena? You reward excellence, and you reward people who have a dream and a vision bigger than athletics — and that's what Elgin and Elaine have done," Rossi explained.
Baylor's trailblazing career continued after college when he was selected as the first overall pick in the NBA Draft. His accomplishments include becoming the first player to score 70 points in a single game and holding the record for the most points in an NBA Finals game for over four decades.
The College of Idaho also highlighted the Elgin and Elaine Baylor Opportunity Fund scholarship, which is one of the many ways his legacy lives on.
"Making sure we find students who probably couldn't afford this opportunity and reaching out to say, 'Hey, come be a Yote.' I think if we continue to tell Elgin and Elaine's story and talk about the opportunities we provide, right now we have six students who are recipients of that scholarship, one of whom is a student-athlete," Rossi said.
The College of Idaho hopes the renaming of the arena will continue to educate future generations on Elgin Baylor's lasting impact and the opportunities he helped create.
The ceremony to honor Baylor's remarkable legacy and the renaming of the arena will be held on February 21 during halftime of the men’s basketball game at 7 p.m.