Skeeter Sleet

George Wayne Sleet played basketball at Connersville High School in the early 1930s, leading them to Regional championships in 1932 and 1933 and earning all-tournament honors at the Indianapolis state finals at Butler Fieldhouse.

George Wayne Sleet was, as they described him at the time, "a flashy Negro." He was colored. Less desirable names applied if you want to go there. 

Sleet is not particularly important to the history of Fairfield or Franklin County. His teams played against all the teams from around there, usually in the Sectionals at the cramped gym in Connersville or Rushville. They would have gone to Brookville or Liberty every year or so. Sleet played against Springfield in the Sectional finals (my dad's last high school game).

Sleet's credentials are marginally important. He averaged around 15 points a game in the contests that mattered, maybe more on some nights. His ability to move quickly gave him the right to be called "Skeeter."

He did not attend college but played industrial league ball after school, worked in a factory in Connersville and ... had his own orchestra.  

I came across Skeeter's band when I found an old ad from 1941 that said the Skeeter Sleet's Colored Orchestra was playing a venue north of Brookville. He showed up in other ads, other places, often known as Baron Sleet.

He was called Wayne in some other sports columns about his game. A writer from the Indy Star said Sleet was one of the 10 best players in Connersville history, and that took some doing for a team with two state titles and dozens of college-able players.

Connersville was among the few teams that embraced integration in its sports teams, as far back as 1910. Had Sleet lived in Indianapolis or Gary, he'd have been required to attend one of the segregated high schools -- which were not permitted to play in the state tournament by Arthur Trester, the IHSAA commissioner who was a known racist and member of the Ku Klux Klan. That ban ended in 1942.

I can't find anything that evaluates Skeeter's music, or which instrument he played. He would have been in his 20s when he formed the orchestra. What would they have played? Where did he learn music? Most likely, the band was told to eat dinner in the kitchen but to look good on the bandstand.

His basketball antics are more in evidence: 

The Rushville Republican, in describing Skeeter's game: "Displaying a perfect definition of the word 'elusive,' little Skeeter Sleet was the thorn which punctured Rushville's dream of a regional championship. Connersville's dusky shadow flitted here, there and everywhere to roll up 17 points for the Spartan cause. In breaking up Rushville plays and in sneaking up from nowhere to get a held ball out of an unwary Lion, Sleet also excelled."

Sleet died in 1997 at age 83.