Fred Neal

Curly Neal signing a ball at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island
Harlem Globetrotters  – No. 22
Born	May 19, 1942 (1942-05-19) (age 67) Greensboro, North Carolina
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	162 lb (73 kg)
High school	Greensboro-Dudley High School
College	Johnson C. Smith University
Pro career	1963–1985

Fred "Curly" Neal (born May 19, 1942) is an American basketball player best known for his career with the Harlem Globetrotters. Following in the footsteps of the great Marques Haynes, Neal became the Trotters' feature ballhandler, a key role in the team's exhibition act.

Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Neal attended Greensboro-Dudley High School, a perennial power in the state. He was followed there shortly by future Atlanta Hawks All-Star Lou Hudson, and NFL Hall of Fame tight end Charlie Sanders. Unlike Hudson and Sanders, who matriculated at the University of Minnesota, Neal went to Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina. At Smith, he averaged 23.1 points a game, and was named All-CIAA guard in a very competitive conference that produced players such as Al Attles and Earl Monroe.

Neal played for 22 seasons (1963-85) with the Globetrotters, appearing in more than 6,000 games in 97 countries. His shaved head earned him his nickname, a reference to the Three Stooges' Curly Howard, and made him one of the most recognizable Globetrotters. In the 1970s, an animated version of Neal starred with various other Globetrotters in the Hanna-Barbera animated cartoon, Harlem Globetrotters, as well as its spinoff, The Super Globetrotters. The animated Globetrotters also made three appearances in The New Scooby-Doo Movies.

On January 11, 2008, the Globetrotters announced that Neal's number 22 would be retired on February 15 in a special ceremony at Madison Square Garden as part of "Curly Neal Weekend."^[1] Neal was just the fifth Globetrotter in the team's 82-year history to have his number retired, joining Wilt Chamberlain (13), Meadowlark Lemon (36), Marques Haynes (20) and Goose Tatum (50).^[2] On January 31, 2008, it was announced that Neal would be inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.^[3]

A mural commemorating Curly Neal's achievements both as a Globetrotter and during his time at Dudley High School is painted in the basketball gym of the Hayes-Taylor Memorial YMCA at 1101 East Market Street in Greensboro, NC. He currently resides in Casselberry, Florida.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Fred Neal at the Internet Movie Database
• Fred "Curly" Neal at the Harlem Globetrotters site