LOWELL — More than a century after he made his debut as the first Black professional basketball player, UMass Lowell honored the late Harry “Bucky” Lew with a plaque at the Costello Athletic Center during a ceremony before the UMass men’s basketball team squared off against Binghamton University.

Lew is considered to be the first Black professional basketball player, stepping on the court in a professional game for the first time in 1902 with the Pawtucketville Athletic Club in the New England Basketball League, long before the founding of what would later be known as the NBA in 1946.

He would make history again 20 years later, when he became the first Black coach of an integrated basketball team at Lowell Textile School, one of the predecessors of UMass Lowell.

Chris Boucher, a UMass Lowell graduate who recently wrote “The Original Bucky Lew: Basketball’s First Black Professional,” about Lew’s life, said during a presentation with Lew’s granddaughter, Wendy Johnson, that over the course of Lew’s career he faced overt racism both on and off the court.

“But despite all that, he was known as a clean and skillful player,” said Boucher.

Lew died in 1963, but Johnson said that she had fond memories with her grandfather, and remembered all the times she would sit with him as they watched boxing matches.

“He would sit there, smoking his cigar, sitting in his rocking chair while watching the fights and he would ask me, ‘Oh what did you think about that?’” said Johnson.

Though he was a pioneer in the racial integration of basketball, Johnson said that Lew would not talk much about his career.

“Grandpa never talked a lot about his basketball career, you could ask him questions and he would answer,” said Johnson. “He was just a quiet man. He walked a lot. He would walk all over Springfield.”

Regardless of how quiet he was about his accomplishments, Johnson said her grandfather was an inspiring figure.

“He was a hard worker all of his life. He told us to go after whatever we wanted and to try hard, and not let other people define you,” said Johnson. “He said, ‘If you think you can do something or try to do something, go and do it. What do you have to lose?’ That is what he left me with and that is what I have tried to pass on to my daughter.”

Lew still has not been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, though Johnson said there has been an ongoing effort to do so by her family.

“My mother and my aunts were really quite serious about trying to get something, even just a plaque, into the Basketball Hall of Fame for my grandfather,” said Johnson. “Nothing was really done as far as they have tried to push for, I think mainly because it was not the NBA at the time.”

Even beyond the racial integration of the sport, basketball and the way it is played has significantly changed since Lew’s career. When asked during a Q&A session what her grandfather would think of basketball in 2024, Johnson said a few things would probably stand out to him quickly.

“He would say, ‘Well, they aren’t taking as many punches,’” said Johnson, referring to the violence that was prevalent in the game when Lew played. “But he would probably be amazed at how tall some of these basketball players are … because he was short. Grandpa was short.”

Johnson said her hope is that Boucher’s book and UMass Lowell honoring Lew may help to get the ball rolling and get him the acknowledgement he deserves.

Boucher noted that the Hall of Fame had an Early African-American Pioneer Committee, and the hope was that the committee would serve as an avenue for Lew’s induction, but the committee was disbanded in 2015.

UMass Lowell Athletic Director Peter Casey said the story of Lew brings a few things to mind.

“I think about perseverance, I think about courage, and I also think about trailblazing,” said Casey. “He was the oldest of four siblings, and it sounded like he was a great role model for his sisters and brothers and it sounds like they went on to become trailblazers on their own.”

“I am honored that the River Hawk nation could be a part of this, and that his legacy will forever be here at the Costello Athletic Center, and we are hoping the next stop for our celebration will be in Springfield, Mass. at the Hall of Fame,” Casey added.

UMass Lowell Chancellor Julie Chen said it is important for people to ask their grandparents and older relatives about history.

“Because too often, history gets lost, and the accomplishments of people like Bucky Lew, and the accomplishments of people like his sisters who were the first to go to the Normal School and graduate and become teachers — they are not things that should be taken lightly,” said Chen. “Bucky Lew didn’t let anybody tell him that he was not supposed to be doing what he was doing.”

The plaque featuring Lew’s likeness is now on display in the Costello Athletic Center.