RememberingTuesday, November 10
Globetrotters legend Geese Ausbie, a Philander Smith star, has died at 88
The Today in Little Rock team
If you grew up watching the Harlem Globetrotters, you knew Hubert “Geese” Ausbie. The “Clown Prince of Basketball” died Sunday at 88, the team announced Monday. He starred at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, and after leaving the team in 1985, he went back to living in Little Rock.
Ausbie's career by the numbers
- 24 years
- as a Globetrotters player
- 100+
- countries he played in
- 30
- points a game as a Philander Smith senior
- 500+
- players at the open tryout he won
Sources: Arkansas Radio, arkansasonline.com, KATV
He was “Goose” growing up, but the team already had Reece “Goose” Tatum, so he became “Geese”. Former teammate Curley “Boo” Johnson said Ausbie “loved Arkansas”.
“He made them happy. That's who he was.”
- Church: deacon at Greater Archview Baptist Church in Little Rock
- Jersey: No. 35 retired in 2017, one of eight in team history
- Nickname: Pastor Kenneth Martin called him the “Gospel Globetrotter”
Ausbie went from Philander Smith to Globetrotters great
- 1956Graduates high school and accepts a Philander Smith scholarship.
- 1961Joins the Globetrotters after an open tryout.
- 1978Becomes the team's lead entertainer after Meadowlark Lemon leaves.
- 1985Retires as a Globetrotters player.
- 1990Inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
- 1995Inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.
- 2017Globetrotters retire his No. 35 jersey at Simmons Bank Arena.
Sources: Arkansas Radio, arkansasonline.com, FOX16.com, KATV
His death comes in the Globetrotters' 100th year.
Sources: arkansasonline.com, KATV, FOX16.com, Arkansas Radio