FAMU sets honor for two basketball legends
Waite Bellamy
Special the Outlook
FAMU announced recently that two Rattler Basketball greats – Waite Bellamy and Cathy Robinson– will have their jerseys honored in the ceiling of the Lawson Center on Feb. 23, during the doubleheader with Bethune-Cookman University.
“We are excited about honoring both of the greatest scorers in FAMU basketball history. From February 23 until, their names and numbers will forever hang in the most honored position we have to offer,” said athletic director John Eason. “FAMU has a rich tradition in basketball and Waite and Cathy represent the best of all throughout the history. We look forward to adding to this elite unit inaugurated by Clemon Johnson and Natalie White,”
Waite Bellamy was a sharpshooting performer who was a prolific scorer, ranking as one of FAMU’s all-time basketball point producers.
Nicknamed “The Wonder” for his prodigious on-court skills, the 6-feet, 3-inches, 195-pound Palmetto, native finished his career with more than 1,600 points, averaging better than 20 points per game during his playing days.
A three-time All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection (1961, 1962, 1963), Bellamy also captured Associated Press (AP) Small College All-America honors as a senior in 1963.
That season (1963), Bellamy was at his most productive on the court, averaging 27 points and 17 rebounds per game, scoring a school-record 53 points against archrival Bethune-Cookman – a mark, which still stands today.
Bellamy went on to a stellar professional career in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1963 to 1971, finishing as one of the league’s all-time scorers, tallying 5,010 for a nifty 24.6 per-game average.
In 1970, he led the CBA in scoring, scorching the cords for 838 points, scoring 62 points in one game. He averaged a sizzling 32.8 points per game en route to league MVP honors.
Florida A&M University honored one of their favorite sons in 1987, with enshrinement into the school’s Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2008, Bellamy was inducted into the National Negro High School Basketball Hall of Fame, for his scintillating prep career at Lincoln Memorial High in Palmetto, Florida.
Cathy Robinson, a 6-foot forward from Quincy, Florida was one of FAMU’s most talented and most productive basketball performers of all time.
An all-star graduate of Shanks High School, Robinson reigns as the only player in FAMU Basketball history to score 2,000 points and haul down 1,000 rebounds.
In 113 career games from 1992 to 1996, the silky smooth 6-foot forward scoring 2,040 points and collected 1,028 rebounds – both career highs – while ranking first in field goals made (578), 10th in blocked shots (83) and 14th in steals (294).
For her career, Robinson averaged 18.1 points per game, and 9.1 rebounds per game, leading the team in scoring and rebounding three straight seasons (1994, 1995, 1996), while capturing All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) honors all three seasons (1994, 1995, 1996).
A Black College All-America selection as a senior in 1995-96, Robinson was also voted 1996 MEAC Player of the Year, after leading the FAMU Women to a second consecutive regular season championship.
That season, Robinson led the league in scoring (20.9 points) and rebounding (9.5), shooting a league-high 61.4 percent from the floor.
As a sophomore (1993-94), Robinson averaged a school-best 11.0 rebounds per game, and during FAMU’s regular season and tournament title winning season (1994-95), she pulled down 8.7 rebounds per game.
The pair will join Clemon “C.J.” Johnson and Natalie White as previous FAMU Basketball number retirees.
