Beckley native Henry Dickerson dies at age 71

Aug. 11—The City of Beckley lost a true pioneer.

Henry Dickerson, a 1969 graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School, passed away Thursday night. He was 71.

Dickerson was the first Flying Eagle alumnus to play in the National Basketball Association. He was undrafted out of Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston), but got his chance at the NBA through a tryout with the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association. The opportunity came through famed West Virginia basketball icon Tex Williams' friendship with Larry Brown, the Cougars' coach. Brown is the brother of then-Pistons coach Herb Brown.

He was later picked up by the Pistons in 1976. He also played for the Atlanta Hawks in 1977.

After a high school career that led to his eventual induction into the Beckley Basketball Hall of Fame, Dickerson went on to a decorated four-year career at Morris Harvey. He was the only player in West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history to be named all-conference and all-tournament all four years.

The four-year starter was the team's Most Valuable Player all four seasons, during which time he averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds per game. He was an NAIA third-team All-American in 1973 and finished his career with a record 1,356 rebounds. He was inducted into the Morris Harvey/University of Charleston Sports Hall of Fame in 1988, and the school retired his No. 34 jersey in 2017.

After his playing career was over, Dickerson went into coaching, first as an assistant at UC from 1979-83. He then went to Marshall as an assistant to Rick Huckabay from 1983-89 before moving on to Tennessee-Chattanooga as associate head coach from 1989-97.

He was then promoted to head coach, becoming the first Black man to hold the position at UTC. He stayed there until 2002.

Two years later he was hired as the head coach at N.C. Central, where he stayed through 2009.

In 2011, he was hired to revive the basketball program at Johnston Community College near Raleigh, N.C., where he stayed for two seasons.

A ceremony to honor Dickerson was held before a Woodrow Wilson game in 2022. With Dickerson unable to attend due to illness, teammate Chubby Hughes accepted a key to the city from Beckley Mayor Rob Rappold on his behalf. Also, Dickerson's Detroit Pistons jersey was presented and is currently displayed in the concourse of the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center. It is beside the New Jersey Nets jersey of Tamar Slay, a 1998 Woodrow graduate who later joined Dickerson as the school's second NBA alumnus.

"Being the first to do anything means a lot," Dickerson said in a phone interview before the event. "It means maybe you've done well and you've set some goals. Of course, some people might not know who we are, or who I am. But the ones who have, it's always a great accomplishment. That means somebody's thinking about you and it's not all bad. I'm humbled."

Dickerson is survived by his wife Deborah and two sons Brian and Brandon.

Email: gfauber@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @gfauber5