(Soft Piano Music) TALVIN SKINNER: This place is quiet now, save the sound of the ball hitting the court, echoing off empty seats.

You might think it's just another small court in a forgettable town, but in 1974, this court, this gym was alive.

2,500 screaming fans.

Twenty straight victories.

A championship and an invitation to the NIT that broke the color barrier.

It all happened here fifty years ago.

And, as for me, just a kid coming out of Worcester County, I never thought I'd be at the center of it all.

TALVIN: My name is Talvin Skinner.

I'm from Berlin, Maryland.

Nickname of "Tab."

Went to Worcester High School.

Came to University of Maryland Eastern Shore, formerly known as Maryland State, back in 1970.

I'm a local kid and I was lucky enough to be drafted by two NBA franchises, the New Jersey Nets and the Seattle Supersonics.

Basketball was just something that I picked up because I was always a loner kid.

My mother passed, um, when I was very young, so I kind of gravitated to sports and it worked out for me.

I went on to Worcester High School, where all of my peers went to Stephen Decatur.

I stayed at Worcester; I was the only one that stayed there.

I'll never forget, I had the highest scoring game in the county of Worcester County.

I scored 63 points in 17 minutes in a JV game (chuckles) it's a true story.

(Laughs) I had ended up at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore because I had two brothers here.

They had a great tradition with basketball, they had a winning program, and things worked out.

KEVIN FRAZIER: Let me give you a little history lesson.

In 1974, there were three great basketball teams in the state of Maryland.

There was the University of Maryland, led by Len Elmore, future Senator Tom McMillen, uh, John Lucas.

Then, there was Morgan State University led by Marvin Webster; that was my father's team.

And then there was the University of Maryland Eastern Shore led by Joe Pace, Rubin Collins and Talvin Skinner.

TALVIN: My senior year, it was like, no there was no stopping us.

I think everybody was hungry.

We were 24 and 1.

The only game we lost, we lost by two points to Morgan.

We were number one in the NAIA, in Kansas City, and we were waiting for the NCAA, and they told us that we weren't good enough and we hadn't played anybody, and so they turned us down.

I remember right in here, we all were practicing and, coach came in and said, uh, they weren't gonna let us in.

So, we had a decision to make.

He didn't ask us, but they made a decision.

It was either go to the NIT or go back to Kansas City.

I'm pretty sure if we went back to Kansas City, we would have won the national championship.

I guess the decision was made by the MEAC and the university to break down barriers, uh, racial barriers, color barriers or whatever, however you wanna put it.

And, uh, so we went to the NIT and we were the first Historical Black College to play in the NIT.

KEVIN: This also was the first team, the first Black college team, ever to be invited to the National Invitational Tournament.

This little group out of Princess Anne did something magical, and the man at the center of it all was Talvin Skinner, the MEAC Player of the Year.

TALVIN: When I got drafted, um, came back here.

ABA and the NBA had a decision to make, because I had Bill Russell on one hand, the Seattle Supersonics and the NBA, and Dr. J over here, on the other hand, and Dr. J was the man during that era, during that time.

RICK WELTS: One thing that I- everybody remembers is that uh, Tab was drafted not only in the NBA, but also by the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association, something that was not that common.

Now, the ABA Nets were Julius Irving and championships of the ABA.

The Sonics had never won a championship, much less ever made the NBA playoffs, but it was our good fortune that Tab chose to cast his lot with the Sonics.

TALVIN SKINNER: When we went to the NBA man, Rick Berry, John Havlicek, they're playing against these guys, man.

It's yeah, that's the real deal.

You need a real support system when you go to that level because it's...but, then, then it's a business and it's not...it's not fun and games anymore.

We made it to the quarterfinals, both of my years there.

And then we had the NBA and ABA merger.

And then you had an abundance of players and (snaps fingers) it's history.

(Laughs) Basketball saved my life because I grew up without a mother and, uh, so it kept me, focused.

(Crying) I don't know where I would have been without basketball.

(Softly crying) I don't know what I would have done.

I guess in the state of Maryland, when they mentioned the name Skinner, it's synonymous with excellence, greatness.

And, uh, I wanna thank the University of Maryland Eastern Shore for giving me an opportunity to represent them, and I hope that I didn't disappoint them.

And, hey, whenever you wanna sit down, chop it up with old Tab Skinner, I'm here, baby.