By EVIN DEMIREL ARKANSAS LIFE

“Baseball was within the reach of all men, satisfying to both spectator and player. It was a game of the people, played by and for them.” —Historian Richard Crepeau The late 1970s were a significant turning point in Arkansas’s athletic history. Sidney Moncrief, a basketball star, became the first African-American college athlete embraced by the entire state. African Americans Leotis Harris, Ben Cowins and Jimmy Walker helped Arkansas football achieve a national standing unequaled until recent years. Meanwhile, Arvis Harper and Hank Thompson became the first blacks to play for the Razorbacks baseball team.