Ben Bluitt

[1] A 6'5" forward, Bluitt played a pivotal role as a star African American player for Loyola from 1947 to 1950.

Bluitt and Jack Kerris were two of the top players on the 1948–49 Loyola University team that reached the 1949 NIT Championship game.

Bluitt was a star player at Chicago's Englewood High School, and attended Loyola after leaving the Air Force.

[3] After graduating from Loyola, Bluitt became a teacher and coach at DuSable and Farragut high schools in Chicago.

In 1974, Bluitt was hired as the head coach at Cornell, where he compiled a 45–108 record over six seasons.