His suspension and subsequent reinstatement in 1968 sparked racial tension on the team and resulted in the resignations of head coach Rene Herrerias and athletic director Pete Newell.

Presley was expected to start his professional career with the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1969 but quit the team before appearing in a game.

After experiencing several mental breakdowns in his pursuit for a successful basketball career, Presley drowned himself in the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.

[3] Moore did not have an interscholastic sports program so Presley transferred to Pershing High School when he was aged 16 because of his potential as a basketball player.

[3] Pershing basketball coach Will Robinson attempted to keep Presley interested in pursuing his education by giving him lunch money and driving him to school but he was suspended after six weeks due to truancy.

[3] He was expelled from Northern and spent the rest of the year playing basketball on neighborhood courts with local players including Bill Buntin and Mel Daniels.

[3] Presley had formed a connection with George Gaddy, a physical education instructor and manager of a local sports club for underprivileged children, during his attendance at Moore.

[3] Gaddy helped Presley to enroll at Salinas High School in northern California where he completed his junior year.

San Jacinto but was eligible for entrance under a Californian scheme that allowed 2% of undergraduates to be admitted at a level below the usual academic requirements.

"[8] On January 18, 1968, Golden Bears head coach Rene Herrerias announced that Presley was suspended indefinitely but did not elaborate on the reason.

[10] Later that day, 11 white players and a manager of the Golden Bears basketball team resigned in support of Herrerias after allegations that administrative pressure was invoked to have Presley reinstated.

[11] On January 23, Presley appeared alongside a group representing black athletes at the University of California, Berkeley who made demands that California fire Herrerias and Golden Bears football assistant coaches Bill Dutton and Joe Marvin "for reasons of their inability or unwillingness to relate to Black Athletes.

"[12] They also declared that black athletes at the university had been subjected to derogatory comments because of their appearance, had to find housing on their own and received poor academic counselling because of an assumption they lacked intelligence.

[13] Presley stated that he was "shocked" at the action of the white players quitting the team and claimed that he did not think Herrerias was "qualified to coach.

[10] Presley was one of the first collegiate athletes who donned an afro; he would maintain for the rest of his life that his refusal to cut it was the reason for his suspension.

[18] On February 2, Presley appeared in his first game with the Golden Bears since his suspension where a team spokesman observed there was no sign of the short-lived racial rebellion.

"[24] On April 11, Herrerias resigned as head coach and stated that the black protest was a contribution but not "the sole factor" in his desire to leave.

[28] On April 15, 1969, Presley was selected by the Denver Rockets in the second round of the 1969 American Basketball Association (ABA) draft.

[30] Bill Ringsby, the Rockets president, stated that the team considered Presley "a fantastic player who is destined to become a superstar.

"[32] In a 1971 interview, Presley claimed that he left the team because they refused to pay his bonus and McLendon enforced an intensive training program.

[32] Using the $10,000 that he received by showing up to Rockets training camp, Presley briefly moved to Europe before he returned to the United States in October 1969.

"[43] Presley stated: "I'm going to give it one more year because I'm still motivated enough to feel I can make it, I would do a lot of things different if I had the chance again but it doesn't do any good to look back.

[8] In March 1975, Presley went to the Northwestern United States to seek an opportunity with the Seattle SuperSonics or Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA.

[8] Presley attended a SuperSonics game where he directed abusive remarks at rookie center Tommy Burleson and had to be evicted from the locker room by head coach Bill Russell.