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Walter Jones Bellamy was born July 24, 1939, in New Bern, North Carolina. He was six foot one by age fourteen, and his best sport was football. As a senior end, he led Barber High School to a state championship and was an all-state selection. In basketball, he acquired the nickname “goaltending kid” for blocking shots. He scored forty-seven points in a 1956 game against Durham.

A trip to Bloomington in summer 1956 was influential in his decision to enroll at IU. His high school coach, Simon Coates, was doing undergraduate study there, and he invited Bellamy to visit. During that time, the teenager played pickup ball with Hoosiers such as Wally Choice, Hallie Bryant, and Gene Flowers.

“Indiana at the time was the closest school to the South that would accept African Americans,” Bellamy said. “It was an easy transition for me to make. Not that I was naive to what was going on in Bloomington in terms of the times, but it didn’t translate to the athletic department or the classroom. Every relationship was good.”