In the midst of "March Madness," a panel of experts said Friday that pioneering black athletes have helped make the sport of basketball what it is today.

The seminar began the "Freedom to Play" exhibit now on display in Art Alley, located on the first floor of the HUB-Robeson Center. The exhibit is a pictorial and informational chronology of the history of blacks in basketball. It is a travelling exhibit from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

A panel of experts at the seminar informed audience members about athletes who helped bring the sport of basketball to the black community.

"It's a lost history," said Claude Johnson, an independent scholar and author from Connecticut who spoke at the seminar. "If you don't look back, it's going to be hard to put what's going on today in context."

Johnson spoke about Cumberland Posey, who played varsity basketball at Penn State from 1909 to 1911 and was one of the first black entrepreneurs in athletics. Posey organized a few semi-professional black basketball teams in a time when blacks were not allowed in mainstream professional sports.

"He saw basketball as entertainment and as a business. He had to fight not only racism, but also against people who were not open to the idea of pay for play," Johnson said.

Johnson said this tradition of mixing entertainment with economics in basketball continues today.

"Back then, people played for the love of the game, for love and honor and spirit. Then it became for a living," Johnson said. "The NBA has perverted basketball in one way — but in another, they took it to the ultimate extreme that these (pioneers) wanted to take it."

David Wiggins, a professor from George Mason University and an editor for The Journal of Sport History, spoke on Edwin Bancroft Henderson, an often-forgotten basketball pioneer.

Henderson was largely responsible for introducing basketball to many black communities in the early part of the 20th century, Wiggins said.

Wiggins said Henderson also made strides to ensure black officials and referees would be hired in many sports.

Don Barksdale, the first black athlete to play on the U.S. Olympic basketball team in 1948, is another important figure in basketball history who has been virtually forgotten, said Mark Dyreson, assistant professor of kinesology at Penn State.

Dyreson talked about how Barksdale had to stay in different hotels and eat in different restaurants while touring with the team. He said Barksdale became friends with Jackie Robinson, the first black athlete to play professional baseball, because Robinson faced many of the same challenges.

Johnson said remembering these and other black trailblazers because of the role they played in shaping basketball and black culture is important.

"The development of black culture mirrored the development of black sports and that's important to see," Johnson said.

The exhibit will be on display in Art Alley through May 15.