Harrison Fitch, the team's first African American player, was controversially benched by coach John Heldman for a 1934 game against the US Coast Guard Academy. Hugh Greer, a former player at Connecticut Agricultural College, returned to his old school as a freshmen coach after graduation. He persuaded the head coach, Ike Harris, to let him play in a game against Hartford. The young Harrison Fitch was the only black player on the court, and he had a great game with 22 points and 12 rebounds. After the game, the referees gave Greer a technical foul and disqualified him from further participation in the game, which caused an uproar among fans and players alike. After this incident, Harris suspended Fitch for one game (he never returned to the court). It is not known whether or not he ever apologized to Fitch for suspending him. After one season away from UConn, Greer graduated from UCA and took over the coaching job there part-time while continuing to work with UConn during the off-season. In 1937, he became the first black coach in the nation when he led the Chicago Transit Authority to a National Basketball Association title. He later worked with several other NBA teams before retiring in 1950 at the age of 42. During his time with UConn, the Huskies played against Greer's former team, UCA, twice. The schools are nearly identical in size and location, so they were often divided up by conference members to help them stay within their overall playing time limit.