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Indiana State University Athletics

Hall of Fame

Junius "Rainey" Bibbs

  • Class
    1934
  • Induction
    1998
  • Sport(s)
    Baseball, Football
6508

Junius Bibbs was a 1927 graduate of Terre Haute Wiley High School and a two-sport (baseball and football) star at Indiana State University during the 1930s. Playing fullback on the football team, Bibbs was selected all-Indiana Collegiate Honorable Mention in 1934.

It was baseball where Bibbs would excel at the national level. For eight seasons (1936-1944) Bibbs played infield in the Negro Leagues, winning three Negro American League championships along the way.

Early in his professional baseball career, sportswriters had trouble spelling and pronouncing Junius, so on a rainy day he told a sportswriter to just call him "Rainey." The name stuck for the rest of his career.

He later taught 25 years at Indianapolis Crispus Attucks High School, where he also coached baseball and wrestling.
  • Two-time All-Indiana College Conference Football (1934, 1935) 

  • Negro Baseball League (1933, 1936-1944) 

  • .404 batting average Cincinnati Tigers (1936) 

  • Negro League All-Star (1937) 

  • Kansas City Monarchs (1938-1941) 

  • Negro League Champions (1938, 1940, 1941) 

  • Inducted into Hall of Fame February 6, 1998 

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