WHO IS RICKY BYRDSONG?

ricky byrdsong was the first african-american Head Coach AT northwestern university. he was murdered in 1999.

Ricky coached the men's basketball team at Northwestern University from 1993 to 1997, including a National Invitation Tournament berth in 1994, only the second postseason tournament appearance in school history. Before Northwestern, Ricky was the Head Coach at the University of Detroit and an Assistant Coach at the University of Arizona, Eastern Illinois University, Western Michigan University, and Iowa State University (his alma mater). After leaving the head coaching job at Northwestern, Byrdsong was hired as the Vice President of community affairs for Aon Corp. He worked there until his death. Ricky was jogging near his home in Evanston, IL with his 8-year-old son and his 10-year-old daughter when a member of the white supremacist movement shot him. Over a span of a few days, his murderer also killed a Korean-American graduate school student Won-Joon Yoon and wounded six Orthodox Jewish men in nearby West Rogers Park, three other black men including a minister, and a Taiwanese immigrant; and then took his own life before he could be captured by the police.

Byrdsong is survived by his wife, Sherialyn, two daughters Sabrina and Kelley, and son Ricky Jr. Byrdsong's legacy is remembered and celebrated every Father's Day in Evanston at the Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate, started by the Byrdsong family and now run by the local Evanston chapter of the YWCA.