Archie Talley is an American basketball player and motivational speaker.
Talley is a Washington, D.C. native, where he became a Central High School legend.[1] He holds a baccalaureate in human relations and a Master of Arts in Education from Salem College.[2] Talley played briefly for the New Jersey Nets before going on to play professionally for ten seasons in Europe, where he continued to be a scoring phenomenon.
Talley led the nation in scoring in 1976 while finishing his career at Salem College (now Salem University) in Salem, West Virginia. In 1976 he was named the Associated Press College Division Basketball Player of the Year and First Team All-American by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).[3] In the era before the 3-point shot, he achieved a career average of 41.1 points per game despite being double- and triple-teamed on virtually every play. He still holds the NAIA record for most points in a single season with 1347 (577 FG and 193 FT in 33 games).[4] He is the all-time leading scorer in West Virginia history and the third all-time scorer in the history of college basketball. Drafted by the New York Knicks [6], Talley opted to try out for the Harlem Globetrotters. He was unexpectedly cut by the Globetrotters. According to Talley, Meadowlark Lemon gave him the news.[5] His highest single game total is a 116 points, playing for TV Clausen in Germany in 1978.[1]
Since 1984 Talley has been a motivational speaker, giving talks to children and young people and for professional and corporate events. http://www.archie-talley.com/