Waite Bellamy

Waite Bellamy Jr. (born February 1940) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played college basketball for the Florida A&M Rattlers and was selected in the 1963 NBA draft by the St. Louis Hawks. Bellamy spent his entire professional career with the Wilmington / Delaware Blue Bombers of the Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL) where he won two championships in 1966 and 1967. He was named as the league's Most Valuable Player in 1970. Bellamy worked as a teacher and basketball coach at high schools in Florida after his playing retirement.

Early life Bellamy's mother, Ruth (died 2002), was from Trilby, Florida, and worked as a seamstress. His father, Waite Sr. (died 1980), was a native of Little River, South Carolina, and worked in the railroad industry. Bellamy was raised by his mother

Bellamy attended Lincoln High School in Palmetto, Florida. He averaged 25 points as a senior while his team finished the season with a 30–5 record and advanced to the state tournament. He set the Rattlers' single-game scoring record when he totalled 53 points against the Bethune–Cookman Wildcats.

Bellamy was inducted into the Florida A&M Athletics Hall of Fame in 1987. His number 25 jersey was retired by the Rattlers and hangs in the Al Lawson Center. He won two championships with the Blue Bombers in 1966 and 1967. He led the league in scoring during the 1969–70 season with 838 points.

Bellamy earned invitations to National Basketball Association (NBA) training camps with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1968, Baltimore Bullets in 1969 and New York Knicks in 1970. He did not know why he never made an NBA team. The team folded in July 1971 and Bellamy was selected in the dispersal draft by a team in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Coaching career Bellamy was an assistant coach of the basketball team at Sarasota High School under head coach Flody Suarez for nine seasons. He was appointed as head coach of the basketball team at Booker High School in 1986.

Bellamy served as an assistant coach for the Sarasota Stingers of the Continental Basketball Association under interim head coach Tim Eisnaugle in 1984.

Post-playing career Bellamy worked as a mathematics teacher in the Sarasota County high school system; he started at Sarasota High School and then moved to Booker High School where he worked until his retirement in May 2001.

Bellamy was inducted in the National Negro High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Florida Association of Basketball Coaches Court of Legends in 2016. Bellamy was presented with his 1970 EBL MVP trophy for the first time while he received chants of "MVP" from the crowd. Bellamy said that it was "one of the greatest honors any athlete can experience." His son, Troy, played college basketball for the Rollins Tars.

Bellamy's cousin, Levon Simms, was a teammate of his on the Florida A&M Rattlers during the 1962–63 season.