In the 1966-67 season, Durham recruited and coached the first African-American basketball player in Florida State sports history. As an assistant coach, Durham recruited Lenny Hall. Hall was a native of Camden, NJ, who was playing for St. Petersburg Junior College. Both Bud Kennedy and Durham signed Hall. However, Kennedy died of cancer before Hall played his first game at FSU. As a 29-year-old first-year head coach, Durham was the subject of intense criticism. Five seasons later, Durham would take a team with five African-American starters to the NCAA Championship game. There would only be one white player on the 13-man Seminole roster, John Amick, who played in 11 games and sported a lengthy ponytail.