Everett Case
Encyclopedia
Everett N. Case nicknamed "Gray Fox", was a basketball coach most notable for his tenure at North Carolina State University
, from 1946 to 1964.
Born in Anderson, Indiana
, Case graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
in 1923. He compiled a 726-75 record while coaching 23 years in high school basketball, including winning 4 Indiana
state championships while coaching in Frankfort, Indiana
(1925, 1929, 1936, 1939). Frankfort's Case Arena is named after him. Case is one of only five coaches to win at least 4 state titles in Indiana basketball (the others being Marion Crawley, Glenn M. Curtis
, Jack Keefer with 4 and Bill Green with 6).
Case enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1941. He was commissioned a senior-grade lieutenant
and reported to Annapolis for a four-week training course. He then traveled to Chicago
for five weeks training before reporting to Naval Pre-flight school at St. Mary's College
in California
, where he served as assistant athletic director and director of basketball. He also served as athletic director at the Alameda Naval Air Station.
In 1943, DePauw University
began a naval flight preparatory school. An abbreviated basketball schedule was used and Case, now a Lieutenant Commander
, became the Athletic Director of the program.
Upon leaving the Navy in 1946, Case assumed coaching duties at N.C. State. In 18 years, he compiled a 377-134 (.737) record—still the best in school history. He won nine straight conference titles from 1946 to 1955. He won six straight Southern Conference
titles before the Wolfpack joined most of the SoCon's other large schools in forming the Atlantic Coast Conference
, and then led the Wolfpack to the first three conference titles. He added a fourth in 1959. Case himself was aptly rewarded, earning three ACC Coach of the Year awards, in 1954, 1955 and 1958. Case's teams finished third in the 1947 NIT
and third in the 1950 NCAA Tournament
. The ACC Tournament
's Most Valuable Player award is named in his honor.
N.C. State had already begun construction on Reynolds Coliseum
in 1941, but all work stopped during World War II. Case persuaded the administration to build a 12,400-seat arena, instead of the 10,000-seat facility originally planned. The ACC's basketball tournament was largely Case's idea, with Reynolds Coliseum hosting the first 13 ACC tournaments from 1954 through 1966. It was Case's idea to get the ACC to recognize the tournament winner as the conference champion—and thus the winner of the conference's lone berth in the NCAA tournament. From 1949 to 1960, it also hosted the "Dixie Classic," a holiday tournament that quickly ascended to the top of the state's sporting calendar. Case's teams went on to win seven Dixie Classic titles.
When Case came to Raleigh, North Carolina was, like most states in the South, enraptured by college football
. However, he is largely credited with making basketball a craze in the state. For example, in his first year in Raleigh, the fire marshal canceled a game because people were spilling onto the floor of tiny Thompson Gymnasium and climbing in through windows. The other three schools along Tobacco Road
--Duke
, North Carolina
and Wake Forest
--responded by upgrading their facilities and recruiting budgets to counter the "red menace" in Raleigh. Case is also credited with introducing such practices as cutting down the nets after a championship and shining a spotlight on players as they were introduced.
For a time, it looked as if the Wolfpack would dominate the ACC in the same fashion that Kentucky
dominated the Southeastern Conference
. However, the Wolfpack's momentum was derailed in 1956, when the NCAA placed N.C. State on four years' probation. Case reportedly had his top assistant coach and State's assistant athletic director give Louisiana
high school athlete Jackie Moreland cash and gifts to entice him away from his previous agreement to attend Kentucky—a charge he denied. The NCAA, however, found that Case not only knew about the gifts to Moreland—which included a seven-year medical education—but expressly approved them. Just as that probation ended in 1960, State was placed on probation again—this time for a point-shaving scandal that caused the cancellation of the Dixie Classic.
By this time, Case was in failing health. He stepped down early in the 1964-65 season due to inoperable cancer. He soon needed to use a wheelchair; when the Wolfpack won the 1965 ACC tournament, they wheeled him over from press row so he could cut the last strand of the net. He died a year later, and was interred at Raleigh Memorial Park in Raleigh. Case instructed that his body be laid facing North Carolina Highway 70 so he could "wave" to later Wolfpack teams as they traveled to Durham and Chapel Hill.
He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame
in 1968, Basketball Hall of Fame
on May 3, 1982 and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1964. N.C. State's main athletics office is named for him.
In 2011 The Classic: How Everett Case and His Tournament Brought Big-Time Basketball to the South (ISBN 978-0-9836825-2-3) by Bethany Bradsher was published, telling the story of the Dixie Classic basketball tournament with an emphasis on Case's contributions.
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
, from 1946 to 1964.
Born in Anderson, Indiana
Anderson, Indiana
Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Madison county. Anderson is the headquarters of the Church of God and home of Anderson University, which is...
, Case graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
in 1923. He compiled a 726-75 record while coaching 23 years in high school basketball, including winning 4 Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
state championships while coaching in Frankfort, Indiana
Frankfort, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,662 people, 6,279 households, and 4,175 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,240.5 people per square mile . There were 6,682 housing units at an average density of 1,299.6 per square mile...
(1925, 1929, 1936, 1939). Frankfort's Case Arena is named after him. Case is one of only five coaches to win at least 4 state titles in Indiana basketball (the others being Marion Crawley, Glenn M. Curtis
Glenn M. Curtis
Glenn M. Curtis is a former Head Basketball Coach. He was the Head Coach at Indiana State University from 1938-1946. He won 120+ games and led the Sycamores to three NAIA Tournaments, reaching the National Finals in 1946. The Sycamores also won the Midwest Invitational Tourney in 1946...
, Jack Keefer with 4 and Bill Green with 6).
Case enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1941. He was commissioned a senior-grade lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
and reported to Annapolis for a four-week training course. He then traveled to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
for five weeks training before reporting to Naval Pre-flight school at St. Mary's College
Saint Mary's College of California
Saint Mary's College of California is a private, coeducational college located in Moraga, California, United States, a small suburban community about east of Oakland and 20 miles east of San Francisco. It has a 420-acre campus in the Moraga hills. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where he served as assistant athletic director and director of basketball. He also served as athletic director at the Alameda Naval Air Station.
In 1943, DePauw University
DePauw University
DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...
began a naval flight preparatory school. An abbreviated basketball schedule was used and Case, now a Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
, became the Athletic Director of the program.
Upon leaving the Navy in 1946, Case assumed coaching duties at N.C. State. In 18 years, he compiled a 377-134 (.737) record—still the best in school history. He won nine straight conference titles from 1946 to 1955. He won six straight Southern Conference
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North...
titles before the Wolfpack joined most of the SoCon's other large schools in forming the Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
, and then led the Wolfpack to the first three conference titles. He added a fourth in 1959. Case himself was aptly rewarded, earning three ACC Coach of the Year awards, in 1954, 1955 and 1958. Case's teams finished third in the 1947 NIT
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitation Tournament is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off , was founded in 1985...
and third in the 1950 NCAA Tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
. The ACC Tournament
ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
The ACC Men's Basketball Tournament is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the Atlantic Coast Conference . The tournament has been held every year since 1954, one year after the conference's creation. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season...
's Most Valuable Player award is named in his honor.
N.C. State had already begun construction on Reynolds Coliseum
Reynolds Coliseum
William Neal Reynolds Coliseum is a multi-purpose arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina on the North Carolina State University campus. The arena was built to host a variety of events, including agricultural expositions and NC State basketball games...
in 1941, but all work stopped during World War II. Case persuaded the administration to build a 12,400-seat arena, instead of the 10,000-seat facility originally planned. The ACC's basketball tournament was largely Case's idea, with Reynolds Coliseum hosting the first 13 ACC tournaments from 1954 through 1966. It was Case's idea to get the ACC to recognize the tournament winner as the conference champion—and thus the winner of the conference's lone berth in the NCAA tournament. From 1949 to 1960, it also hosted the "Dixie Classic," a holiday tournament that quickly ascended to the top of the state's sporting calendar. Case's teams went on to win seven Dixie Classic titles.
When Case came to Raleigh, North Carolina was, like most states in the South, enraptured by college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
. However, he is largely credited with making basketball a craze in the state. For example, in his first year in Raleigh, the fire marshal canceled a game because people were spilling onto the floor of tiny Thompson Gymnasium and climbing in through windows. The other three schools along Tobacco Road
Tobacco Road
Tobacco Road refers to the tobacco-producing area of North Carolina and is often used when referring to sports played among rival North Carolina universities...
--Duke
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, North Carolina
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
and Wake Forest
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
--responded by upgrading their facilities and recruiting budgets to counter the "red menace" in Raleigh. Case is also credited with introducing such practices as cutting down the nets after a championship and shining a spotlight on players as they were introduced.
For a time, it looked as if the Wolfpack would dominate the ACC in the same fashion that Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
dominated the Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
. However, the Wolfpack's momentum was derailed in 1956, when the NCAA placed N.C. State on four years' probation. Case reportedly had his top assistant coach and State's assistant athletic director give Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
high school athlete Jackie Moreland cash and gifts to entice him away from his previous agreement to attend Kentucky—a charge he denied. The NCAA, however, found that Case not only knew about the gifts to Moreland—which included a seven-year medical education—but expressly approved them. Just as that probation ended in 1960, State was placed on probation again—this time for a point-shaving scandal that caused the cancellation of the Dixie Classic.
By this time, Case was in failing health. He stepped down early in the 1964-65 season due to inoperable cancer. He soon needed to use a wheelchair; when the Wolfpack won the 1965 ACC tournament, they wheeled him over from press row so he could cut the last strand of the net. He died a year later, and was interred at Raleigh Memorial Park in Raleigh. Case instructed that his body be laid facing North Carolina Highway 70 so he could "wave" to later Wolfpack teams as they traveled to Durham and Chapel Hill.
He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame
Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame
The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in New Castle, Indiana. It honors men and women associated with high school, college and professional basketball in Indiana....
in 1968, Basketball Hall of Fame
Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...
on May 3, 1982 and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1964. N.C. State's main athletics office is named for him.
In 2011 The Classic: How Everett Case and His Tournament Brought Big-Time Basketball to the South (ISBN 978-0-9836825-2-3) by Bethany Bradsher was published, telling the story of the Dixie Classic basketball tournament with an emphasis on Case's contributions.