The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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14 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK Sponsored by Colony Tire & Service www.colonytire.com For years, NC State senior associate athlet- ics director emeritus Frank Weedon pushed to get former Wolfpack basketball coach Norman Sloan in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Without success. Both he and Sloan died before the accom- plishments of one of coach Everett Case's origi- nal "Hoosier Hotshots" were honored by either the Collegiate Basketball or the Naismith Me- morial Halls of Fame, where he would join the other two Wolfpack coaches already enshrined in both places, Everett Case (1982) and Kay Yow (2000). In one of her final acts as NC State athletics director, Debbie Yow revisited the possibility by officially nominating the late coach for the Nai- smith Hall of Fame, with the hopes that he will one day be enshrined with other legends that he competed against and often vanquished. Sloan died at the age of 77 on Dec. 9, 2003, but his accomplishments live strong at the four schools where he was the head coach: Presby- terian, The Citadel, Florida (twice) and his alma mater NC State. Sloan's credentials are impressive. He won championships in the Southern Conference, the Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference. He compiled perhaps the greatest team in ACC history, featuring All-Americans Da- vid Thompson and Tommy Burleson, which not only ended UCLA's seven-year college basket- ball dynasty but also compiled a 57-1 two-year record while playing in the loaded ACC that has never been matched or exceeded. Sloan's 1973-74 squad is ranked in the top 10 of the greatest NCAA championship teams of all time by both ESPN and CBS Sports. Competing in the ACC, Sloan often went head- to-head with coaches who have already been enshrined: UNC's Dean Smith, South Carolina's Frank McGuire and Maryland's Lefty Driesell, as well as others who have been elected to the Col- legiate Basketball Hall of Fame, such as Duke's Vic Bubas, his NC State teammate/nemesis. In his team's near-perfect two-season run, Sloan and the Wolfpack posted 17 wins with only one loss against coaches who are already enshrined in basketball's top halls: Smith (6-0), Driesell (6-0), UCLA's John Wooden (1-1), Vil- lanova's Rollie Massamino (1-0), Memphis' Gene Bartow (1-0), Providence's Dave Gavitt (1-0) and Marquette's Al McGuire (1-0). Three of those victories came in the Wolfpack's four NCAA Tournament games in 1974, when it beat Providence, Pittsburgh, UCLA and Mar- quette over the course of two weekends. At the time of his death, Sloan ranked No. 26 all time in career Division I coaching wins and now is 51st, with 627 victories in 37 years, despite competing in about six fewer games per year than current coaches. He led NC State and Florida to a combined six NCAA Tourna- ment berths. He is one of just 10 coaches in NCAA history to lead his alma mater to a national title. He is also one of seven ACC coaches with three or more ACC Tournament titles — Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (14); North Carolina's Smith (13) and Roy Williams (three); Case and Bubas (four); and Georgia Tech's Bobby Cremins (three). With three ACC Coach of the Year awards, Sloan is among a select group to win that award more than two times. The other seven are Smith (eight), Krzyzewski (five), Case (three), Bubas (three), Cremins (three), Wake Forest's Dave Odom (three) and Virginia's Tony Bennett (three). Sloan is already enshrined into the NC State Athletic, the Indiana Basketball and the North Carolina Sports Halls of Fame. — Tim Peeler Debbie Yow Nominates Norm Sloan For Basketball Hall Of Fame ■ BY THE NUMBERS 1 Is the new uniform number for fifth-year senior defensive end JAMES SMITH-WILLIAMS this season. He follows wide receiver Steph Louis, running back/tight end Jaylen Samuels, safety Hakim Jones and defensive back Jarvis Byrd in wearing the number. 5 th Place in the ACC for the NC State football program according to Athlon Sports based on the attractive- ness of the head coaching position. 5 Seed for NC State in Joe Lunardi's early bracket projection for the 2020 NCAA Tournament on ESPN.com. He had the Wolfpack facing No. 12 seed Wofford in the South region, with a potential matchup versus No. 4 seed Kansas in the second round. 8 Wins that College Football News is predicting for NC State's regular season next fall. 10 Ranking by ESPN among all-time national champions for the 1974 NC State squad, which went 30-1 and topped UCLA in the Final Four and Marquette in the title game. The 1983 squad was ranked No. 69. 15 National rank- ing by Rivals. com for NC State's 2020 football recruiting class, which has eight com- mits, through May 2. 24 Ranking among transfers immediately eligible to play in 2019-20 by ESPN's Jeff Borzello for new NC State forward Pat Andree, who is a graduate transfer from Lehigh. For play- ers expected to sit out a year and redshirt, guard Thomas Allen — who is transferring from Nebraska to NC State — was ranked No. 16. 36 Final NET ranking for the NC State men's basketball program following the NCAA Tournament. The Wolfpack played eight opponents that finished in the top 22. 82 Percentage of 4,500 respondents to a survey conducted by Oldhatcreative.com for NC State that believe the Wolfpack football games are competitively priced. 13,897 Average home attendance for NC State men's basket- ball this season, which ranked fifth in the ACC.