The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1543694
48 ■ THE WOLFPACKER PACK PAST A Pair Of Overlooked Exhibitions Foreshadowed The Pack's Early ACC Success BY TIM PEELER O ver two nights in back-to-back doubleheaders at the arena he turned into the South's greatest show palace, Everett Case solidified his legacy as the most important coach in the his- tory of North Carolina. By slowing down college basketball's unstoppable scorer and beating the reigning Olympic and national cham- pions, Case and his Wolfpack showed that it could extend the dynasty he had built in the Southern Conference into the newly formed Atlantic Coast Con- ference. Surely, this two-day spectacle at Reynolds Coliseum, billed as "one of the greatest doubleheader attractions ever offered basketball fans of this area," has to be the most celebrated weekend in program history. Actually, few people remember the circumstances of why the four midweek games played just before Christmas fea- turing NC State College, Wake Forest, Rio Grande and the Peoria Caterpillars of the National Industrial Basketball League served notice that Case and his Pack had a chance to dominate the new league. Rio Grande and Peoria? How could these two unknown Midwestern teams possibly be important in the timeline of basketball history? The simple answers are Bevo Francis and the Olympic Games. A Comfortable Win In the early 1950s — long before Pete Maravich or Wilt Chamberlain or Da- vid Thompson — Francis was college basketball's most explosive scorer and biggest curiosity, though few people knew his school was in southwestern Ohio and not on the river at the Texas- Mexico border. Rio Grande had an enrollment of just 97 students and a home court barely 80 feet long, but it also had Francis, a 6-foot-9 center who could put up more points than an oversized porcupine. As a freshman in 1952-53, he scored 116 points in a single game and 1,954 points on the season, garnering All- America honors and helping his team win 39 consecutive games over mostly lesser competition. Sportswriters and college basketball purists derided his accomplishments because little Rio Grande didn't play anyone of note, just junior and community colleges, a few Sophomore guard Vic Molodet led all scorers with 18 points when NC State defeated the Peoria Caterpillars, an all-star team made up of Olympic gold medal winners and former college standouts. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS