The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1543694
MARCH/APRIL 2026 ■ 49 Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. military teams and small colleges that would be classified NAIA or NCAA Di- vision II in today's terms. That changed during his sophomore season when Rio Grande coach Newt Oliver put together a more challeng- ing schedule that included Miami and Case's perennially powerful Wolfpack, the defending Southern Conference champion. Francis was fresh off scoring 48 points in a win at Miami on the Saturday before, while suffering "a slight appen- dicitis," an affliction that bothered him throughout his two-year college career. Case's Pack had already disposed of Furman's Frank Selvy, one of two play- ers in major-college basketball history to score 100 points in a game, by beating the Paladins, 100-74. On the first night, the State-Rio Grande game was the undercard, while the Wake Forest-Peoria game was the featured attraction. The Wolfpack held Francis, who many called "The Babe Ruth of College Basketball," to just 34 points, the second-lowest total of his career to that point, and rolled to a com- fortable 92-77 victory behind 28 points from senior captain Mel Thompson. "I'd take him," Case said of Francis. "He could play on my team. If you let him have the ball, he'll score. I like him. He's a great shot. Bevo hasn't hit his peak. "He oughta get better." Coming From Behind In the nightcap, Wake scored a win over the Caterpillars, an outcome that would rock the college basketball world today but barely caused a flicker back then. Peoria was more than just a barn- storming amateur team sponsored by a heavy equipment manufacturer, fi- nanced by the nickels and dimes the company collected out of the vending machines in its home factory. They were the 1952 Olympic champions, back when USA Basketball had a completely different selection process than negoti- ating with members of the Dream Team. Coached by Warren Womble, the Cats qualified for a 14-team Olympic Trials tournament, held at New York's Madison Square Garden, by winning the first of three consecutive AAU national championships. They then ran the table on the other teams. Led by Frank Mc- Cabe, the Caterpillars beat defending NCAA champion Kansas, 62-60, in the final contest. Under newly instituted rules, the two finalists combined their rosters to create the team that repre- sented the U.S. at the 1952 Helsinki Games. Womble was the head coach, while Kansas mentor Phog Allen was the lone assistant. Womble was allowed to pick seven players, taking five of his own Caterpillars and two players from other National Industrial Basketball League teams. The rest of the roster was filled out by the top players in the trials tour- nament, including Kansas star Clyde Lovellette. The American all-stars went unde- feated in their first six games to qual- ify for the medal round, then won the gold medal with a 36-25 victory over the Soviet Union, which was making its Olympic debut. It was considered an important win over the Iron Curtain in the earliest days of the Cold War. The Caterpillars went back into the NIBL and often played regional exhi- bition games like the ones against NC State and Wake Forest in December 1953. Five of the players on Womble's Olympic roster remained on the Cater- pillars team that faced the Wolfpack and Demon Deacons. On the second night of the double- headers, Francis hit a last-second shot to lead little Rio Grande to a 67-65 upset victory over Wake, which had beaten State in the 1953 Southern Conference championship game earlier in the year and lost to the Wolfpack in the inaugural ACC Tournament later that season. Then Peoria's Olympic leftovers jumped out to an early lead over the homestanding Wolfpack and held a 40- 27 advantage early in in the second half. However, Case turned up the defense, and his team held Peoria without a field goal for more than eight minutes, while on a 15-2 run. The Caterpillars were ahead 57-56 with 1:36 remaining in the game, but State's Dave Gotkin and Mel Thomp- son both drained 2 free throws to take the lead for good. NC State won, 63- 60, behind a game-high 18 points from sophomore guard Vic Molodet and 13 from Thompson. Sophomore center Ronnie Shavlik had just 8 points but 17 rebounds. Both teams struggled from the field, with Peoria shooting just 22.4 percent (17 for 76). State was just 19 of 74. Officially, it was just an exhibition game against a team that had performed on the highest international and na- tional levels. It is not listed in the NC State record book, though it is no dif- ferent than the wins and losses Case and his squad notched against military teams in the aftermath of World War II. While Peoria went on to win its sec- ond AAU title, Case's Wolfpack won the inaugural ACC crown, followed by two more. The double doubleheaders were not particularly successful. About 7,500 fans were on hand the first night and 5,200 for the second. Less than a week later, State and Wake competed in the fifth annual Dixie Clas- sic at Reynolds Coliseum, and Case's team must have been worn out from its back-to-back wins in the pre-holiday doubleheader and a day-after-Christ- mas victory over Pennsylvania. The Pack suffered its first-ever loss in the Dixie tournament to Navy, and Duke went on to become the first team other than the host to claim the title. ■ Holiday Doubleheader game program from 1953. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS