The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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MARCH 2014 ■ 83 ■ PACK PAST bach and Sam Esposito, Musselman helped the Wolfpack win three ACC titles and the 1974 NCAA championship. Musselman said he never knew why Sloan recruited him to The Citadel from tiny Hun- tington High School. The answer isn't really hard: Sloan, an Indianapolis native who had played under Indiana high school coaching legend Everett Case at NC State, certainly knew he was getting a player with basketball genes. "I came from a little country town in Indiana, and how he came to find out about me I have no idea — we never discussed it," Musselman said. "It just kind of came out of the blue." Musselman joins a long line of Wolfpack legends in Indiana's basketball shrine, be- ginning with five-time Indiana high school champion Case, who was elected in 1964, just before he retired at NC State as the Wolfpack's all-time winningest coach. Sloan followed in 1984, as did Converse, Ind., native Towe in 2002 and East Chicago native Tim Stoddard in 2011. All were as- sociated with the Wolfpack's 57-1 record from 1972-74. Other Hoosiers with Wolfpack ties in- clude Sloan's nemesis Vic Bubas, a player and assistant coach under Case who took Duke to three Final Fours as a head coach; Pete Auksel of East Chicago, who lettered for three years for Case at NC State; and Dick Dickey of Pendleton, the only player in NC State history to earn four consecu- tive all-conference honors and the leader of the Wolfpack team that went to the 1950 Final Four. Musselman left basketball on a high note, taking a job with IBM shortly after the 1974 title. He then became a teacher and the boys' and girls' basketball coach at Cape Fear Academy. He moved back to the Triangle area a quarter century ago to Knightdale, becoming a public school teacher and a prison educator. After spending time working for the Wendell Parks and Recreation department, Musselman now sells cars in his spare time. For the last 26 years, he has lived in Knightdale, N.C., with his wife. Musselman still isn't completely sure why Sloan took a chance on a lanky boy from rural Indiana, but when he is inducted to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame March 26, he will credit all that he has accomplished in his full life to his relation- ship with the coach who recruited him. "Everything that has happened to me since 1956 is because of Coach Sloan," Musselman said. "I can't thank him enough for teaching me to have dreams." ■ A PROUD SUPPORTER OF NC STATE Engineers and Planners Specializing in Roadway and Railroad Design Structure Design Traffic Engineering Transportation and Environmental Planning Over 80 offices across North America including: 7621 Purfoy Road, Suite 115, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526 T: 919.552.2253 F: 919.552.2254 www.hatchmott.com/career Hatch Matt MacDonald is an Equal Opportunity Employer ◆ NC State Beach Umbrella ◆ NC State Chill by Freeze Cooler ◆ NC State Wave Rider Beach Chair Bell'S BeaCh SUpplieS, llC ViSit WWW.BellSBeaChSUpplieS.Com to pURChaSe Scotia Construction, Inc. Commerical Contractors since 1972 Hal C. Stevens, PE NCSU Class of '78 956 W. Chatham St. • Cary, NC 27511 Office: (919) 467-0293 Proud Supporter of NC State Athletics for over 40 years You may contact Tim Peeler at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. 82-83.Pack Past.indd 83 2/25/14 2:43 PM