Everett Case

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Everett Case (June 21, 1900 - April 30, 1966), nicknamed "Old Gray Fox", was an American college basketball coach. Case was a brilliant combination of coach, promoter and motivator. His dynamic personality gave him the ability to inspire his players as well as excite the crowds. An animated bench coach, he would constantly chew gum and implore his players on with motivational speeches. Case is credited with starting the tradition of cutting down the nets after winning a tournament. He also was the first coach to use player introductions and the "noise-meter."

Born in Anderson, Indiana, Case graduated from the University of Wisconsin 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 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 took assumed coaching duties at North Carolina State University, where he coached for 18 seasons. From 1946 to 1964, , N.C. State compiled a 376-133 (.739) record, won the last six Southern Conference titles and the first three Atlantic Coast Conference crowns, eventually winning four overall, and seven Dixie Classics. 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.

Case was largely responsible for turning North Carolina into a "basketball state," a fact acknowledged (albeit grudgingly) even by fans of North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest. For example, 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 11 tournaments.

For a time, it looked as if the Wolfpack would dominate the ACC in the same fashion that Kentucky dominated the Southeastern Conference. However, Case played fast and loose with recruiting rules, and the Wolfpack spent much of the latter portion of Case's career on NCAA probation.

Case stepped down early in the 1964-65 season due to inoperable cancer. He died two years later.

He was inducted into the 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.