Norm Sloan

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Norm Sloan (June 25, 1926 – December 9, 2003) was an American college basketball coach.

Sloan was a graduate of North Carolina State University, where he lettered in basketball under coach Everett Case and was a classmate and teammate of Vic Bubas, who later coached Duke. As players, both won multiple Southern Conference Championships, including 1950 and 1951 victories over Duke. Sloan and Bubas were assistants under Case in the early years of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In 1957, Sloan left N.C. State to become head coach at The Citadel, where he built the program from being a laughing stock to as good a record as 15-5, including winning the George Mikan Award for Most Improved Team and being named the 1959 Coach of the Year by the South Carolina Sportswriters Association. After four years, he went to Florida, where he coached until 1966, when he returned to N.C. State.

While at N.C. State, he won three ACC Championships and one NCAA Championship (1974). His greatest teams included legendary players such as David Thompson, Tommy Burleson, Moe Rivers, Tim Stoddard (who went on to pitch in Major League Baseball), and Monte Towe. "Stormin' Norman" was as well known for his garish red-and-white plaid sports coat as he was for his ACC battles with Lefty Driesell at Maryland and Dean Smith at North Carolina. He was selected the National Coach of the Year in 1973 by Basketball Weekly and again in 1974 by the USBWA and the Associated Press.

Sloan returned to Florida after leaving the Wolfpack, taking the Gators to three NCAA Tournaments in eight years and the school's first Southeastern Conference basketball championship in 1988-89. His reputation as "Stormin' Norman" continued as he feuded throughout his tenure in Gainesville with LSU Tigers coach Dale Brown.

Sloan resigned prior to the 1989-90 season in the wake of an NCAA investigation into the Gator program, an investigation that also involved the football team. The football investigation led to the firing of coach Galen Hall and the eventual hiring of former Gator quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier.

In 1984, he was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, and in 1994 he was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

Sloan's 627 victories rank him 26th on the career list of Division I coaches. He is still the second-winningest coach in N.C. State history, trailing only Case. He is also the second-winningest coach in Florida history, trailing only current Florida coach Billy Donovan.

Preceded by John Mauer	Florida Men's Basketball Head Coach 1961–1966	Succeeded by Tommy Bartlett
Preceded by Press Maravich	NC State Head Men's Basketball Coach 1967–1980	Succeeded by Jim Valvano
Preceded by Ed Visscher	Florida Head Men's Basketball Coach 1981–1989	Succeeded by Don DeVoe

[edit] External links

• usenet: alt.games.the-sloan