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Storms in the Southland - Why South Carolina left the ACC

* An excerpt from the forthcoming book "The Wilderness - South Carolina Athletics in the Independent Era (1971-1991)*

The Atlantic Coast Conference was formed by the four North Carolina members for the benefit of the North Carolina members. They needed USC, Clemson, Maryland and Virginia (a late joiner) to fill out a decent conference. But the outsiders were supposed to be step-children, to be seen and not heard.”

- Editorial, The State (Columbia) Newspaper, March 17, 1971

It was a Saturday evening, March 13, 1971. Temperatures were warm, in the upper 60s. Bradford Pears, with their pungent, white blooms, were beginning to flower in Greensboro. Jessamine and Honeysuckle too perfumed the early evening air as fans of both North and South Carolina made their way, tickets in hand, to the newly renovated Greensboro Coliseum. The air was peaceful, calm, belying the coming storms, both on and off the basketball court. Spring would officially arrive a week later, but winter had a score yet to settle.

South Carolina finished the 1970-71 regular season second in the ACC behind North Carolina, and as many had predicted, the two schools would meet in the conference tournament final. The Gamecocks had dispatched Maryland 71-63 in the opening round and dominated N.C. State 69-56 in the semifinal. Likewise, the Tar Heels had taken care of business, eliminating Clemson and Virginia in rounds one and two.

After a game that saw the Gamecocks struggle mightily from the floor, UNC began to edge ahead late in the second half. With a 46-40 lead at the 4:34 mark, Tar Heel Coach Dean Smith went to his signature “Four Corners” offense, which was not engineered to produce points, rather to milk clock and keep the ball out of the hands of the opposing team. This was long before the shot clock was implemented in college basketball, and many teams used this strategy to slow down high-powered opposing offenses. Earlier in the season in a game at College Park, Maryland, the Terrapins used a similar strategy to neutralize John Roche and the Gamecocks, resulting in a 4-3 halftime score before things picked up in the second half.

With no shot clock, the Gamecocks were forced to foul. UNC needed only to hit free throws to preserve its lead and escape with a win, something Smith’s Tar Heels had nearly perfected in those years. Remarkably, UNC missed the front end of five one-on-ones down the stretch. The Gamecocks responded, pulling within a point, 49-48 with 1:04 remaining. UNC’s Lee Dedmon and USC’s John Ribock exchanged free throws and the game was still within a point, 50-49 with 45 seconds left. After a steal by USC’s Bob Carver resulted in a foul on Ribock’s attempted layup, Ribock made one of two free throws to knot it at 50 with 39 seconds remaining. The Gamecocks missed from the floor and the Tar Heels’ George Karl missed a one-on-one opportunity over the next 18 seconds.

The Tar Heels went up by one, 51-50, but when Karl could not connect on another one-on-one, USC’s Rick Aydlett rebounded with 20 seconds remaining and passed it off to 6’3” guard, Kevin Joyce. As Joyce drove the baseline for a shot he was tied-up by UNC’s 6’10” Dedmon and there was a jump ball. Like the shot clock, the rule of alternating possessions for jump balls was years away, so the much smaller Joyce would have to jump against UNC’s big man Dedmon. To compound the mismatch, Joyce was coming off a leg injury earlier in the season. Tar Heel fans were planning their post-game celebrations. McGuire claimed he saw a UNC assistant with a pair of scissors for the post-game net cutting.

Following the jump ball whistle, McGuire called a time out with six seconds on the clock. Given the mismatch on the jump ball, USC had no realistic expectation of controlling the tip. McGuire used the timeout to talk through strategies for stealing the ball after Dedmon controlled the tap. McGuire’s main bit of coaching advice to Joyce was to “jump to the moon, kid.” During the timeout, tension mounted in the arena. UNC and USC pep bands alternated fight songs, filling the air with the strains of brass and a drumming battle rhythm. Confident Tar Heel fans awaited another title. Gamecock fans, agonized through the timeout, hoping for a miracle while bracing for the familiar gut punch of disappointment. Not a soul left the arena to get a head start on traffic. This was not one of those games. Fans had been standing most of the second half, living and dying with each shot and every frenzied loose ball scramble, their palms clammy, their breathing shallow. The horn sounded and officials summoned the teams to the floor. Six seconds.

As the teams took their places for the jump, Joyce sensed an ever-so-slight sense of complacency from Dedmon. He also noticed that, perhaps assuming Dedmon would control the tip, no UNC players lined up between the Gamecocks’ 6’10” Tom Owens and the UNC basket. As the official tossed the ball up, Joyce jumped “like he had springs in his legs,” as McGuire would later say, managing to tip the ball to an unopposed Owens, who deftly wheeled around, laying the ball off the glass and into the basket. The Gamecocks were up 52-51. As the final two seconds ticked away, UNC could not get a shot off and South Carolina held on to claim its first and only ACC Tournament Championship.

Pandemonium ensued among the Gamecock faithful. Bob Fulton, the legendary radio voice of the Gamecocks, described the jubilation of the moment as the garnet-clad Gamecocks rushed the court in celebration – “…the ballgame is all over – they’re going wild on the court!” South Carolina partisans among the 15,170 inside Greensboro Coliseum were left jubilant, if emotionally drained after the dramatic finish.

South Carolina, by virtue of winning the tournament, went onto represent the ACC in the NCAA tournament, which included only 25 teams at the time. USC was slotted in the East Regional, which was played before a hostile and vocally anti-Gamecock crowd in Raleigh’s Reynolds Coliseum. The Gamecocks were matched against a powerful University of Pennsylvania team, which had won 27 straight games and was ranked 3rd in the nation. The partisan ACC crowd cheered, not the ACC champion, but for Penn, illustrating the bitterness, which had developed between USC and the other ACC members.

Further illustrating that bitterness was end-of-season voting for ACC Coach of the Year and Player of the Year, which revealed strident anti-Gamecock sentiment among the North Carolina-dominated voting media. McGuire, in spite of winning the ACC Championship and guiding his team to an ACC-leading 6th place finish in national polls, did not factor into voting. UNC’s Smith won out, with Virginia’s Bill Gibson placing second. John Roche was denied a third straight Player of the Year recognition, as media members curiously voted 86-30 for Wake Forest’s Charlie Davis. This, despite South Carolina’s 20 and 15-point wins over Wake in the regular season. Roche was selected a first team All-American by UPI and Basketball Weekly, among others, and was selected first team by NBA coaches for the annual College All-Star squad, while Davis was named neither first or second team.

In a disappointing NCAA tournament showing, South Carolina went into halftime down just a point, but Penn dominated the second half to win going away, 79-64. The NCAA Tournament hosted consolation games in those days, and USC came up short in that one as well, losing a high-scoring affair to Fordham, 100-90. The loss to Fordham was South Carolina’s final basketball game as a member of the ACC. Though the Gamecocks would compete in conference play in baseball that spring, the South Carolina would leave the ACC officially on August 15 of that year, a mere five months after their greatest triumph in Greensboro.

How did it come to that? How did the University of South Carolina go from winning the ACC basketball championship to withdrawing from a conference it helped form 18 years earlier?

This story really begins in 1964 with the hiring of Frank McGuire at USC. And it happened completely by chance.

The Irishman Comes South (Again)

McGuire had enjoyed highly successful stints at two schools prior to coming to Columbia – his alma mater, St. Johns University, and at the University of North Carolina. He had taken the Redmen to the national championship game in 1952, where they lost in the final to a high-powered Kansas Jayhawks team, coached by the legendary Phog Allen. Allen had played at Kansas for James A. Naismith – the inventor of basketball. The ’52 Kansas squad featured a senior guard who would have a close association with McGuire in future years, Dean Smith.

UNC lured McGuire to Chapel Hill following the 1952 season. The Tar Heels, were not a recognized national power at the time. North Carolina was attempting to match the success of rival N.C. State under Coach Everett Case. Catch up he did, surpassing Case’s Wolfpack teams and capturing a National Championship in 1957.

In winning the ’57 title, McGuire evened the score against Phog Allen and Kansas, taking a thrilling triple overtime championship game. This time, Dean Smith was an assistant coach, sitting beside McGuire on the North Carolina bench. Another important piece of that 1957 final was 7’1” Kansas sophomore Wilt Chamberlain, who would score 23 points and pull down 14 rebounds in a losing effort that day. Chamberlain was awarded the Most Outstanding Player of that year’s Final Four despite the loss. He would describe the loss to McGuire’s Tar Heels as the most painful of his life. Chamberlain and McGuire would cross paths again a few years later in the NBA.

(Chamberlain came in fourth for the national scoring title during the 1957 season, edged out by Joe Gibbon of Mississippi, Elgin Baylor of Seattle, and South Carolina senior forward Grady Wallace, who averaged an NCAA-leading 31.3 ppg. Wallace’s #42 was the first number retired by the USC athletic department in any sport. He remains one of only two national scoring champions from the ACC, along with Erick Green of Virginia Tech, who averaged 25 ppg in 2012-13)

While at UNC, McGuire established his “underground railroad,” bringing New York City talent to Chapel Hill and quickly establishing a Basketball culture at the school. It was a strategy he would successfully duplicate at South Carolina in the coming years.

McGuire enjoyed continued success at UNC until 1961, when North Carolina was found guilty of NCAA violations stemming from recruiting improprieties and allegations of point shaving involving several players. UNC Chancellor William Aycock, who was concerned that sports had taken too prominent a role at the school, was determined to exert more control over the athletic department, and particularly over McGuire’s basketball program. When the NCAA announced sanctions against UNC following their investigation into the recruiting violations, Aycock cautioned McGuire that he must bring his program under control. When two UNC players were later caught up in the point-shaving scandal, which also involved N.C. State and other schools, McGuire saw the writing on the wall. Other points of conflict had developed between McGuire and UNC, including the school’s failure to replace outdated Woolen Gymnasium with a modern field house, as well as McGuire’s ongoing feud with Athletic Director Chuck Erickson.

In May 1961, McGuire offered his resignation, which Aycock accepted. In parting, McGuire recommended assistant Dean Smith for the top job. Aycock hired Smith, who would go on to a brilliant career as Tar Heel coach.

McGuire followed this with a one-season stint coaching the NBA’s Philadelphia Warriors. It was during this season, in which McGuire coached former Kansas Jayhawk Wilt Chamberlain that Chamberlain achieved his legendary 100-point game on March 2, 1962 versus the New York Knicks. Chamberlain averaged an inconceivable 50.4 points and 25.6 rebounds that season. The Warriors lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to the dominant Boston Celtics on a last second basket to end their season. The owner of the Warriors, Eddie Gottlieb, sold the Warrior franchise to a group of businessmen in San Francisco following the 1961-62 season and McGuire opted not to move his family to the West Coast.

In three stops, McGuire had established himself as a coaching blueblood. He was the only coach in NCAA history (at the time) to take two schools to a Basketball national championship game. Since that time, both Rick Pitino (Kentucky and Louisville) and Dean Smith protégé Roy Williams (Kansas and UNC) have accomplished that feat. At St. John’s, McGuire also coached baseball, taking the Redmen to the 1949 College World Series, as well as his basketball team to the ’52 final, the only coach in NCAA history to accomplish both.

For the next two years McGuire took a hiatus from coaching, working in a public relations job in New York City. It was a time he said was good for him, providing an opportunity to rest and mature. He also discovered that he still had a desire to coach. The 50 year-old McGuire was ready for a new challenge.

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Frank McGuire and Mike Grosso
Frank McGuire and Mike Grosso (Getty Images | Bruce Roberts / Contributor)

The great Bob Fulton, radio “Voice of the Gamecocks” for forty years detailed in his 1995 biography, “Frank McGuire: The Life and Times of a Basketball Legend,” the story of how McGuire ended up at South Carolina. It illustrates that, as with many things in life, chance played a part.

Fulton relayed the story of Jeff Hunt, a Columbia businessman, as well as an avid Gamecock fan, and financial backer of the athletic department. Hunt flew his private plane to Asheville, where he met for breakfast with friends at Buck’s Restaurant prior to a business meeting later that day. The group assembled for breakfast included restaurant owner John “Buck” Buchanan. Buchanan was a big University of North Carolina supporter and had become a friend of McGuire’s during his tenure at UNC. When Hunt walked into the restaurant that morning, McGuire was there for breakfast with the group.

McGuire and Hunt struck up a conversation during which McGuire asked what Hunt was doing in Asheville. Hunt, a heavy machinery dealer, told him that he had come to inspect a tractor he was considering for trade-in. McGuire said that he had never seen anyone do that, and was interested in riding along with Hunt to watch him inspect the tractor.

On the ride, making casual conversation, Hunt said to McGuire, “…so, coach, why don’t you come and coach at the University of South Carolina?” Hunt was surprised by the reaction. He had expected McGuire to shrug off the question, but McGuire sounded vaguely interested, as if he would come if there were not already a coach in place.

Hunt relays the rest of the story:

“So, I pulled over to the side of the road, and I got serious with him. I said ‘Coach, I don’t think we’re gonna have a coach very long. I know for a fact that they’re going to appoint an interim coach.’ McGuire said, ‘If they’re gonna let him go – and you’re sure of that – I’m not out for someone else’s job – let me hear from you.’ I said, ‘Give me your phone number. Can I have somebody call you?’ He said, ‘Oh, no. I won’t deal with anybody else but you.’”

And so the wheels were set in motion. Hunt was correct about the interim coach. Following the 12th game of the 1963-64 season, USC appointed assistant coach Duane Morrison, a former player at USC, as interim head coach. He replaced Chuck Noe, who had resigned during his second season, citing “nervous exhaustion.”

Following his conversation with McGuire, Hunt contacted Sol Blatt, Jr of the USC Board of Trustees. Blatt was the chairman of the board’s athletic committee. He was also the son of Sol Blatt, Sr., who was the Speaker of the South Carolina House in the General Assembly, and arguably the most powerful politician in the state at the time. Together, they wielded great influence over the affairs of the University. The Blatts hailed from Barnwell, in the southwestern part of the state, as did Edgar A. Brown. Brown was a powerful State Senator and served as Senate Majority Leader for a period of time. Because of their power and influence across the state, this group was often referred to as “The Barnwell Ring.” They were enthusiastic supporters of the University and its athletic teams, but their enthusiasm, coupled with great power, often morphed into heavy-handed tactics, as McGuire would find out in years to come.

Because McGuire refused to discuss the opening by telephone, a meeting was arranged in short order at a New York City hotel between McGuire, Blatt, Jr. and USC President Tom Jones. A subsequent meeting was planned back in South Carolina. To McGuire’s surprise, the follow-up meeting took place in Barnwell, not Columbia, giving him some insight as to why South Carolinians often referred to Barnwell as the de facto state capital.

The Barnwell meeting, attended by President Jones, Blatt, Jr. and several other BOT members was successful and McGuire accepted the head coaching position at the University of South Carolina. He was the University’s third coach in five months. No contract was signed and no specific salary was discussed. McGuire simply told Blatt to “just pay me what you pay Marvin.” Marvin Bass was the head football coach at USC, and McGuire’s closest contact in the Palmetto State, as Bass had been an assistant football coach at UNC during McGuire’s tenure there.

McGuire’s lone demand beyond the vague mention of salary was that the University construct a modern arena. At the time, USC played in the antiquated Carolina Field House, which, along with Clemson’s Fike Fieldhouse was among the most reviled venues by opposing ACC coaches for its cramped and inhospitable environs. Carolina Fieldhouse was built in 1927 and held only 3,200, which could not accommodate the student body (6,920 in 1964), much less other area fans. The failure to build a modern arena had been one of the main points of contention between McGuire and UNC. Blatt and the BOT provided ample assurances of a new arena in Columbia.

The March 13, 1964 edition of The State declared in a banner headline that McGuire had taken on a dual role at the University, that of associate athletic director and “Cage Coach”. (In the early days of professional basketball, wire cages were often assembled over the playing floor to keep balls inbounds and to separate players and fans. The term “cage coach” stuck around long after the actual cages disappeared.)

McGuire, energized by a two-year hiatus and perhaps a sizeable chip on his shoulder, quickly set about building his new program. His first team (1964-65) took its lumps, finishing 6-17 (2-12 ACC). But McGuire quickly reestablished his underground railroad, bringing in highly-regarded New York-area recruits Skip Harlika, Jack Thompson and Frank Standard. As freshmen were ineligible for varsity play in those days, the talented trio was not an immediate help.

As the season drew to a close in the ACC Tournament in Raleigh, USC achieved its best performance of the season, pushing 9th-ranked Duke to the final buzzer before coming just shy of the upset, 62-60. Meanwhile, the freshmen team won 14 of 16 games, providing a tantalizing preview of what was to come. Gamecock fans were already looking forward to McGuire’s second stanza.

To compound the excitement, that spring McGuire landed his highest-profile recruit since coming to Carolina – 6’8” center Mike Grosso, of Raritan, New Jersey. Grosso averaged 30 points and 31 rebounds during his senior season at Bridgewater-Ruritan High School, and was recruited heavily across the country, receiving interest from over 40 colleges, including ACC blue-blood Duke. Grosso’s commitment to McGuire and South Carolina would set in motion a chain of events, which caused great acrimony between South Carolina and its ACC brethren, and would pave the road to USC’s departure from the ACC a few years later.

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