4
The News Argus
Feb. 4, 2008
Buck History
Rivalry between WSSU and A&T has long colorful history
Photo courtesy of WSSU Archives
Former Winston-Salem State great Bill English shoots over North
Carolina A&T
Steven J. Gaither
EDITOR IN CHIEF
When Winston-Salem State and
North Carolina A&T meet on Jan.
26 in Greensboro it marked the
first time that the two former
ClAA powers have met since the
1998 season.
The two schools are separated
by less than 30 miles, and while it
may not gain the national atten
tion of the Duke-Carolina rivalry,
for a time it was arguably just as
fierce. In the 1950s and 60's both
schools were members of the
ClAA. In those decades just before
massive integration in major col
lege sports, the all-black schools in
the league had their own pick of
the top black athletes.
Although the close proximity of
the schools made them natural
rivals, the rivalry really got cook
ing when the schools hired two
former college teammates to head
their basketball programs.
Winston-Salem Teacher College
hired Clarence "Big House"
Gaines as an assistant coach to
Brutus Wilson in 1945. Gaines had
been a star football player at
Morgan State in Baltimore. He was
also a center on the Bears basket
ball squad. The star of the team
was Cal Irvin, who was later hired
as the head coach at A&T.
Adding fuel to the fire was the
competition for players. In those
days, scouting and recruiting of
players was limited, so most
coaches heard about players from
former players and awarded schol
arships based on that. In 1956, one
of Gaines' players told him about a
guard from Newark, New Jersey,
but Gaines told the player he
needed big men, not guards. The
guard turned out to be A1 Attles,
who went on to a long profes
sional career in both the playing
and coaching ranks.
By the following season, Gaines
had a Newark guard of his own,
Cleo Hill. Hill went on to smash
all scoring records at Winston-
Salem State and in the ClAA. The
peak of the rivalry may have been
the 1966-67 basketball season. The
Rams were led by Earl Monroe,
who averaged 41.5 points per
game that year. The Rams also fea
tured future NBA player Jim Reid,
and Bill English, who is currently
fourth on the Rams' all-time scor
ing list. Guard Sylvester Adams,
and big men Ted Campbell and
William Gilmer led the Aggies.
Although the two coaches
played together at Morgan, they
had two different philosophies
when it came to coaching the
game. Irvin favored a "platoon"
system in which he basically used
two sets of five players and when
one group got tired, he would just
send in another group.
Gaines believed that his best
players should start and play the
entire game.
"I believe in stamina and condi
tioning for a team," Gaines said
told the Twin City Sentinel. "A
team cannot win in basketball if fts
players get tired easily."
The differences did not stop
there. The Aggies were a team
built on strength and the Rams
relied on their quick, fast-breaking
style to outscore their opponents.
"With the schools being so close,
it was just a natural rivalry," said
Ernie Brown, a senior reserve that
season. "We knew we couldn't just
go in there and mark up a win."
Brown says that the reason the
rivalry was so good at that time
was the students came from most
of the same cities. Monroe and
teammate Steven Smith were both
from Philadelphia, as were A&T's
Campbell and George Mack.
The Rams and Aggies played
three times that season. The first
game was played Friday, Jan. 21 in
the War Memorial Coliseum.
Monroe scorched A&T with 38
points, but Winston-Salem State
barely made it back down 1-40
with a win. The Rams did not
score a field goal in the final five
minutes, but did hit 11 of 12 free-
throw shots in that stretch.
The second game took place in
Winston-Salem on Feb. 12. Back
then, most games against A&T
were moved from Whittaker Gym
on campus to Memorial Coliseum.
This time, Monroe scored 48
points and the Rams won easily by
a score of 104-93.
The third time proved to be the
charm for the Aggies as they
handed the Rams their first of the
season (the Rams lost to High
Point that season, but was
awarded the win by HP forfeit)
loss in the semifinals of the ClAA
tournament. The Aggies held
Monroe to a season-low 20 points
and defeated the Rams by a score
of 105-82.
The Rams, however, had the last
laugh as they went on to win the
NCAA College Division
Championship, finishing with a
31-1 record. Just three years later.
A&T and several other colleges
left the ClAA. The Rams and
Aggies continued to play each
other regularly until the 1997-98
season. Now that WSSU and A&T
are both in the MEAC, the teams
are once again be conference
rivals.
On Saturday, Jan. 23, the Aggies
defeated the Rams 75-56.
Words of Wisdom
live in all of us.
How will you share yours?
In remembering the past, we learn. In
celebrating the past, we honor those who
lived it. But it is by acting in the present that
we rise into a brighter future.
In remembering the past, what
will you do to contribute to a
brighter future?
Enter the
Black History Month
Words of Wisdom
remember, celebrate, act
essay contest
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