3}
(Row I) Top to bottom , Theodore Vines , Henry Jones , James Ford , Jacob Davis , Wesley Harrison and Clarence Cooper. (Row It) Top to bottom , Ralph Jackson , Charles
Wellman, Harold Diggs, William Davis , am/ Ronnie E. Avery .
WSSU's First CIAA Tournament
Team Commemorates 50 Years
The Central Intercollegiate
Athletic Association (CIAA)
was organized in ll^7, but the
first Basketball Tournament was held in
1945.
Who played in the first CIAA
Basketball Tournament? Winston-Salem
Teachers College, later named Winston
Salem State University, was one of the
first eight teams. The other seven u ims,
determined by the Dickerson R ting
System, a system which rated teams
according to the strength of their sched
ules, were Lincoln University of
Pennsylvania; Virginia Union, Morgan
State Coll" ?c. West Virginia State
College, North Cjrolina College, Johnson
C. Smith College, and Virginia State
College.
The tournament was held in
Washington, D.C. at Turner's Arena dur
ing the first weekend of March, 1945.
Lincoln University was top-seeded and
played Wins^n-Salem Teachers College.
The Tournament Committee allowed 10
players per team and the total team could
not exceed fourteen.
Winston-Salem Teachers College's
first CIAA team, coached by Howard
(Brutus) Wilson and assisted by Clarence
(Bighousc) Gaines, consisted of Romic
Earl Avery, who held a 53 pt. record
before it was broken by Earl Monroe.
Clarence Cooper, Jacob Davis, William
Davis, James Ford, Wesley Hairston,
Ralph Jackson, Henry Jones, Theodore
Vines, and Charles Welltnan. The other
member of the 1945 Team was Harold
Diggs.
Coach Wilson became an instructor
in the Department of Physical Education
and the Mathematics Department at
Winston-Salem Teachers College in 1941.
The school was accepted in the CIAA
Tournament in 1945. Coach Wilson's
team made the basketball tournament
three times out of his five years at
Winston-Salem Teachers. Coach Gaines
was brought to the college as Assistant
Basketball Coach on the recommendation
of Coach Wilson. The "Rams" had a
record of ten wins and six losses for the
1945 season.
Members of the Tournament
Committee, who determined the standings
and made the draw for pairing, were:
_Talmadge Hill, Morgan Stale College;
John B. McLendon, North Carolina
College; Hardy Jefferson, Virginia State
College; and John Burr, Howard
University. The Turner Arena, where the
three-day playoffs were held seated 2,050
persons. Tournament trophies were
awarded by Capitol Classics, North
Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company,
and the Journal and Guide Newspaper.
The North Carolina College "Eagles"
coached by John B. McLendon won the
first CIAA tournament by defeating
Virginia Union 64-56 after the score was
tied ten times, and the lead changed four
teen limes, and in three overtime, periods. >
Coach . "Bighouse " Gaines
The Winston-Salem 1945 Basketball
Team celebrated,^ 40th Anniversary on
Saturday February 25 at the home of
Romie Earl Avery.
Among the special guests were six of
the former players: Harold Diggs, James
Ford, Henry Jones. Jacob Davis, William
Davis and Romie E. Avery. Also present
were Bettina Wilson, wife of the late
Coach Brutus Wilson; Coach "Bighouse"
Gaines and his wife, Clara; and thirty
other guests. . ... . ,
.Vi ? ?V? i ?? ' > ? * % '* >