Edmund McCullough Cameron (April 22, 1902 – November 25, 1988) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexingto ...

for one season in 1924–25 and at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

from 1928 to 1942, compiling a career

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

record of 234–104. Cameron was also the head football coach at Duke University from 1942 to 1945, tallying a mark of 25–11–1, and the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

at the school from 1951 to 1972. Cameron was part of Duke athletics from 1926 to 1972, the second longest tenure in the school's history. Duke's home basketball arena was renamed as

Cameron Indoor Stadium Cameron Indoor Stadium is an indoor arena located on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The 9,314-seat facility is the primary indoor athletic venue for the Duke Blue Devils and serves as the home court for Duke men's ...

in his honor in 1972.

Early life and playing career

Cameron attended

Culver Military Academy Culver Academies is a college preparatory boarding school located in Culver, Indiana, which is composed of three entities: Culver Military Academy (CMA) for boys, Culver Girls Academy (CGA), and the Culver Summer Schools and Camps (CSSC). Culver ...

Culver, Indiana Culver is a town in Marshall County, Indiana, United States. Culver is part of Union Township, which also includes the communities of Burr Oak, Hibbard, Maxinkuckee and Rutland. The population of Culver was 1,129 at the 2020 United States Censu ...

before becoming a fullback at

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. At Washington and Lee, he was captain of both the basketball and football teams, and tied for the national scoring title in football.

Coaching career

When Washington and Lee coach

Jimmy DeHart James DeHart (August 25, 1893 – March 4, 1935) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Washington and Lee University from 1922 to 1925 and again from 1931 to 1932 and at Duke University from 1926 to 1930, compi ...

was hired by Duke, Cameron followed him to coach the freshman team. After

Wallace Wade William Wallace Wade (June 15, 1892 – October 7, 1986) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Alabama fro ...

was lured away from

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

by Duke, school administrators urged him to retain Cameron. Cameron eventually became the backfield coach, scout, and recruiter for Wade. In 1929, he got the additional responsibility of head basketball coach, a position he kept until 1949. Cameron's first two Duke basketball teams made the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

tournament finals even as a new team in the league. Cameron's teams had a 226–99 record (.695), 119–56 (.680) in conference play, during his 14 years as head coach, which included conference championships in 1938, 1941 and 1942. During his tenure, in 1940, Duke built the largest basketball arena south of the

Palestra The Palestra, often called the Cathedral of College Basketball, is a historic arena and the home gym of the Penn Quakers men's and women's basketball teams, volleyball teams, wrestling team, and Philadelphia Big 5 basketball. Located at 235 South ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Cameron coached the first game, a 36–27 victory over

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, on January 6, 1940. That arena would eventually come to bear his name. Eddie Cameron, Chanticleer 1968

After Wade entered the military service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Cameron became the head football coach. In four years Cameron's teams won three conference championships, compiled a record of 25–11–1 and won the

1945 Sugar Bowl The 1945 Sugar Bowl, part of the 1944 bowl game season, took place on January 1, 1945, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. The competing teams were the Alabama Crimson Tide, representing the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Duke Blue ...

by beating

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, 29–26. Cameron became permanent Director of Physical Education and Athletics in 1946 when Wade returned and resumed coaching football.

Later life

Cameron was a founder of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

, chaired the basketball committee of the Southern and ACC conferences for decades, was on the selection committee for the

NFL Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

and was on the governing committee of the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. Cameron died at the age 86 on November 25, 1988 at his home in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

Head coaching record

Basketball

Football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Eddie 1902 births 1988 deaths American football fullbacks American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Indiana Basketball players from Pittsburgh Duke Blue Devils athletic directors Duke Blue Devils football coaches Duke Blue Devils men's basketball coaches People from Marshall County, Indiana People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pittsburgh Sportspeople from Durham, North Carolina Sportspeople from Pittsburgh Washington and Lee Generals football players Washington and Lee Generals men's basketball coaches Washington and Lee Generals men's basketball players