The Winston-Salem State Rams men's basketball team is the men's basketball team that represents

Winston-Salem State University Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is a historically black public university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina. History Winston-Salem State University was founded as Slater Industrial Academy o ...

(WSSU) in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

, United States. The school's team currently competes in the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. CIAA institutions mostly consist of historically black coll ...

. The school won the 1967 NCAA Division II championship. Winston-Salem State competed in Division I from the 2007–08 season to the 2009–10 season as a transitional member of the

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

(MEAC); it returned to Division II in 2010 for financial reasons. Among its notable coaches was Clarence "Big House" Gaines (1923–2005): during his 47-year tenure at WSSU as coach, professor, and athletic director, his men's basketball team compiled a record of 828–447. Gaines was inducted into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

in 1982. Noted players under Gaines' era were

Earl Monroe Vernon Earl Monroe (born November 21, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for two teams, the Baltimore Bullets and the New York Knicks, during his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Both teams ...

Cleo Hill Cleo Hill (April 24, 1938 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional basketball player who was selected by the St. Louis Hawks in the first round (8th overall) of the 1961 NBA draft. A guard from Newark, New Jersey and the Winston-Salem S ...

and sports commentator and columnist

Stephen A. Smith Stephen Anthony Smith (born ) is an American sports television personality, sports radio host, and sports journalist. He is a commentator on ESPN's ''First Take'', where he appears with Molly Qerim. He also makes frequent appearances as an N ...

.Biography Of A Legend: Clarence "Big House" Gaines
Winston-Salem State University, April 20, 2005, Accessed December 12, 2012.Richard Sandomir

''The New York Times'', July 31, 2005, Accessed December 12, 2012. Alumnus Earl Williams, an

American-Israeli , native_name_lang = , image = , caption = , population = 110,000–150,000 , popplace = New York metropolitan area, Los Angeles metropolitan area, Miami metropolitan area, and other large metropolitan are ...

basketball player, played for the school.

Postseason

NCAA Division II

The Rams have made the

NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament (officially styled by the NCAA as a "Championship" instead of a "Tournament") is an annual championship tournament for colleges and universities that are members of NCAA Division II, a grouping of ...

fourteen times. The Rams have a record of 11–16.

References

External links

Team website
{{NorthCarolina-basketball-team-stub

Postseason

NCAA Division II

See also

References

External links