Clarence Edward "Big House" Gaines Sr. (May 21, 1923 – April 18, 2005) was an American college men's

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 ...

coach with a 47-year coaching career at

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 ...

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 ...

. Among his numerous honors for his achievements, he is one of the few African Americans to be inducted as a coach into the

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 pre ...

. Before graduating and becoming a coach, he had an outstanding collegiate career as a football player for

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Early years

Gaines was born in

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missour ...

to Lester and Olivia Bolen Gaines.Biography Of A Legend: Clarence "Big House" Gaines
Winston-Salem State University, April 20, 2005 (age 81), Accessed May 19, 2008. Clarence helped his family by working in a garage while in high school.John Dell

''Winston-Salem Journal'', April 19, 2005, Accessed May 19, 2008. He attended local Lincoln High School where he excelled academically, played basketball, was an All-State football player, and played

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

in the school band. He graduated as class

salutatorian Salutatorian is an academic title given in the United States, Armenia, and the Philippines to the second-highest-ranked graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is tradi ...

in 1941.

Jim Crow Era The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of humans ...

laws and the suggestions of a family friend led him to attend

(then Morgan State College), a

historically black college Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

. He entered in the fall of 1941 on a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

."WSSU Loses A Legend As Clarence "Big House" Gaines Passes Away At The Age Of 81"
Winston-Salem State University, April 19, 2005, Accessed May 19, 2008. At Morgan State, Gaines was given his nickname of "Big House": a fellow student saw the 6 ft. 3in., 265 lb Gaines and declared: "You're as big as a house."Viv Bernstein

''The New York Times'', 20 April 2005, Accessed 19 May 2008. Gaines played as a lineman for the Bears football team, was a member of the basketball team, and participated in track. Gaines was an All-CIAA selection as a lineman in football all four seasons and twice elected an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n. When it came to basketball, he said he was "a very average basketball player." In 2004, he explained, "I was an All-America in football, but I was just on the basketball team to have something to do." Gaines graduated from Morgan State in 1945 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Chemistry. He intended to go on into

dental school A dental school (school of dental medicine, school of dentistry, dental college) is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches dental medicine to prospective dentists and potentially other dental auxiliaries ...

, however his college football coach,

Edward P. Hurt Edward Paulette Hurt (February 12, 1900 – March 24, 1989) was an American football, basketball, and track coach. He served the head football coach at Virginia Theological Seminary and College—now known as Virginia University of Lynchburg— ...

, suggested that he temporarily go to what was then known as Winston-Salem Teachers College. At the time, the small southern college had one coach for all sports, Brutus Wilson, who was also a Morgan State graduate; Hurt suggested that Gaines would make a good

assistant coach A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultima ...

. Gaines agreed and went to Winston-Salem.

Winston-Salem State

In 1946, Wilson left for

Shaw University Shaw University is a private Baptist historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in ...

, leaving Gaines as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for football and basketball,

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 ...

, trainer, and ticket manager. He also taught.John Dell
A Shared Loss
''Winston-Salem Journal'', April 21, 2005, Accessed May 19, 2008. He served as football coach for three years (1946–49), and in 1948 was named

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 ...

(CIAA) "Football Coach of the Year" after leading his team to an 8–1 season. He dropped coaching football to focus on basketball in 1949. He earned his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in Education from

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

in 1950. Gaines coached basketball at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) from 1946 to 1993, compiling an 828–447 record. He led the Rams to 18 20-win seasons, eight CIAA titles, and in 1967 led WSSU to a Division II NCAA Championship, making the Rams the first basketball program from a

historically black college or university Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. ...

to capture an NCAA national championship. Toward the end of his coaching career, Gaines struggled to recruit student players. The end of the Jim Crow Era laws led to college basketball becoming fully integrated at all levels. This made it difficult to lure star talent to WSSU. Among Gaines notable student players 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 ...

, the first African American from an historically Black college or university to be drafted in the first round by the National Basketball Association (

St. Louis Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

, 1961); and

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 ...

, who became a noted commentator and columnist.Richard Sandomir
ESPN's New Master of the Offensive Foul
''The New York Times'', July 31, 2005, Accessed May 19, 2008.

Accomplishments and recognition

As of April 2010, Gaines stands ninth on the

NCAA men's basketball coaches win list This is a list of college men's basketball coaches by number of career wins across all three divisions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the two divisions of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).(The ...

. When Gaines retired from Winston-Salem State University in 1993, only Rupp had amassed more wins.AN ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF WSSU
Winston-Salem State University, Accessed May 19, 2008. He was inducted into the

in 1982. After winning the national title in 1967, he was named the NCAA Division II College Coach of the Year. Gaines was named the CIAA coach of the year a record six times (1957, 61, 63, 70, 75, 80); received the CIAA Basketball Tournament Outstanding Coach Award eight times (1953, 57, 60, 61, 63, 66, 70, 77); was inducted into the CIAA Hall of Fame (1975), NAIA Helms Hall of Fame (1968) and N.C. Sports Hall of Fame (1978) and received the

Silver Buffalo Award The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting pro ...

from the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

. In 2006, he was named part of the founding class of the

College Basketball Hall of Fame The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a hall of fame and museum dedicated to men's college basketball. The museum is an integral portion of the College Basketball Experience created by the National ...

.Founding class listed alphabetically
, The College Basketball Experience, Accessed May 19, 2008. The C. E. Gaines Center (built 1976), an athletic complex on the WSSU campus and home of the basketball team, is named after him. WSSU's C.E. "Big House" Gaines Athletic Hall of Fame is also named after him. Gaines was a member in numerous organizations, including the

Sigma Pi Phi Sigma Pi Phi (), also known as The Boulé, founded in 1904, is the oldest fraternity for African Americans among those named with Greek letters. The fraternity does not have collegiate chapters and is designed for professionals at mid-career or o ...

("the Boule") and

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty advi ...

fraternities, Boy Scouts of America, Forsyth County Heart Association, and

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

. He was a basketball consultant for the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

(Germany, England, Mexico). He served as president of CIAA Basketball Coaches Association from 1972 to 1976; NAIA District Chairman, 1966–72; president of the

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, head men's basketball coach at the University o ...

in 1989; and was a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame board of trustees. In January 2005, Gaines was honored during a half-time ceremony at

Rupp Arena Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center is an arena located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Since its opening in 1976, it has been the centerpiece of Central Bank Center (formerly Lexington Center), a convention and shopping facility o ...

, home of the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

, during a game between the Kentucky and the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

. Before a capacity crowd of 24,000, he received the designation of "Kentucky Colonel" from

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Ernie Fletcher Ernest Lee Fletcher (born November 12, 1952) is an American physician and politician. In 1998, he was elected to the first of three consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives; he resigned in 2003 after being elected the 60th ...

, the highest honor a native son of the State of Kentucky can receive.WSSU Family, Community, State and Nation Mourn Death of Clarence "Big House" Gaines
Winston-Salem State University, April 20, 2005, Accessed May 19, 2008. The Big House Gaines Scholarship was established in 2006 by the Reynolds Rotary Club in recognition of the fact that Gaines was a charter member of that club. In 2010, the

National Sports Media Association The National Sports Media Association (NSMA), formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, is an organization of sports media members in the United States, and constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports Pr ...

(NSMA) established the Clarence "Big House" Gaines College Basketball Coach of the Year Awards for head coaches in NCAA Division I and Division I who might not otherwise receive recognition from "mainstream outlets." The first two awards were presented in 2011. In 2011,

Collegeinsider.com Collegeinsider.com is a sports website based in Boston that is noted particularly for its basketball polls, awards and sponsored tournament. The website was founded by Joe Dwyer and Angela Lento and traces it history to 1995 as regional basketball ...

named the

Clarence Gaines Award The Clarence "Big House" Gaines Award is an award given annually by CollegeInsider.com to the most outstanding men's college basketball head coach in NCAA Division II. The award was established in 2011 and is named for the late Clarence Gaines, w ...

in his honor. It is for the best Division II college basketball coach of each year. In 2017, the city of

Paducah, KY Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missour ...

renamed 7th Street Clarence Gaines Street.

Personal

In 1950, Gaines married the former Clara Berry, a teacher of Latin in the local county public school system. They had two children, Lisa Gaines McDonald, a private business consultant and Clarence Edward Gaines, Jr., a scout and top advisor for the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

. He and his wife retired to East Winston-Salem. Gaines died on April 18, 2005, due to complications from a stroke. A large memorial was held at WSSU on April 22, 2005; all conflicting classes were canceled.

References

External links