Norm Sloan
Encyclopedia
Norman Sloan nicknamed "Stormin' Norman," was an American college basketball
player and coach. Sloan played college basketball for North Carolina State University
, and thereafter, he was the men's basketball head coach for Presbyterian College
, The Citadel, the University of Florida
and North Carolina State University in a career that spanned thirty-eight seasons.
in 1926. He attended Lawrence Central High School
in Indianapolis, where he played high school basketball for the Lawrence Central Bears.
to attend North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina
, where he played guard for coach Everett Case
's NC State Wolfpack
from 1947 to 1949. He was one of Case's original six "Hoosier Hotshots," a group of high school stars Case recruited from Indiana. As a member of the Wolfpack, Sloan was a classmate and teammate of Vic Bubas
, who later coached the Duke Blue Devils
from 1959 to 1969. Sloan was a member of three Wolfpack teams that won Southern Conference
championships in 1947, 1948 and 1949. In a dispute with Case over playing time, Sloan did not play his senior basketball season in 1950–1951, but chose instead to concentrate on playing quarterback
for coach Beattie Feathers
' NC State Wolfpack football
team instead In addition to football and basketball, he was also a member of the Wolfpack track and field team.
Sloan graduated from NC State with a bachelor's degree
in education in 1951.
from 1951 to 1955, where his Presbyterian Blue Hose basketball teams compiled a 69–36 record in four seasons. He coached for a single season at Memphis State University in Memphis, Tennessee
during 1955–1956, working as an assistant basketball coach for the Memphis State Tigers.
Sloan left Memphis in 1956 to become head coach at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina
, where he built the Citadel Bulldogs program from a conference also-ran to a respectable 15–5 in 1959. His first Bulldogs team in 1957 won the George Mikan
Award for Most Improved Team in the Nation and he was named the coach of the year by the South Carolina Sportswriters Association that year. His Citadel teams compiled a 57–38 record in four years. In 1960, Sloan became the first full-time basketball coach of the University of Florida
in Gainesville, Florida
. His Florida Gators men's basketball
teams tallied an 85–63 record in six seasons, including the school's first victory over an Adolph Rupp
-coached Kentucky Wildcats
team in 1965.
Sloan was named head coach at at his alma mater, North Carolina State, in 1966, and his NC State Wolfpack teams won three ACC Championships in 1970, 1973 and 1974. His 1973 Wolfpack team was undefeated (27–0), but missed that year's NCAA tournament
due to questions about the recruiting of high school phenomenon David Thompson. A year later, he led the Wolfpack to a 30–1 record and the school's first NCAA national championship. En route, the Wolfpack defeated UCLA in the NCAA Final Four, ending UCLA and coach John Wooden
's run of seven straight NCAA championships. Sloan's Wolfpack beat Marquette, 76–64, in the 1974 championship game.
Sloan's overall win-loss record at NC State was 266–127 in fourteen seasons. His greatest teams included legendary players such as Thompson, Tommy Burleson
, Moe Rivers, Tim Stoddard
(who went on to pitch in Major League Baseball
), and Monte Towe
. "Stormin' Norman" was as well known for his garish red-and-white plaid sports coat as he was for his ACC battles with Lefty Driesell
at Maryland
and Dean Smith
at North Carolina
. He was selected the National Coach of the Year in 1973 by Basketball Weekly and again in 1974 by the USBWA and the Associated Press.
Sloan returned to Florida in 1980, turning the Florida Gators basketball program around for a second time. Sloan's Gators won over twenty games and made the NCAA Tournament in each of his last three seasons and won the university's first Southeastern Conference
regular season basketball championship in 1988–1989. His teams compiled a 150–131 record in those nine seasons, giving him an overall record of 235-194 in fifteen years with the Gators. His reputation as "Stormin' Norman" continued as he feuded throughout his tenure in Gainesville with LSU Tigers coach Dale Brown
. Sloan was forced to resign prior to the 1989–1990 season in the wake of an NCAA investigation into the Gators program.
He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984, and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.
Sloan's career win-loss record was 627–395, and his victory total ranks him twenty-sixth on the career list of Division I coaches. He is still the second-winningest coach in NC State history, trailing only Case. His 235 wins at Florida were the best in Gators history until Billy Donovan
passed him in 2006.
Sloan lived in Raleigh, North Carolina
following his retirement from coaching. He died of complications related to pulmonary fibrosis on December 9, 2003 at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina
.
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
player and coach. Sloan played college basketball for North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
, and thereafter, he was the men's basketball head coach for Presbyterian College
Presbyterian College
Presbyterian College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, South Carolina, USA. Presbyterian College, or PC, is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church USA. PC was founded in 1880 by William Plumer Jacobs, a prominent Presbyterian minister who also founded the nearby Thornwell Home and...
, The Citadel, the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
and North Carolina State University in a career that spanned thirty-eight seasons.
Early years
Sloan was born in Indianapolis, IndianaIndianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
in 1926. He attended Lawrence Central High School
Lawrence Central High School
Lawrence Central High School is a high school with over 2,600 students, in northeast Marion County, Indiana.- Overview :It was established in 1941 and is one of two high schools in the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township....
in Indianapolis, where he played high school basketball for the Lawrence Central Bears.
College playing career
Sloan received an athletic scholarshipAthletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...
to attend North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, where he played guard for coach Everett Case
Everett Case
Everett N. Case , nicknamed "Gray Fox", was a basketball coach most notable for his tenure at North Carolina State University, from 1946 to 1964....
's NC State Wolfpack
NC State Wolfpack men's basketball
The NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team represents North Carolina State University in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The Wolfpack currently competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference, of which it was a founding member....
from 1947 to 1949. He was one of Case's original six "Hoosier Hotshots," a group of high school stars Case recruited from Indiana. As a member of the Wolfpack, Sloan was a classmate and teammate of Vic Bubas
Vic Bubas
Vic Bubas is a former basketball coach of Duke University.-Early life:Bubas graduated from Gary Lew Wallace High School in 1944. He then went on to North Carolina State University where he played for Everett Case. Bubas was an All-Southern Conference selection twice...
, who later coached the Duke Blue Devils
Duke Blue Devils men's basketball
The Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team is the college basketball program representing Duke University in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I...
from 1959 to 1969. Sloan was a member of three Wolfpack teams that won Southern Conference
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North...
championships in 1947, 1948 and 1949. In a dispute with Case over playing time, Sloan did not play his senior basketball season in 1950–1951, but chose instead to concentrate on playing quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
for coach Beattie Feathers
Beattie Feathers
William Beattie "Big Chief" Feathers was an American football running back in the NFL. He played for the Chicago Bears, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Green Bay Packers during his seven year career. He was the first player in NFL history to rush for over 1,000 yards in one season...
' NC State Wolfpack football
NC State Wolfpack football
The NC State Wolfpack football team represents North Carolina State University in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision competition. The Wolfpack currently compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference....
team instead In addition to football and basketball, he was also a member of the Wolfpack track and field team.
Sloan graduated from NC State with a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in education in 1951.
Coaching career
Sloan was the head basketball coach and assistant football coach at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South CarolinaClinton, South Carolina
Clinton is a city in Laurens County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,091 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Greenville–Mauldin–Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area. Clinton was first settled by Scots-Irish immigrants two decades before the American Revolutionary...
from 1951 to 1955, where his Presbyterian Blue Hose basketball teams compiled a 69–36 record in four seasons. He coached for a single season at Memphis State University in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
during 1955–1956, working as an assistant basketball coach for the Memphis State Tigers.
Sloan left Memphis in 1956 to become head coach at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, where he built the Citadel Bulldogs program from a conference also-ran to a respectable 15–5 in 1959. His first Bulldogs team in 1957 won the George Mikan
George Mikan
George Lawrence Mikan, Jr. , nicknamed Mr. Basketball, was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League and the Minneapolis Lakers of the NBL, the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball Association...
Award for Most Improved Team in the Nation and he was named the coach of the year by the South Carolina Sportswriters Association that year. His Citadel teams compiled a 57–38 record in four years. In 1960, Sloan became the first full-time basketball coach of the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
. His Florida Gators men's basketball
Florida Gators men's basketball
The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and the Southeastern Conference...
teams tallied an 85–63 record in six seasons, including the school's first victory over an Adolph Rupp
Adolph Rupp
Adolph Frederick Rupp was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is fourth in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching...
-coached Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647...
team in 1965.
Sloan was named head coach at at his alma mater, North Carolina State, in 1966, and his NC State Wolfpack teams won three ACC Championships in 1970, 1973 and 1974. His 1973 Wolfpack team was undefeated (27–0), but missed that year's NCAA tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
due to questions about the recruiting of high school phenomenon David Thompson. A year later, he led the Wolfpack to a 30–1 record and the school's first NCAA national championship. En route, the Wolfpack defeated UCLA in the NCAA Final Four, ending UCLA and coach John Wooden
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
's run of seven straight NCAA championships. Sloan's Wolfpack beat Marquette, 76–64, in the 1974 championship game.
Sloan's overall win-loss record at NC State was 266–127 in fourteen seasons. His greatest teams included legendary players such as Thompson, Tommy Burleson
Tommy Burleson
Tommy Loren Burleson is an American and former collegiate and professional basketball player...
, Moe Rivers, Tim Stoddard
Tim Stoddard
Timothy Paul Stoddard is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is one of only two known men to have played in both a World Series and an NCAA basketball national championship game....
(who went on to pitch in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
), and Monte Towe
Monte Towe
Monte Corwin Towe is an American basketball coach and retired player.Towe attended Oak Hill High School in Converse, Indiana...
. "Stormin' Norman" was as well known for his garish red-and-white plaid sports coat as he was for his ACC battles with Lefty Driesell
Lefty Driesell
Charles Grice "Lefty" Driesell is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Maryland, Davidson College, James Madison University, and Georgia State University. During his 41-year coaching career, Driesell led teams from each school to the NCAA...
at Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
and Dean Smith
Dean Smith
Dean Edwards Smith is a retired American head coach of men's college basketball. Originally from Emporia, Kansas, Smith has been called a “coaching legend” by the Basketball Hall of Fame. Smith is best known for his successful 36-year coaching tenure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel...
at North Carolina
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
. He was selected the National Coach of the Year in 1973 by Basketball Weekly and again in 1974 by the USBWA and the Associated Press.
Sloan returned to Florida in 1980, turning the Florida Gators basketball program around for a second time. Sloan's Gators won over twenty games and made the NCAA Tournament in each of his last three seasons and won the university's first Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
regular season basketball championship in 1988–1989. His teams compiled a 150–131 record in those nine seasons, giving him an overall record of 235-194 in fifteen years with the Gators. His reputation as "Stormin' Norman" continued as he feuded throughout his tenure in Gainesville with LSU Tigers coach Dale Brown
Dale Brown (basketball)
Dale Duward Brown is an American former college basketball coach who spent 25 years leading the LSU Tigers. His team earned Final Four appearances in 1981 and 1986. He is also remembered as one of the most vocal critics of the NCAA because he said it legislated against human dignity.-Life in...
. Sloan was forced to resign prior to the 1989–1990 season in the wake of an NCAA investigation into the Gators program.
He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984, and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.
Sloan's career win-loss record was 627–395, and his victory total ranks him twenty-sixth on the career list of Division I coaches. He is still the second-winningest coach in NC State history, trailing only Case. His 235 wins at Florida were the best in Gators history until Billy Donovan
Billy Donovan
William John "Billy" Donovan, Jr. is an American college basketball coach and a former college and professional basketball player. Donovan is the current head coach of the Florida Gators men's basketball team of the University of Florida...
passed him in 2006.
Sloan lived in Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
following his retirement from coaching. He died of complications related to pulmonary fibrosis on December 9, 2003 at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
.
Head coaching record
See also
- The Citadel BulldogsThe Citadel BulldogsThe Citadel Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. All sports participate in the NCAA Division I. Varsity sports compete primarily in the Southern Conference, although the Rifle teams compete in the South Eastern Air Rifle Conference...
- Florida GatorsFlorida GatorsThe Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
- History of the University of FloridaHistory of the University of FloridaThe history of the University of Florida is firmly tied to the history of public education in the state of Florida. The University of Florida, colloquially known as "Florida" or "UF," originated as several distinct institutions that were merged to create a single state-supported university by the...
- List of college men's basketball coaches with 600 wins
- List of North Carolina State University people
- NC State WolfpackNC State WolfpackThe athletic teams of the North Carolina State University, known as the Wolfpack, compete in 24 intercollegiate varsity sports. NC State is a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference and has won eight national championships: two NCAA championships, two AIAW championships, and four titles...
- University Athletic AssociationUniversity of Florida Athletic AssociationThe University Athletic Association, Inc. is a non-profit corporation that is responsible for maintaining the Florida Gators intercollegiate sports program of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida...