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Carl Tacy, did WVU ever go after this guy?

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Bronco-eer

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Carl Tacy, a former Wake Forest basketball coach who is in the school's Hall of Fame, has died.

Grew up in Randolph county I believe, coached at Marshall for one year before going to Wake to have success. Grew up with his nieces and nephews.
 
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Talking about back in the 70's when WVU failed to make the NCAA tournament and had three different coaches. Tacy was from West Virginia, having success at Marshall and then Wake Forest. Just curious if WVU ever reached out
 
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MikeRafone

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Tacy left his entire team at Marshall after getting the Wake offer w/o much notice. The two top big men in the state,Danny Moses, at Williamson and Warren Baker, at I believe, Greenbrier East. Tacy would've tried conjuring the Devil to get at both at Wake and/or Marshall. He got Moses, Danny rode the pine for his 1st year per NCAA rules.at Wake and two more before he transferred to Marshall. He had to sit out another year as I remember,and spent his Sr. year in the rotation at Center at Marshall.

The Williamson-G.East game for the AAA title was the one everyone claimed they were at. Moses was about a half inch shorter than 7 ft, Baker was 6'7"/6'8" chunk of rock that could jump out of the gym w/ long arms. He wore a guy averaging a high double out. Moses didn't see centers close to his own size, Baker wore him out.
 
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muthed

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MikeRafone said:
Tacy left his entire team at Marshall after getting the Wake offer w/o much notice. The two top big men in the state,Danny Moses, at Williamson and Warren Baker, at I believe, Greenbrier East. Tacy would've tried conjuring the Devil to get at both at Wake and/or Marshall. He got Moses, Danny rode the pine for his 1st year per NCAA rules.at Wake and two more before he transferred to Marshall. He had to sit out another year as I remember,and spent his Sr. year in the rotation at Center at Marshall.

The Williamson-G.East game for the AAA title was the one everyone claimed they were at. Moses was about a half inch shorter than 7 ft, Baker was 6'7"/6'8" chunk of rock that could jump out of the gym w/ long arms. He wore a guy averaging a high double out. Moses didn't see centers close to his own size, Baker wore him out.
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I don't think he transferred to Marshall. My info says Pikeville.
 
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MikeRafone

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I remember the last stop being Marshall as I used to the check the box scores,but you could be right, that was nearly fifty years ago. He had relatives around Pikeville though, as did I. I think Pikeville was an NAIA school at that time? You know how hinky that level of basketball could be.

My Mother's maiden name was Moses. We hold grudges against people who cross us. If we'd sniffed a Tacy that close after he ran away in the middle of the night, we'd taken him hunting.

Tacy's biggest accomplishment at Marshall,imo, if you can call it that, was getting Al McGuire to spit in his face in a holiday tourney hand picked for Marquette to rip through. They'd been yelling at each other the entire game. Tacy had a heck of a combo guard whose name escapes me, tearing Marquette apart. They couldn't handle him.The ref's started calling a tighter game and Marshall loses. Tacy goes to do the traditional post-game handshake with Al, and Al let's a big one go right in Tacy's face. That's when my Grandpa and I looked at each other and said about McGuire "That SOB is off his rocker."

"The Gob Game" got Tacy national attention as an up and coming coach and further evidence to the priests at Marquette that Al had to go. Al was the coach who made young Bobby Knight look sane.
 
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muthed

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MikeRafone said:
I remember the last stop being Marshall as I used to the check the box scores,but you could be right, that was nearly fifty years ago. He had relatives around Pikeville though, as did I. I think Pikeville was an NAIA school at that time? You know how hinky that level of basketball could be.

My Mother's maiden name was Moses. We hold grudges against people who cross us. If we'd sniffed a Tacy that close after he ran away in the middle of the night, we'd taken him hunting.

Tacy's biggest accomplishment at Marshall,imo, if you can call it that, was getting Al McGuire to spit in his face in a holiday tourney hand picked for Marquette to rip through. They'd been yelling at each other the entire game. Tacy had a heck of a combo guard whose name escapes me, tearing Marquette apart. They couldn't handle him.The ref's started calling a tighter game and Marshall loses. Tacy goes to do the traditional post-game handshake with Al, and Al let's a big one go right in Tacy's face. That's when my Grandpa and I looked at each other and said about McGuire "That SOB is off his rocker."

"The Gob Game" got Tacy national attention as an up and coming coach and further evidence to the priests at Marquette that Al had to go. Al was the coach who made young Bobby Knight look sane.
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Marshall players were Russell Lee, Mike D'Antoni, Randy Noll, Ty Collins (I think), and one I can't remember.
 
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I loved the match as CBS commentators with Al and Billy Packer. Unfortunately Al told the truth 1 time too many. Intended as a joke, Al mentioned @ UK home game that he he saw then Celtic Rick Roby in UK lockeroom pregame, Then came the quote that got him banished for rest of season and no further games with Packer....."I saw Roby shaking hands with donors and saw no money exchanged. Probably a first for Roby".
 
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MikeRafone

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Russell Lee was the guy that got Tacy spit on by McGuire.

I had a cousin who was HC at Withrow a HS B-ball power in Cincy. They had a pre-Christmas tourney. I worked it when I was in my early teen's, letting the HS coaches how much time before the next game, fetching food and chasers for the college coaches. Dave Parker played for Withrow and my cousin took me down to meet him. In the days of Afro's and bell bottoms, Parker was one of the largest human beings I'd ever seen. My cousin was and is a funny guy. He introduced me to Parker with "Mike, this is my goon,Dave." and "Dave, this is the family's goon in training, Mike."

A few months later,Parker hit "The Home Run Heard Around The World" with Charleston's AAA team into a full coal train going about 60 mph. A few days later Dave went from AAA, to the big time club in Pittsburgh.

On paying players to go to such and such State U, it was done via envelopes in the locker room before and after games. A former coach at an SEC school taught me the old "Keep the change,Coach?" shill. None of those guys wanted to be seen as a cheapskate, but this was long before that giant sucking sound known as "AAU ball" was seen as legit again after it crashed due to point shaving in the 60's. Connie Hawkins, Earl "The G.O.A.T" Manginault, the only man to block the pre-name change Lew Alcindor's sky hook regularly in the old summer Rucker League games. Earl got strung out about that time and rode the bench for a couple of pro teams,but that was about it. BTW, did I mention Earl was 6'3"?
 
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WVUALLEN

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muthed said:
I see stupid people walking around like regular people. They don't even know they're stupid. That would be you. Give me another of my "profiles."
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You don't me so therefore this makes you stupid. I don't give profiles. You create them on your own. Go to your herd board where you are welcome.
 
Airport

Airport

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MikeRafone said:
Tacy left his entire team at Marshall after getting the Wake offer w/o much notice. The two top big men in the state,Danny Moses, at Williamson and Warren Baker, at I believe, Greenbrier East. Tacy would've tried conjuring the Devil to get at both at Wake and/or Marshall. He got Moses, Danny rode the pine for his 1st year per NCAA rules.at Wake and two more before he transferred to Marshall. He had to sit out another year as I remember,and spent his Sr. year in the rotation at Center at Marshall.

The Williamson-G.East game for the AAA title was the one everyone claimed they were at. Moses was about a half inch shorter than 7 ft, Baker was 6'7"/6'8" chunk of rock that could jump out of the gym w/ long arms. He wore a guy averaging a high double out. Moses didn't see centers close to his own size, Baker wore him out.
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I was at the championship game in 72, that was East against Dunbar, not Williamson. Closer game than many thought
 
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MikeRafone

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You may be right,Airport. People may not believe it since the school is gone, Dunbar had some of the smallest numbers in AAA, but you didn't want to play them.

If you ask anyone of certain age "Who was the best player you saw in the KVC." They'd say "Melvin Walker" and everyone would nod yes.

I used to love driving to the courts behind the old "Pit" at State to watch Melvin sucker young guys out of all their loot. Melvin had lost the lower portion of one of his legs playing DB at Iowa or Iowa State due to a rapidly spreading infection after a game. Those HS kids at camps thought it was going to be easy money when Melvin came limping up in the afternoon calling "Next!"
 
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