The late Dean Smith made news last week when his will
revealed that the Hall of Fame coach left about $35,000 of his final estate to former UNC-Chapel Hill players, an
extremely generous and kind gift that mimicked what NC State Hall of Fame coach
Everett Case did for 57 of his former Wolfpack players nearly a half century
ago.
Smith sent about 180 former Tar Heel players a check for $200 and
told them to have a nice dinner on him. It was the perfect gesture from the coach,
who always treated his players to the best hotels, the best restaurants, the
best modes of travel when his team was on the road. It was always a bit of a
letdown when they made it to the NCAA Tournament and had to stay at, eat at and
travel by NCAA-selected vendors.
Smith always considered treating his teams to the finest
things one of the few perks he could give to players who made so much money for
the school and for the NCAA.
Case, a lifetime bachelor who died of cancer in 1966 with
only one living relative, set aside for his players a third of his substantial
estate of more than $200,000, which he acquired from his coaching salary, his
multiple business ventures (including an Indiana drive-in restaurant)
and many wise investments.
Dean Smith, Vic Bubas, Everett Case, Bones McKinney | . |
The rest was divided into 103 shares that were doled out to
57 of his former players. Some players got as many as three shares. Some got a
half a share. Each was free to spend it however they wished.
All-Americans Dick Dickey, Ronnie Shavlik, Sammy Ranzino,
Bobby Speight and Vic Molodet were among those who received three shares, as
did aspiring coaches Norman Sloan, Vic Bubas, Mel Thompson and Bucky Waters.
“He said his players were responsible for the reputation he
had attained in coaching and he wanted to show his appreciation,” Fred H.
Jones, one of the executors of Case’s will, told Whitey Bell of the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer when details
were made public a few weeks after Case’s death. “Everett said he was having
trouble trying to decide how to divide the estate because some of his players
helped more than others, but that all of them were close to his heart.
“Everett was meticulous in preparing his list,” Jones said. “He
went through pictures of all his teams at State and listed the names of those
he wanted to remember in his will. Then he decided his unit share. It must have
taken him a long time.
“I don’t think the general public knows just how much his
boys meant to Case. His was more a father-son relationship than it was a coach.”
Everett Case |
They had not graduated by the time Case’s will was read.
However, they all served as the pallbearers at the coach’s funeral, an honor that still fills each of them with pride.
It wasn’t just superstars who received the most shares. Waters, who became head coach at West Virginia and Duke before going on to a long career in broadcasting, got three shares, even though he was
a three-year reserve for the Wolfpack.
For him and his family, that gift meant more than just being
remembered by his former coach. It may have helped save his young
son, who had a severe milk allergy and relied on a special kind of formula for sustenance.
"I was making about $5,000 a year
and that stuff was 70 cents a can, and he was using three cans a day,” Waters
said. “So it didn't go into a convertible or anything like that.
“It was a godsend."
Former guard Joe Harand, the last remaining member of Case’s
first team, has a daily
reminder of how he used the money from his half-share. He bought his first
color television with the money and with the few dollars he had left over
bought a gold-plated sign for his television stand that reads “Through the
generosity of Everett N. Case.”
The television is long gone, but the sign remains in Harand’s home in Shelby, along with the affection he’s always felt for the coach that
brought big-time basketball to North Carolina.
The late Paul Brandenburg, who played
for Case in the early 1950s, used his three shares to make improvements on the house he bought in 1970 in Greensboro, North Carolina. He extended the driveway at his new home so he could
install a basketball goal for his seven children—one small step in fulfilling Case’s
dream of seeing a basketball goal at every home he drove by in his big red
Cadillac.
Paul Brandenburg |
“My youngest sister still lives in that
house, and her two sons play basketball there to this day, as do all of his
other grandkids when we all go over there for family get-togethers.”
Here are the players
who received shares from Case’s will:
Norman Sloan
Dick Dickey
Warren Cartier
Sam Ranzino
Vic Bubas
Lee Terrill
Bobby Holt
Eddie Morris
George Pickett
Paul Brandenburg
Bobby Speight
Vic Molodet
Ronnie Shavlik
Bucky Waters
George Stepanovich
Lou Pucillo
Dan Englehardt
Dan Wherry
Jack McComas
Leo Katkaveck
Eddie Bartels
Bill Kukoy
Dick Tyler
Mel Thompson
Ronnie Scheffel
Phil DiNardo
Whitey Bell
Nick Pond
Bob MacGillivray
John Richter
Smedes York
Ron Gossell
Bob Cook
Pete Jackmouski
Joe Stoll
Jim Stevenson
Bob Seitz
Tom Hopper
Ken Clark
Denny Lutz
Jim Whitfield
Paul Horvath
Joe Harand
Charlie Adams
Doug Kincaid
Herb Applebaum
Bernie Yurin
Lou Dickman
Marvin Kessler
Harold Atkins
Bob McCann
Bruce Hoadley
Bob DiStefano
John Key
Pete Auksel
Don Grenier
Les Robinson
Dick Dickey
Warren Cartier
Sam Ranzino
Vic Bubas
Lee Terrill
Bobby Holt
Eddie Morris
George Pickett
Paul Brandenburg
Bobby Speight
Vic Molodet
Ronnie Shavlik
Bucky Waters
George Stepanovich
Lou Pucillo
Dan Englehardt
Dan Wherry
Jack McComas
Leo Katkaveck
Eddie Bartels
Bill Kukoy
Dick Tyler
Mel Thompson
Ronnie Scheffel
Phil DiNardo
Whitey Bell
Nick Pond
Bob MacGillivray
John Richter
Smedes York
Ron Gossell
Bob Cook
Pete Jackmouski
Joe Stoll
Jim Stevenson
Bob Seitz
Tom Hopper
Ken Clark
Denny Lutz
Jim Whitfield
Paul Horvath
Joe Harand
Charlie Adams
Doug Kincaid
Herb Applebaum
Bernie Yurin
Lou Dickman
Marvin Kessler
Harold Atkins
Bob McCann
Bruce Hoadley
Bob DiStefano
John Key
Pete Auksel
Don Grenier
Les Robinson
Great article Tim!
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