Trolling on the Bluegrass

© By Tim Peeler, 2019

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There's trolling, and then there is epic trolling.

And on March 20, 1951, Everett Case won big at Reynolds Coliseum, even though this particular stunt happened well after his NC State basketball team beat Villanova in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament that night.

It was only the first game in an NCAA doubleheader that evening. The nightcap was between Louisville and Kentucky, the first postseason meeting ever of the two heated rivals from the Bluegrass State.

There was an even bigger rivalry in play that night, however. The one between Case and Wildcats coach Adolph Rupp.

The two coaching legends did not get along. Their teams met only once in all their years of coaching in the Southeast. That game was in Case’s inaugural season in the semifinals of the 1947 National Invitation Tournament in Madison Square Garden, with Kentucky winning 60-42. They clashed often on the recruiting trail, and they had a visceral dislike for each other because of those battles.

The rivalry intensified in 1950 when Case's Wolfpack was picked to participate in the eight-team NCAA tournament over Rupp's two-time defending champion Wildcats. The dispute over that selection forced the NCAA to expand its tournament to 16 teams in 1951, which happened to be the first year Reynolds ever hosted a portion of the tournament.

State beat Villanova, 67-61, in the opener to advance to the next round. Kentucky had more trouble than expected beating Louisville, 79-68, in the sold-out and over-heated coliseum. But the night was not over when the games ended.

After the second game, before either the Kentucky or Louisville teams left the floor, public address announcer C.A. Dillon invited Case, assistant coach Butter Anderson and a couple of Raleigh businessmen to midcourt. The lights went loud, the crowd got quiet.

All of a sudden, a red Cadillac, driven by ineligible NC State All-American forward Sammy Ranzino, rolled from one end of the floor to the other, presented as a gift from NC State supporters to Case. Anderson was given keys to his own flashy Oldsmobile.

Rupp stood aghast on the sidelines. Louisville coach Peck Hickman laughed. Hard.

Just a few months earlier, after both had multiple seasons of success, Kentucky football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant complained that Rupp had received a Cadillac for all of his success on the basketball court and all Bryant ever got for taking his Wildcats football team to the Sugar Bowl was a cigarette lighter.

Neither was true, but it was suggested around Lexington that basketball favoritism was a key reason why Bryant left Kentucky and took his houndstooth hat to Texas A&M in 1953.

Case drove away in his new car, leaving Rupp seething in the dust. The Kentucky coach got the final laugh that season, of course, leading his Wildcats to their third NCAA title in four years.

But what he really wanted was Case’s Cadillac.

Maybe in royal blue.

Epilogue: Both Case (NC State basketball) and Bryant (Texas A&M football) had their programs put on NCAA probation for their efforts in recruiting Minden, Louisiana, High School basketball legend Jackie Moreland. All allegations for their involvement in improper recruiting were reported to the NCAA by Adolph Rupp.