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Clarence Edward "Big House" Gaines, Sr. (May 21, 1923 – April 18, 2005) was an American college men's basketball coach with a 47-year coaching career at Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 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. Before graduating and becoming a coach, he had an outstanding collegiate career as a football player for Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. ==Early years== Gaines was born in Paducah, Kentucky to Lester and Olivia Bolen Gaines.〔(Biography Of A Legend: Clarence "Big House" Gaines ), Winston-Salem State University, April 20, 2005, Accessed May 19, 2008.〕 Clarence helped his family by working in a garage while in high school.〔John Dell, (Loss of a Giant ), ''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 in the school band. He graduated as class salutatorian in 1941.〔 Jim Crow Era segregation laws and the suggestions of a family friend led him to attend Morgan State University (then Morgan State College), a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland.〔 He entered in the fall of 1941 on a football scholarship.〔("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, ("'Big House' Gaines, 81, Basketball Coach, Dies" ), ''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-American. 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 in Chemistry. He intended to go on into dental school, however his college football coach, Edward P. Hurt, 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. Gaines agreed and went to Winston-Salem.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Clarence Gaines」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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