Despite his academic qualifications, Jim Crow Era segregation laws and the suggestions of a friend of the family led him to attend Morgan State University (then Morgan State College) in Baltimore, Maryland.[1] He entered in the fall of 1941 on a football scholarship.
It was at Morgan State that Gaines got his nickname "Big House": a student saw the 6 ft. 3in., 265 lb Gaines and declared: "You're as big as a house." 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 described himself as "a very average basketball player." In 2004, he explained that "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's of Science in Chemistry. He intended to go on into dental school, however his college football coach, Eddie 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 as also a Morgan State graduate; Hurt suggested that Gaines would make a good assistant coach. Gaines agreed and went to Winston-Salem.
Winston-Salem State
In 1946, Wilson left for Shaw University, leaving Gaines as the head coach for football and basketball, athletic director, trainer, and ticket manager. He also taught. He served as football coach for three years (1946–49), and in 1948 was named Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) "Football Coach of the Year" after leading his team to an 8-1 season. He dropped coaching football to focus on basketball in 1949. He earned his Master of Arts in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1950.Gaines coached basketball at WSSU from 1946 to 1993, compiling an 828-447 record. He led the Rams to 18 20-win seasons, eight CIAA titles, and in 1967 led WSSU to a Division II NCAA Championship, making the Rams the first basketball program from a historically black college or university to capture an NCAA national championship.
Towards the end of his coaching career, Gaines found himself struggling to recruit. The end of the Jim Crow Era laws that prevented him from going to certain universities had been rescinded and college basketball had become fully integrated at all levels. This made it difficult to lure star talent to WSSU.[4]
Among his former players were Earl Monroe; Cleo Hill, the first African-American from an historically Black college and university to be drafted #1 by the National Basketball Association (St. Louis Hawks, 1961); and noted commentator and columnist Stephen A. Smith.
Accomplishments and recognition
As of April 2010, Gaines stands ninth on the NCAA men's basketball coaches win list. When Gaines retired from Winston-Salem State University in 1993, only Rupp had amassed more wins. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. He is the only African-American inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach. After winning the national title in 1967, he was named the NCAA Division II College Coach of the Year. Gaines was named the CIAA coach of the year a record six times (1957, 61, 63, 70, 75, 80); received the CIAA Basketball Tournament Outstanding Coach Award eight times (1953, 57, 60, 61, 63, 66, 70, 77); was inducted into the CIAA Hall of Fame (1975), NAIA Helms Hall of Fame (1968) and N.C. Sports Hall of Fame (1978) and received the Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America. In 2006 he was named part of the founding class of the College Basketball Hall of Fame.The C. E. Gaines Center (built 1976), an athletic complex on the WSSU campus and home of the basketball team, is named after him. WSSU's C.E. "Big House" Gaines Athletic Hall of Fame is also named after him.
Gaines was a member in numerous organizations, including the Sigma Pi Phi ("the Boule") and Omega Psi Phi fraternities, Boy Scouts of America, Forsyth County Heart Association, and United States Olympic Committee. He was a basketball consultant for the United States Air Force (Germany, England, Mexico). He served as President of CIAA Basketball Coaches Association from 1972–76; NAIA District Chairman, 1966–72; President of the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 1989; and was a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Trustees.
In January 2005, Gaines was honored during a half-time ceremony at Rupp Arena, home of the University of Kentucky, during a game between the Kentucky and the University of Kansas. Before a capacity crowd of 24,000, he received the designation of "Kentucky Colonel" from Governor Ernie Fletcher, the highest honor a native son of the State of Kentucky can receive.
The Big House Gaines Scholarship was established in 2006 by the Reynolda Rotary Club in recognition of the fact that Gaines was a charter member of that club.
In 2011, Collegeinsider.com named the Clarence Gaines Award in his honor. It is for the best Division II college basketball coach of each year.
Personal
In 1950, Gaines married the former Clara Berry, a teacher of Latin in the local county public school system. They had two children, Lisa Gaines McDonald, a private business consultant and Clarence Edward Gaines, Jr., a scout for the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. He and his wife retired to East Winston-Salem.Gaines died on April 18, 2005 due to complications from a stroke. A large memorial was held at WSSU on April 22, 2005; all conflicting classes were canceled
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