Jimcs50
02-09-2007, 10:15 AM
A&M coaching icon Metcalf dies at 76
Cessna: Metcalf was one of a kind
By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Sports Writer
Shelby Metcalf, the winningest basketball coach in Southwest Conference history, died Thursday night at College Station Medical Center after a lengthy undisclosed illness.
Metcalf, who was 76, was surrounded by his wife, Janis, and daughter, Shelley, and her husband, Jack Valerius.
Metcalf coached the Aggies for 26 1/2 seasons. He won 438 games - 239 of them in SWC play, both league records.
Shelby Metcalf was head basketball coach for Texas A&M for 26 1/2 years. Metcalf died at 76.
"A&M is going to miss a very good man," said Wally Groff, retired A&M athletics director. "I'll certainly miss a good friend."
Metcalf's 1979-80 team advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament before losing to eventual champion Louisville in overtime.
His 1968-69 team also made the Sweet 16, and his 1978-79 and 1981-82 teams came within a game of the NIT's Final Four.
"The things that stick out in my mind is how intelligent he was and what a competitor he was," said current A&M senior associate athletic airector John Thornton, who played basketball under Metcalf and was later a longtime assistant under him, as well.
Metcalf was hired in 1958 as A&M's freshman coach by Bob Rogers. Metcalf had been an All-American for Rogers at East Texas State in 1955 when ETSU won the NAIA national championship.
Metcalf was 41-19 in five seasons as A&M's freshman coach before replacing Rogers.
His first team won the SWC in 1963-64, posting a 13-1 record with the lone loss at Texas Tech. It was the school's first SWC basketball title in 41 years. Texas Western beat the Aggies in a NCAA district playoff game, 68-62. It was two seasons before Texas Western would win the NCAA championship, beating Kentucky, which was the basis for the movie Glory Road.
Basketball in Aggieland boomed during the Metcalf era as G. Rollie White Coliseum became known as the "Holler House."
G. Rollie White often sold out as Metcalf matched coaching wits with Houston's Guy Lewis, Arkansas' Eddie Sutton, Texas' Abe Lemons and Texas Tech's Gerald Myers. Some of the opposing players during that time were UH's Phi Slamma Jamma, which included Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, while Arkansas had the Triplets - Sidney Moncrief, Marvin Delph and Ron Brewer.
Metcalf had success even though football was king in Aggieland.
"Texas A&M will set off a Bonfire for football, but for basketball they might let a balloon go up," said Lemons in 1998.
Metcalf won SWC championships in 1964, 1969, 1975, 1976, 1980 and 1986.
Metcalf seemed the perfect fit during an era where A&M was switching from an all-male, all-military university into a world-class institution.
"The university was growing at that time, and he was a very good representative of the university," Groff said. "While he didn't win all his games, he won his fair share, and he made all of us proud."
METCALF'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Holds Southwest Conference records for most seasons (27), most games (744), most victories (438), and most conference victories (239)
• Won six SWC championships, which is second behind Southern Methodist’s Doc Hayes (8)
• Made 11 post-season appearances
• Was an All-America point guard on East Texas State’s NAIA national championship team in 1955; team advanced to national tournament his other two seasons
• Earned three college degrees including a doctorate at A&M.
• Inducted into the Texas A&M-Commerce Hall of Fame in 1982
• Inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1994
• Inducted into the Texas A&M Hall of Fame in 1998
• Won district championship at Cayuga High School in 1955-56 (33-10)
• Athletic Officer, U.S. Air Force, Sembach Air Base, Germany, 1956-58, 78-17 record; All-Germany champions twice
Metcalf's assistants included Bob Gobin, Norman Ruether, and Barry Davis. Some of his all-conference players included John Beasley, David Britton, Winston Crite, Davis, Bennie Lennox, Don Marbury, Randy Matson, Randy Knowles, Sonny Parker, Claude Riley, Vernon Smith, Rudy Woods, Rynn Wright and Davis, who is back at the university on current head coach Billy Gillispie's staff.
"He always valued education," Davis said. "He was a man who was working on his doctorate when we were working on our undergraduate degree. He demonstrated by example. He just had a love for learning."
Metcalf had just two All-Americans - Lenox and Beasley - but he finished lower than fourth in the SWC only six times, and on one of those occasions, the 1986-87 season, placed eighth and won the postseason tournament, earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The articulate Metcalf earned a doctorate in 1974 from Texas A&M where his dissertation was: "Crowd Behavior at Southwest Conference Games."
Yet he was more known for his dry humor and quick wit.
Once he was dismayed to learn that his star player had received four F's and a D on his exams that week.
"Son, it looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject," Metcalf said.
:lol
When the University of Texas was moving into the spacious Erwin Center in the late 1970s and out of Gregory Gym, which was a bandbox, the Austin American-Statesman called on Metcalf for a quote.
Metcalf said that his players disappeared during games, "pulled off the floor, passed around in the stands. We'd be playing four on five, and I'd try to tell the refs, but it was too noisy. The fans were so close that some of them had their feet in bounds."
Metcalf's jokes became legend around the SWC.
Groff, who was one of Metcalf's fishing buddies, said you'd hear the same joke a second or third time, and still laugh just as hard because Metcalf was a master storyteller.
Metcalf's tenure ended in 1990 when he was relieved of his duties by athletic director John David Crow, who named longtime assistant John Thornton as the interim coach.
Crow eventually hired 30-year-old Kermit Davis in March 1990. That started 15 years of frustration for Aggie basketball. Davis resigned the following year because of recruiting violations. Tony Barone and Melvin Watkins, the coaches who followed respectively, had but one winning season in the next 14.
Two seasons ago, A&M hired Gillispie, who immediately brought Metcalf back into the A&M basketball family. He launched the Shelby Metcalf Classic, which was played Nov. 17-19 at Reed Arena, featuring Saint Louis, Louisiana Tech, Lamar and A&M.
Metcalf's family was honored during the tournament, but Metcalf couldn't attend because he was recovering from pneumonia.
"We wanted to put coach's name on it, because he is so deserving," Gillispie said. "He's been a great friend. He lives right around the corner from me. He walks his dog every night. I don't see him very often, but when I do, we always have great visits. You can learn somethin' if you keep your mouth shut, and that's what I do.
"He just has wisdom and experience about the game that can really be a benefit to your team."
Metcalf, who was an excellent fast pitch softball pitcher as a youngster, enjoyed the outdoors. He loved to fish, often taking friends to his lake - Lake Gig 'Em - between Palestine and Slocum.
When he was relieved of his coaching duties, he worked for the school's center of academic enhancement.
He twice was selected to Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. He spoke at banquets, athletic events and high schools until 1994.
"Anything to do with education," he said in 1998. "I did three prison graduations. There's a lot of prisoners who are big sports fans. They've got lots of time to read the paper and watch TV."
Shelby and his wife, Janis, were married more than 50 years. She was a teacher and his daughter graduated from A&M in 1983.
"I love the university," Shelby said when the team quit playing basketball in G. Rollie White. "My daughter has got two degrees from A&M. And Bryan-College Station is a great community.
"While coaching at A&M, I was blessed with outstanding young men. Many of my best friends are former players. Coaching basketball at A&M for Janis, Shelley and me was a way of life, not a job."
Funeral arrangements are pending.
:depressed
Cessna: Metcalf was one of a kind
By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Sports Writer
Shelby Metcalf, the winningest basketball coach in Southwest Conference history, died Thursday night at College Station Medical Center after a lengthy undisclosed illness.
Metcalf, who was 76, was surrounded by his wife, Janis, and daughter, Shelley, and her husband, Jack Valerius.
Metcalf coached the Aggies for 26 1/2 seasons. He won 438 games - 239 of them in SWC play, both league records.
Shelby Metcalf was head basketball coach for Texas A&M for 26 1/2 years. Metcalf died at 76.
"A&M is going to miss a very good man," said Wally Groff, retired A&M athletics director. "I'll certainly miss a good friend."
Metcalf's 1979-80 team advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament before losing to eventual champion Louisville in overtime.
His 1968-69 team also made the Sweet 16, and his 1978-79 and 1981-82 teams came within a game of the NIT's Final Four.
"The things that stick out in my mind is how intelligent he was and what a competitor he was," said current A&M senior associate athletic airector John Thornton, who played basketball under Metcalf and was later a longtime assistant under him, as well.
Metcalf was hired in 1958 as A&M's freshman coach by Bob Rogers. Metcalf had been an All-American for Rogers at East Texas State in 1955 when ETSU won the NAIA national championship.
Metcalf was 41-19 in five seasons as A&M's freshman coach before replacing Rogers.
His first team won the SWC in 1963-64, posting a 13-1 record with the lone loss at Texas Tech. It was the school's first SWC basketball title in 41 years. Texas Western beat the Aggies in a NCAA district playoff game, 68-62. It was two seasons before Texas Western would win the NCAA championship, beating Kentucky, which was the basis for the movie Glory Road.
Basketball in Aggieland boomed during the Metcalf era as G. Rollie White Coliseum became known as the "Holler House."
G. Rollie White often sold out as Metcalf matched coaching wits with Houston's Guy Lewis, Arkansas' Eddie Sutton, Texas' Abe Lemons and Texas Tech's Gerald Myers. Some of the opposing players during that time were UH's Phi Slamma Jamma, which included Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, while Arkansas had the Triplets - Sidney Moncrief, Marvin Delph and Ron Brewer.
Metcalf had success even though football was king in Aggieland.
"Texas A&M will set off a Bonfire for football, but for basketball they might let a balloon go up," said Lemons in 1998.
Metcalf won SWC championships in 1964, 1969, 1975, 1976, 1980 and 1986.
Metcalf seemed the perfect fit during an era where A&M was switching from an all-male, all-military university into a world-class institution.
"The university was growing at that time, and he was a very good representative of the university," Groff said. "While he didn't win all his games, he won his fair share, and he made all of us proud."
METCALF'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Holds Southwest Conference records for most seasons (27), most games (744), most victories (438), and most conference victories (239)
• Won six SWC championships, which is second behind Southern Methodist’s Doc Hayes (8)
• Made 11 post-season appearances
• Was an All-America point guard on East Texas State’s NAIA national championship team in 1955; team advanced to national tournament his other two seasons
• Earned three college degrees including a doctorate at A&M.
• Inducted into the Texas A&M-Commerce Hall of Fame in 1982
• Inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1994
• Inducted into the Texas A&M Hall of Fame in 1998
• Won district championship at Cayuga High School in 1955-56 (33-10)
• Athletic Officer, U.S. Air Force, Sembach Air Base, Germany, 1956-58, 78-17 record; All-Germany champions twice
Metcalf's assistants included Bob Gobin, Norman Ruether, and Barry Davis. Some of his all-conference players included John Beasley, David Britton, Winston Crite, Davis, Bennie Lennox, Don Marbury, Randy Matson, Randy Knowles, Sonny Parker, Claude Riley, Vernon Smith, Rudy Woods, Rynn Wright and Davis, who is back at the university on current head coach Billy Gillispie's staff.
"He always valued education," Davis said. "He was a man who was working on his doctorate when we were working on our undergraduate degree. He demonstrated by example. He just had a love for learning."
Metcalf had just two All-Americans - Lenox and Beasley - but he finished lower than fourth in the SWC only six times, and on one of those occasions, the 1986-87 season, placed eighth and won the postseason tournament, earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The articulate Metcalf earned a doctorate in 1974 from Texas A&M where his dissertation was: "Crowd Behavior at Southwest Conference Games."
Yet he was more known for his dry humor and quick wit.
Once he was dismayed to learn that his star player had received four F's and a D on his exams that week.
"Son, it looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject," Metcalf said.
:lol
When the University of Texas was moving into the spacious Erwin Center in the late 1970s and out of Gregory Gym, which was a bandbox, the Austin American-Statesman called on Metcalf for a quote.
Metcalf said that his players disappeared during games, "pulled off the floor, passed around in the stands. We'd be playing four on five, and I'd try to tell the refs, but it was too noisy. The fans were so close that some of them had their feet in bounds."
Metcalf's jokes became legend around the SWC.
Groff, who was one of Metcalf's fishing buddies, said you'd hear the same joke a second or third time, and still laugh just as hard because Metcalf was a master storyteller.
Metcalf's tenure ended in 1990 when he was relieved of his duties by athletic director John David Crow, who named longtime assistant John Thornton as the interim coach.
Crow eventually hired 30-year-old Kermit Davis in March 1990. That started 15 years of frustration for Aggie basketball. Davis resigned the following year because of recruiting violations. Tony Barone and Melvin Watkins, the coaches who followed respectively, had but one winning season in the next 14.
Two seasons ago, A&M hired Gillispie, who immediately brought Metcalf back into the A&M basketball family. He launched the Shelby Metcalf Classic, which was played Nov. 17-19 at Reed Arena, featuring Saint Louis, Louisiana Tech, Lamar and A&M.
Metcalf's family was honored during the tournament, but Metcalf couldn't attend because he was recovering from pneumonia.
"We wanted to put coach's name on it, because he is so deserving," Gillispie said. "He's been a great friend. He lives right around the corner from me. He walks his dog every night. I don't see him very often, but when I do, we always have great visits. You can learn somethin' if you keep your mouth shut, and that's what I do.
"He just has wisdom and experience about the game that can really be a benefit to your team."
Metcalf, who was an excellent fast pitch softball pitcher as a youngster, enjoyed the outdoors. He loved to fish, often taking friends to his lake - Lake Gig 'Em - between Palestine and Slocum.
When he was relieved of his coaching duties, he worked for the school's center of academic enhancement.
He twice was selected to Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. He spoke at banquets, athletic events and high schools until 1994.
"Anything to do with education," he said in 1998. "I did three prison graduations. There's a lot of prisoners who are big sports fans. They've got lots of time to read the paper and watch TV."
Shelby and his wife, Janis, were married more than 50 years. She was a teacher and his daughter graduated from A&M in 1983.
"I love the university," Shelby said when the team quit playing basketball in G. Rollie White. "My daughter has got two degrees from A&M. And Bryan-College Station is a great community.
"While coaching at A&M, I was blessed with outstanding young men. Many of my best friends are former players. Coaching basketball at A&M for Janis, Shelley and me was a way of life, not a job."
Funeral arrangements are pending.
:depressed