The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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80 ■ THE WOLFPACKER ■ PACK PAST a freshman coach, was shocked when his three shares arrived in the mail. He put the money in the bank and used it to help raise his young family. Future Raleigh mayor Smedes York was as surprised as all of the other former play- ers when he heard about the inheritance. He was just about to be discharged from the Army when he received a letter notify- ing him of the gift while stationed at Fort Bragg. "I don't remember doing anything spe- cial with the money," York said. "I just put it aside with some other savings and invest- ments. It was greatly appreciated." 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." Joe Harand, a senior guard on the 1950 team that advanced to the Final Four, did put his half share into a family luxury: its first color television. With the few dollars he had left over, he bought a brass plaque for his television stand that read: "Through the generosity of Everett N. Case." The original 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. It wasn't until years later that Robinson made the connection that every player on the list had graduated. Robinson was the last player on Case's list. He still roars with laughter every time he tells about what he did with his money. At the time, he was working as a high school teacher, athletics director and bas- ketball coach, making about $6,400 a year to do three jobs. He and his wife Barbara were so strapped for cash that when he was filling out the paperwork for his teaching ben- efits that he declined to purchase maternity coverage. "We weren't planning on having any more kids," Robinson said. Parental planning was not exactly perfect back then, and Barbara was pregnant not long after the ink dried on the benefits pa- perwork. When Kelly Robinson was born at the hospital in Gainesville, Fla., the young coach was presented with a bill for $300, something he was completely unable to pay. He went to a local bank to ask for a loan, but before he signed his future earnings away, he got the first payment from Case's estate, easily covering his hospital bill. Ever since, he has reminded his daughter that the only reason she was able to leave the hospital was because of his former coach's generosity. "We might never have gotten you home if it hadn't been for Coach Case," Robinson tells her. ■ Tim Peeler, author of the newly released Legends of NC State Basketball, is a regular contributor to The Wolf- packer and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. Players Who Received Shares From Case Here are the 57 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 Case's teams at NC State went 377-134 (.737 winning percentage) — the best record of any Wolfpack coach to date — and won ACC championships in 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1959. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS