They Call Me Big House

Book excerpt: Big House. For nearly half a century in college basketball circles, no other introduction was necessary. Clarence E. "Big House" Gaines became head coach at Winston-Salem Teachers College in 1946. He was not just the head basketball coach. He was the head coach. Period. He coached every sport the school offered -- football, basketball, track, tennis, boxing. He taught in the classroom, too, And all for $2,400 a year. He slept in the men's dormitory and ate discounted meals in the cafeteria. How good were his teams in those early days? About as good as you'd expect at a predominantly women's college whose cupboard of male athletes was bare immediately after World War II.