First Men’s Basketball Team, 1931-1932

ECTC men's basketball team
1931-1932 Men's Basketball Team, The Tecoan, 1932

In the early 1930s, ECTC co-eds, i.e., male students, organized, for the first time in the school’s history, several athletic teams – basketball, baseball, and football – for intercollegiate play. Basketball had always been popular on campus, but primarily as the centerpiece of intramural competition for the predominantly female student population. As demographics shifted away from an overwhelmingly female campus to one wherein the male population expanded in tandem with the worsening economy of the 1930s, things inevitably changed. Led by newly arrived male transfer students from schools such as Duke and Wake Forest, the male student body first organized itself into a “Co-ed Club,” then established a “Co-ed” column in the Teco Echo, next filled “co-ed” editorial positions on the newspaper staff, and then finally launched a journalistic campaign to rally student body support for intercollegiate (men’s) sports. The first and most successful of the athletic trifecta was basketball. In the team’s inaugural season, the Teachers, aka, “the professors of basketball,” played twenty games and won half of them, impressing the campus and community, as well as gaining outside recognition from coaches at competing schools. Not only did the co-eds’ push result in the beginnings of men’s basketball at East Carolina, it facilitated, through its successes, the emergence of men’s athletics and the school’s larger commitment to inter-collegiate competition.

Through a column entitled “Nothing But Co-eds,” the Teco Echo played a crucial role in promoting the cause of men’s basketball. While addressing topics of concern to male students, it was positioned proximate content devoted to female interests and so surely attracted wandering eyes from curious members of the opposite sex interested in seeing what was on men’s minds. On November 14, 1931, the “Nothing But Co-eds” column, authored by Ivey Wood, “Co-ed staff editor,” reported, “It is possible that the gossip, which has been going around on the campus, is true. Dear Ole’ E.C.T.C. will have a basketball team this year. At least we are hoping so. The equipment for the court which is to be installed in the auditorium of the Campus Building is already on its way and will be put in immediately upon its arrival.” The “gossip” referred to had been generated by the co-eds themselves, and then eagerly broadcast as “news” to give it larger circulation.

The “Campus Building” referred to, also known as the “Social and Religious Building,” was later named after then president, Robert H. Wright, and the auditorium in it, Wright Auditorium. Construction of that building during the 1920s made possible an indoor space for dances, school assemblies, chapel talks, and, it appears, basketball games as well. The editor of the paper was Maggie McPherson and the managing editor, Elizabeth Haywood. The assistant editors were all females with the exception of the “Co-Ed Staff,” a couple of men, Ivey Wood and Eric Tucker, assistant editor, both members of the Scribblers Club, interested in contributing to the student paper and ensuring that the male perspective was given some voice on an otherwise female campus where females dominated, by their numbers, all positions of authority and importance.

 The author of “Nothing But Co-eds” added, “I think I will be speaking in behalf of all the Co-eds when expressing a deep appreciation for the enthusiastic co-operation which Dr. Adams, and our advisor, Dr. ReBarker, have lent us in starting basketball off in the right way.” Herbert ReBarker, the director of instruction in mathematics, was later appointed dean of men at ECTC. Dr. Carl L. Adams, director of instruction in education and psychology, served as the faculty sponsor for the team and was often photographed with it. While ReBarker supported the team, Adams was more personally involved in its management.

In another “Nothing But Co-eds” column entitled “Co-Ed Meeting,” Wood reported that there had been a business meeting “the purpose of which was to get everything in line for basketball season.” President Nelson Hunsucker – later one of the cagers – presided. Another student, Eric Tucker, read a report to the Co-ed Club which “showed that several members of the faculty have contributed sums of money to help pay for the basketball goals and balls.” Tucker added that “a committee was appointed to interview the different business men of Greenville to see if they are willing to pay for a basketball suit, and in turn have their firm’s name printed on it.” The Co-ed club then elected Wood as “assistant manager to make out a schedule for the Basketball team for the coming season.” The “Co-ed Club” referred to was nothing other than a men’s club that voiced male student issues on an otherwise largely female campus.

Although an ECTC student, Hunsucker, the club’s president, had seen something of the larger world: he transferred to ECTC from Wake Forest in 1931 and from his brief study at Wake, knew of the competitive athletic programs available to men on other campuses. At ECTC, Hunsucker was a member of the Lanier Society, vice president of Mathematics Club, a member of the Science Club, Junior Class treasurer, and Co-ed representative to the Student Government Association. He also played on the ECTC basketball team in 1932, and the baseball team in 1932 and 1933.

Eric Tucker transferred to ECTC in 1931, after spending a year at Duke. At ECTC, Tucker was a member of the Poe Society, the Co-ed Club, and served as Co-ed assistant editor of Teco Echo. He was also a member of the Scribblers Club, the Math Club, the Science Club, and the Men’s Athletic Association. One of ECTC’s more athletically talented students, Tucker played on the football team his senior year, 1933, and on the basketball and baseball teams his junior and senior years. Working through the Co-ed Club and the Teco Echo, Hunsucker and Tucker were two of the prime movers behind the push to establish men’s basketball.

In early 1932, “Nothing But Co-eds” reported, “For the first time in its history, East Carolina Teachers College will have a basketball team.” In making this grand claim, the column overlooked the fact that women’s basketball teams had been a part of campus life for a couple of decades. No doubt, it meant that the historic event was a men’s team. The column added, “The team will be coached by Mr. [C. W. “Soup”] Porter, former star Duke athlete.” While adding that prospects were fair for a winning season, it noted that home games would be with William and Mary, Wake Forest freshmen, Louisburg College, Atlantic Christian College, and Campbell College. In another entry, the column called on ECTC to “Beat Campbell,” adding that while Campbell had been playing for several seasons, the home team was just starting and would need all the support students could muster.

The first intercollegiate game, against Campbell, was played on Tuesday, January 12, 1932, in the Campus Building. The ECTC team – yet to be called “Teachers” – lost to “the smooth playing team of Campbell College,” 30-16. Reportedly the ECTC cagers were nervous, shooting too hurriedly, resulting in a first half score of 19-5. In the second half, they improved, matching point-for-point Campbell’s 11-point gain. Reportedly, Coach Porter, after watching Campbell, charted out an effective, second-half strategy for his team. By all counts, the Co-ed team had shown more promise as the game unfolded, suggesting that the worst half ever might have been the first one played and that a truer gauge of their talent only became apparent in the second.

Even before competing in intercollegiate play, the Co-eds had played two games with the Greenville All Stars, both in the College Auditorium, just before Christmas, 1931. In the first contest, the Co-eds won, 23-17, but in the second, they lost, 23-22. Reportedly, Eric Tucker, the center, “made the most points,” though the Teco Echo did not specify how many, while Charles King and Charles Forbes “did outstanding defensive work.” The starters for the Co-ed team were Tucker, center; Barker, forward; Hunsucker, forward; King, guard; and Forbes, guard.

In the January 13, 1932 game against Atlantic Christian College, the Teachers lost, 27-17, but Tucker was declared “the individual star of the game, scoring 12 points,” all but five of the total scored by ECTC. Later, ECTC beat Louisburg College, 16-6. With that game, the Teco Echo began referring to the ECTC cagers as “the Teachers,” and on occasion, as “the professors of basketball.” Once again, Tucker, with seven points, topped the team in scoring, while defensive play by King and Eason was praised.

The ECTC-William and Mary game, played in Norfolk, was the “first out of state basketball game in the history of the college.” In it, the ECTC basketeers lost to the Norfolk Branch of William and Mary, 29-23. Once again, Tucker was the high scorer – for both teams – with 13 points. The two teams met again on February 12, at East Carolina. In all, the Teachers played 20 games and scored 398 points as opposed to the 414 that the opposition cagers scored. Reporting on the team was limited, but an end-of-the-season tabulation noted that the high scorer for the year was Eric Tucker with 209 points, or almost half of the team’s total.

By season’s end, “Nothing But Co-eds,” serving as the school’s sports news center, declared the “first year in inter-collegiate ball” an “excellent” one. Savoring the season record, 10-10, the men’s column asked, “How many other schools could equal that for a first year’s record?”

Sources

Additional Related Material

The 1932 Co-Ed Club. In the above image, William Tucker is in the second row, second from the left, wearing a light suit with vest. Image Source: The Tecoan, 1932.

 

The 1932-1933 Men&”>The Tecoan, 1933.

 

William Eric “Tuck” Tucker. Image Source: The Tecoan, 1933

 

William Eric “Tuck” Tucker is recognized as the oldest ECTC letter winner. Tucker passed away on October 4, 2009 at the age of 97. Image Source: ECU Almuni

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