The 1966-1967 East Carolina Men’s Basketball Team

Basketball team, 1967
1966-1967 East Carolina Men's Basketball Team

This picture of the 1966-1967 ECC basketball team, led by Tom Quinn (front row, far left) was first featured in the 1967 Buccaneer. Hired in the spring of 1966, Quinn’s mission was to lead the Buc team to the highest level of performance in the Southern Conference, which ECC had just joined in 1965. By all accounts, Quinn succeeded in transforming East Carolina from a conference “doormat” into a championship contender in just three years. In recognition of his work, Quinn was named Southern Conference coach of the year in 1969.

Quinn’s hire was part of President Leo Jenkins’ drive to elevate the athletic standing of East Carolina in tandem with his push for university status. The latter achievement was realized in the summer of 1967. Quinn succeeded Wendell Carr who had served three years as cage coach. Carr’s record was a dismal 32-40, and in his final year, 11-15, and fifth in the conference.

In addition to making East Carolina a contender within the Southern Conference, Quinn’s leadership was instrumental in navigating the transition from Jim Crow athletics of the 1950s and early 1960s to desegregated intercollegiate competition of the 1960s. In guiding this change, Quinn was assisted by outstanding African-American players from year one, including Vince Colbert, Marvin Simpson, and Earl Thompson, well proving to all Pirate fans the value of integrated play. At a more mundane level, Quinn also directed the transition of East Carolina cage play from its earlier home in Christenbury Gymnasium on the main campus to the newly constructed Minges Coliseum. The Buccaneer picture is of the Buc team in Christenbury.

Quinn’s best season was in 1968-1969 when his cagers finished with a 17-11 record. In 1972, the Buc team upset Davidson and Furman in the Southern Conference tournament to win ECU’s first conference championship. The ECU cagers went on to the NCAA tournament, but lost in the first round to Villanova, 85-70.

Quinn envisioned ECU becoming one of the “big six cage powers in North Carolina,” referring to an elite including UNC, NCSU, Duke, Wake Forest, Davidson, and ECU. In 1969, ECU did play Wake Forest, Duke, NC State, South Carolina and Davidson, all Top 15 teams, but the following year found few of the elites willing to compete again. Quinn’s ambition was shared by ECU’s athletic leadership and remains today one that the school affirms. However, stiff competition from the big three – UNC, Duke, and NC State – have made building yet another basketball powerhouse in-state an ongoing challenge.

Early on, Quinn, a graduate of Marshall with a master’s degree from the University of Florida, had coached high school teams in Florida before becoming head coach at Newberry College in South Carolina, 1958-1962. Quinn’s 1961 team compiled a 23-8 record and won the Carolinas Conference championship. That year, Quinn was named Collegiate Coach of the Year in South Carolina. In 1963, he moved to High Point College to served as head coach, rolling up an impressive 95-21. At High Point, Quinn’s teams won the 1963, 1964, 1965 Carolinas Conference championships. In 1966, ECC hired Quinn in hopes that his skills as head coach would transform the school’s lackluster cager program.

In 1974, Quinn was dismissed after serving eight years as head coach. He had compiled an overall record of 102-104, and finished the 1974 season at 13-12, in fourth place in the Southern Conference. ECU athletic director Clarence Stasavich noted that Quinn “did an excellent job of bringing East Carolina forward during his first four years here, that includes a conference basketball championship and honors as coach of the year. But our athletic council felt the basketball program had reached a plateau.”

Quinn remarked, “I feel that I have done my best to bring the East Carolina program to the highest level possible considering the funds available and the other problems encountered when trying to build a major program.” Dave Patton, a two-year staffer at ECU, succeeded Quinn as head coach. In 2010, Quinn was inducted into the Newberry Hall of Fame.

Sources

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