Norman Shepard

Norman Westbrook "Bo" Shepard (August 20, 1897 – August 22, 1977[1]) was a head coach of various college athletics at several American colleges and universities. He is best known for being the only Division I college basketball coach to go undefeated in his first season coaching.[2]:159 His 1923–24 Tar Heels team finished the season with a 26–0 record[3] and was retroactively named the national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.[4][5]

Not to be confused with Norman Shepherd.

Norman Shepard
Shepard circa 1948
Biographical details
Born(1897-08-20)August 20, 1897
Marion, South Carolina
DiedAugust 22, 1977(1977-08-22) (aged 80)
Sarasota, Florida
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1928Guilford
1929–1935Randolph–Macon
Basketball
1923–1924North Carolina
1928–1929Guilford
1929–1936Randolph–Macon
1937–1949Davidson
1949–1954Harvard
Baseball
1940–1944Davidson
1955–1968Harvard
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1928–1929Guilford
1929–1936Randolph–Macon
1936–1949Davidson
Head coaching record
Overall37–27–9 (football)
323–277 (basketball)
234–154–4 (baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Foosball
3 Chesapeake (1933–1935)

Basketball
Helms Athletic Foundation national (1924)
Premo-Porretta national (1924)
SoCon regular season (1924)
SoCon Tournament (1924)

Background and family

He was born Norman Westbrook Shepard, third son of Alexander Hurlbutt Shepard and Mary Augusta Westbrook.

Shepard attended the University of North Carolina and after graduating played minor league baseball for a time.[6] Before becoming a head coach, Shepard spent three years abroad in France during World War I in the United States army as an artilleryman.[6]

In 1928, he married Edith Ruckert, of Brooklyn, NY, in Peking, China.

Norman's family had various ties to athletics at North Carolina. His brother, Bo Shepard, became the head coach for North Carolina after Norman, and two of his other brothers, Caryle Shepard and Alex Shepard, played basketball for North Carolina.[7]

Coach of North Carolina Tar Heels

Shepard decided to accept the head coaching job for the Tar Heels while planning to attend law school on the side.[6]

When Shepard took over, the Tar Heels had been without a head coach for the previous two seasons.[8] Even though the Tar Heels had been without a head coach for the previous seasons, they had managed to win the Southern Conference Tournament at the end of the 1921–22 season and tied for first in the Southern Conference during the 1922–23 season.[9]

When Shepard took over the team, he inherited a well-rounded Tar Heel squad that included returning senior Cartwright Carmichael, who was the first North Carolina All-American in any sport, and Jack Cobb, who would later be named to the All-American team and would later have his number retired at North Carolina.[10] Shepard's North Carolina team earned the nickname the "White Phantoms" because of their fast playmaking and defense.[11]

The 1923–24 Tar Heels squad managed to win all 26 games they played that year.[11] Because there was no national post-season tournament, the Tar Heels final game was in the Southern Conference tournament against the University of Alabama Crimson Tide.[11] The Tar Heels managed to win the game 26–18.[11] The local news reported that hundreds of students at North Carolina "waited in the streets in front of telegraph offices and cafes" for news about the game and after the victory students "went wild" and set a bonfire on the athletic field.[11]

In 1936, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively awarded a national championship to the team since there had been no organization to award national championships at the time.[11] Currently Shepard holds the title of being the only head coach to go undefeated in his first year of coaching.[2][12]

Living abroad

After coaching North Carolina for one season, Shepard went to the Far East to work as a sales manager for Liggett and Meyer tobacco company.[6] While abroad, he played for and coached a basketball team in the Far Eastern Olympics.[13] Shepard married his wife while in China and returned to the United States after being abroad for five years.[7]

Return to coaching

After returning to the United States, Shepard took coaching jobs at Guilford College, Randolph College, Davidson College and finally Harvard University where he coached baseball, basketball and football.[7] He retired from being the head coach in 1968.[7]

Head coaching record

Football
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Guilford Quakers (Independent) (1928)
1928 Guilford 5–3
Guilford: 5–3
Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets (Virginia Conference) (1929–1932)
1929 Randolph–Macon 2–5
1930 Randolph–Macon 3–5–2
1931 Randolph–Macon 7–1–1
1932 Randolph–Macon 5–1–2
Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets (Chesapeake Conference) (1933–1935)
1933 Randolph–Macon 3–61st
1934 Randolph–Macon 4–3–2T–1st
1935 Randolph–Macon 8–0–23–01st
Randolph–Macon: 32–12–9
Total:37–27–9
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

Basketball
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
North Carolina Tar Heels (Southern Conference) (1923–1924)
1923–24 North Carolina 26–07–0T–1stHelms National Champion
Premo-Porretta National Champion
North Carolina: 26–0[14]7–0
Guilford Quakers (Independent) (1928–1929)
1928–29 Guilford 6–12
Guilford: 6–12
Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets (Virginia Conference) (1929–1936)
1929–30 Randolph–Macon 14–7
1930–31 Randolph–Macon 16–7
1931–32 Randolph–Macon 7–12
1932–33 Randolph–Macon 11–11
1933–34 Randolph–Macon 15–4
1934–35 Randolph–Macon 11–13
1935–36 Randolph–Macon 9–11
Randolph–Macon: 83–65
Davidson Wildcats (Southern Conference) (1937–1949)
1937–38 Davidson 10–124–1111th
1938–39 Davidson 19–99–75th
1939–40 Davidson 8–134–1111th
1940–41 Davidson 11–125–710th
1941–42 Davidson 12–133–813th
1942–43 Davidson 18–67–44th
1943–44 Davidson 16–73–46th
1944–45 Davidson 9–93–69th
1945–46 Davidson 13–125–912th
1946–47 Davidson 17–87–79th
1947–48 Davidson 19–910–75th
1948–49 Davidson 18–811–65th
Davidson: 170–11871–87
Harvard Crimson (Ivy League) (1949–1954)
1949–50 Harvard 9–153–96th
1950–51 Harvard 8–183–96th
1951–52 Harvard 5–170–127th
1952–53 Harvard 7–162–107th
1953–54 Harvard 9–162–128th
Harvard: 38–8210–52
Total:323–277

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

General

  • Powell, Adam (2002). University of North Carolina Basketball. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-4150-8.
  • Rappoport, Ken (2002). Tales from the Tar Heel Locker Room. Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 1-58261-489-X. Charles Doak basketball.
  • "2008-09 North Carolina men's basketball media guide". UNC Athletic Communications. Archived from the original on September 17, 2009.

Specific

  2. "NCAA stats" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
  3. "North Carolina Tar Heels season-by-season results". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  4. "NCAA Division I Men's Basketball – NCAA Division I Champions". Rauzulu's Street. 2004. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  5. ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 536. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  6. Rappoport 2002, p. 13
  7. Rappoport 2002, p. 14
  8. Rappoport 2002, pp. 12–13
  9. Rappoport 2002, pp. 14–15
  10. Rappoport 2002, p. 11
  11. Powell 2002, p. 16
  12. Associated Press (December 16, 2006). "OSU's Sutton has Cowboys unbeaten". Amarillo Globe News. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
  13. Powell 2005, p. 14
  14. 2007-08 North Carolina men's basketball media guide 2007, p.177
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