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Carl Tacy Passes Away At 87

Deaconblue, you are so right about the next game against Maryland. We nearly won that game, and had no business even being close. Think Maryland with Len Elmore, Tom McMillen, John Lucas, etc. Had we won, we would have gotten the bid, because NC State was on probation for the recruiting violations involving a guy named David Thompson. God, the ACC was so fun back then!
 
Kenny Greene had incredible physical ability, an absolute natural on the court. And he made it all seem so effortless. He could have been great. But he turned into a head case.
 
couple of thoughts from reading this thread:

1- Kenny Green was my favorite player when I was a kid and wore number 21 in basketball because of him so a little part of me dies every time I hear these Kenny Green stories. As for Danny Young, that guy was a fantastic floor leader for a really good team so I just don't buy that he led a player rebellion.

2. Carl Tacy had one of the most epic combovers I've ever seen. It practically started one cm above his ear and then swept over the top like a Hawaii wave before crashing down the other side of this head. You youngsters don't really know about combovers but it used to be a thing and Tacy's was the best/worst of all.

3. Tacy got into the frozen yogurt business right after coaching which drove my Dad crazy. Whenever Staak would lose another game, my Dad would say something like, "we would have won that game but the guy who should be coaching is out slinging yogurt."
 
beachdeac said:
A little background. Tacy won a state championship at Pulaski HS in Virginia. Then he was at Ferrum Jr. Col. In 1970 he joined Coach Stewart Way as an asst. at Marshall University. After the 70-71 season, Coach Way went to the AD and told him that Coach Tacy needed to be the head coach and that he (Way) would be his asst. And that is what happened. I still find that to be an amazing fact. In his one year at Marshall as head coach, he took them to the NCAA Tournament (23-4). That was back when the field was only 22 or 24 teams. Quite an accomplishment. It was then that Dr. Hooks lured him to WFU.
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He resigned at the age of 53, having had a sub-par season after three or four top flight teams. It seems that the culture of the 70s (weed), players who did not like to be held accountable and his lack of love for recruiting all conspired around the loss of Hammond and the carping from fans to where he simply was done. All you need to read are the words of Muggsey Bogues about him on Twitter this morning. He loved and respected Coach Tacy. He was certainly a Wake Forest treasure. He needs a banner in the rafters!
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Prior to going to Pulaski, Tacy was head coach at Bedford (Va) High School. Bedford High was merged into Liberty High when that school was opened. A guy named Jim Grobe was once the head football coach at Liberty. So, that small rural Virginia school system gave Wake two pretty good coaches and two damn good men.
 
I still remember being shocked that we signed a 5'3 PG. How could he be any good? :)

Soon, we heard from Howard Garfinkel, creator of Five Star Camp, saying only Patrick Ewing was as dominant a HS player as Muggsy in the 80s.
 
I've said it before, but I'll say it again: can you imagine how many assists Muggsy would have had had he been passing the ball to Tim Duncan instead of Ralph Kitley?
 
sportsmed86 said:
He was a Gentleman and an asset for the Deacs. He also made some really good choices on hard working knowledgeable Asst coaches that paid dividends for Wake for decades. Odom, Dinger, Nestor
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Exactly correct, in all regards. He was a good game-prep coach, and a great game coach. He was the only coach in the country to figure out how to beat the Four Corners offense regularly. When he was coach, Carmichael was our home away from home.
But the questions posed are legitimate, and the answers were real, if not timely to dwell on at this time. He not only wasn’t warm and fuzzy, he was so grumpy that a number of those good assistant coaches welcomed other opportunities. He was not a good recruiter, and it showed when a David Odom left. There was discussion about depression, which God knows would have been justified then.
 
Deaconblue said:
...about his son, Wesley Green

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As an aside, if I remember correctly, either Skip or Odom tried to recruit Wesley (or another of Kenny's sons?) to Wake.
Not sure what went down, but I recall there wasn't much mutual interest.
 
Pilchard said:
Agree. Don't have all of the details, but it's telling that Tacy never coached again after leaving WF. Tacy took two teams to the Elite 8, and over his last 5 seasons at WF, he had 3 NCAA tourney teams (when only 48 teams made the field), and 2 NIT teams. If he still had a burning desire to coach, other schools would've come calling. Think Tacy's desire to do all of the legwork required to win on that level was gone by the time WF and Tacy parted ways. IIRC, shortly after leaving WF, he owned a bunch of frozen yogurt franchises.
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That is correct. He bought into the TCBY franchises here in Winston-Salem. There was one over around Cherry St & another around the bend near the Central YMCA. That was the hugely busy one back in the heyday.
 
RJKarl said:
I still remember being shocked that we signed a 5'3 PG. How could he be any good? :)

Soon, we heard from Howard Garfinkel, creator of Five Star Camp, saying only Patrick Ewing was as dominant a HS player as Muggsy in the 80s.
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He had 3 guards in his office at the same time and said the first one to commit is going to get the scholarship. Those 3 guards were Muggsy, Tommy Amaker & Keith Gatlin.
 
deaclite said:
Larry Harrison was one that stood out for various reasons.
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I was a fan. I don’t know how in hell he had such a rep coming out of high school with those hands, but over time he came to be what Wake needed, and a good player for us. He and Tacy worked hard for him to get good and he did.
 
Pilchard said:
FWIW, in my 4 years at WF, Tacy was 8-1 against Duke. That was during K's early years when he had Dawkins, Amaker, Bilas et al. The one loss was in OT at Duke in 1984. Duke had something close to a 20 point lead in the 2nd half, and were about to run the Deacs out of Cameron. Rather than continue the beatdown, K panicked, and Duke stopped running, instead trying to milk the clock with about 10 minutes to go... Way too early to do that. Predictably, Duke choked away the lead, and WF forced OT. Duke escaped with a 79-77 OT win. Remember thinking at the time, what a huge advantage WF had on the sidelines with Tacy versus K. Seriously, it was.
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I'd wager that's a prime example of an experience that turned K into the huge "pour it own no matter how overmatched the opponent is" asshole he became.
 
deaclite said:
Hard choice for all time favorite player Skip or Teachey. Have to go with Skip with the “Bottoms” call by Gene Overby.
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I’m a Skip man. Dude pulls up on the fast break at the top of the key when no one is open for the layup, at what is now 3-point line, and nails it, nothing but net. Repeatedly.
 
Shorty said:
I didn't actually see one of my favorite Wake wins of all time, but I will never forget it. We beat defending national champion NC State, a team that included David Thompson, in the first round of the Big Four in January of 1975. We were still home on Christmas break. I will never forget seeing that score in the paper the next day.

Thanks, coach.
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I’m in Louisville, not able to see or hear the Big Four games, and the AP says in their article about that NCAA MVP David Thompson was going up for the lob, catches it above the rim, and is blocked by the freshman For Wake Forest, Rodney Rogers. Shook State for the rest of the game.
 
BirdinBama said:
I've said it before, but I'll say it again: can you imagine how many assists Muggsy would have had had he been passing the ball to Tim Duncan instead of Ralph Kitley?
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Kitley was a freshman who played 11 mpg when Bogues was a senior. Bogues averaged 9.5 apg that year.
 
1976Deac said:
I’m in Louisville, not able to see or hear the Big Four games, and the AP says in their article about that NCAA MVP David Thompson was going up for the lob, catches it above the rim, and is blocked by the freshman For Wake Forest, Rodney Rogers. Shook State for the rest of the game.
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You need to put the bourbon down. Rodney was about 4 yo in 1975. :)
 
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