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Carl Tacy Passes Away At 87

1976Deac said:
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.
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Larry Harrison was a master at the inbounds pass from the opposite baseline; he could one-hand a pass to a guy heading up-court and drop it in there like a Tom Brady for an easy layup. And yes that was something Tacy had to teach him: how to recognize the guy cutting and then how to drop it in there.
 
I had the honor of getting to work with Coach Tacy. He was very good to me during that time and remained friendly whenever our paths crossed over the years.

Rest in peace, Coach.
 
DownEastDeac said:
Larry Harrison was a master at the inbounds pass from the opposite baseline; he could one-hand a pass to a guy heading up-court and drop it in there like a Tom Brady for an easy layup. And yes that was something Tacy had to teach him: how to recognize the guy cutting and then how to drop it in there.
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Except for the one that “hit” the scoreboard.
 
I lived in Indiana the entirety of Tacy's career. When the Deacs emerged as a winning team in 1976 and advanced to the Elite Eight in 1977 it certainly made my life more enjoyable. I actually got to talk a little trash in the early 80's. I thank Carl Tacy for that pleasure.

He ended the longest streak of NCAA tournament absence in Wake Forest history at 14 years. I credit him with the return of basketball relevance at Wake Forest and mourned his resignation.

RIP Carl. Thanks.
 
This thread is awesome (learned a lot!) and completely depressing (we are a million light years from those days) all at the same time.
 
jaybone said:
Great story. I bumped into Kenny Green a time or two at the Kappa Sig house. Super stoned (him not me). Once right before a Saturday or Sunday nationally televised afternoon game against UNC in Greensboro. it was like 9 or 10 in the morning I think. Anyway, it was an hour or two before he would have had to leave to get to pre-game. He shot something like 9-13 and scored 23 to 25 points against Brad Daugherty, Kenny Smith, Dave Popson I think. Should have shot more but he was just gliding around. Seemed to remember at least that game most of his shots being turnaround jumpers on the baseline - a tough shot.
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A snapper! I was in law school at that time. Good years to be at WF.
 
AlphaDeac said:
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.
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And Tacy coached and Grobe played at Ferrum. Guys, that place is in the boonies.
 
1976Deac said:
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.
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Ed Hardin wrote a great article about Tacy today in the GBNR. It discusses his personality.
 
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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It was Rod Griffin.
 
Shorty said:
Rod the Bod was an absolute monster. He, Skip, and Jerry. What an incredibly fun team to watch. So much heart. That team would not have been the same without coach Tacy.
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Don’t forget Frank Johnson and Leroy McDonald. Larry Harrison as well.
 
The only player rebellion I remember was in 1983 and led by John Toms. It happened just before we got destroyed by State by about 40 points. But we rebounded, lost to that same State team by 1 in the ACC Tourney in Atlanta (State won the whole thing and the NCAA) and Wake went to the NIT, beating Murray State, Vanderbilt, South Carolina before losing the Fresno State in the Final Four.

That was an interesting team- it was the year after Johnstone, Morgan, and Helms graduated having led us to back to back NCAA Tourneys. Alvis Rogers was back after redshirting. No one was really sure how good we would be but we started the season strong and then, as many Tacy teams did, faded in the second half of the season.
 
Remember Tacy using different schemes. the “ vulture” full court zone press. The triangle and two. He used the four corners with mark dale at the point when we were overmatched to stay in and win some games. Great coach! Not a salesmen personality, but a skilled coach.
 
LilburnDeac said:
The only player rebellion I remember was in 1983 and led by John Toms. It happened just before we got destroyed by State by about 40 points. But we rebounded, lost to that same State team by 1 in the ACC Tourney in Atlanta (State won the whole thing and the NCAA) and Wake went to the NIT, beating Murray State, Vanderbilt, South Carolina before losing the Fresno State in the Final Four.

That was an interesting team- it was the year after Johnstone, Morgan, and Helms graduated having led us to back to back NCAA Tourneys. Alvis Rogers was back after redshirting. No one was really sure how good we would be but we started the season strong and then, as many Tacy teams did, faded in the second half of the season.
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I believe that we lost to Nebraska in the NIT Final 4 at Madison Square Garden. I was there in the pep band.

Wake and state both had the identical 17-11 records heading into that ACCT game that state won by 1 point when Wake turned the ball over late trying to run 4 corners. They ran off 9 consecutive wins to win the Natty.
 
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