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Charlie Davis

Besides being a terrific player, CD was an overall great guy at Wake. Freshmen couldn't play varsity in those days and our '67-'68 varsity team sucked (5-21). A good crowd wouild show up for the Freshman games to watch CD and Gil McGregor, but thin out before the varsity game.

in 1967 New Jersey had the third most students at Wake, behind NC and Virginia. My total cost of education for 4 years, less travel, was $10,000.
 
Wake has been Point Guard U. for many decades, not just one. Add Ish, Teague, and CP3 as more recent ones. Chill wasn't bad either.

The last 10 years have been the exception to the rule.
 
And no one even mentioned Muggsy.

Muggsy had 2 of the all-time games in WF history during his sophomore year: 1) at Duke when he, Rudd, Green, Cline and Garber upset the #1 ranked Blue Devils in overtime. He held Johnny Dawkins to 9 points and basically dominated the game 2) vs NCSU in Greensboro on NBC, when Al McGuire said he had been around a “lots of wet socks, lots of wet jocks” but he couldn’t believe he just saw a 5’3” guard dominate a game.
 
What made Davis special was what he did with the ball in his hands facing a defense focused on stopping him. He had a great handle and an ability juke a defender with quickness that left his defender out of position. Unlike today, hand checking was permitted unless it impended offensive movement. A foul was seldom called. Davis often backed into his defender using his body to protect the ball and the hand of a defender on his hip. A turnaround fall away jumper was SOP. He often backed in with a little bounce side to side until the defender bit on a fake. He would then bounce in the opposite direction, spin around his defender and drive to the hoop for a lay up. Eventually the big guys down low would knock him on his ass. Today those fouls would be called intentional but in his day it was the price of doing business. He was automatic from the line so the opponent paid a price as well. He also put quality bigs on the bench with foul trouble going to the hoop. Strategy. He also spun and released a quick midrange jumper. Sometimes he'd spin, be met by a defender and spin on him as well. Watching him back in and spin through an entire defense was not uncommon. The fact he was accurate with either hand around the basket made for some truly remarkable shots. That's why you had to see him in action to believe his creativity. I'm probably missing something but I'll leave it to others to describe. The only player who I can compare him with is Earl Monroe. They never knew what they would do until they did it.

Final thought. The worst of the hand checkers was Bobby Cremins of the USC Gamecocks. He would hook the top of his fingers into the top of Charlie's shorts for as long he got away with it. Spent entire games screaming at the reffs to no avail. IIRC, it ended when Cremins couldn't release his grip on a Davis spin move, the elastic on the waist band stretched to the max and released from Cremin's fingers with a loud, very noticeable snap on CD's hip. The call was made. The abuse the reff received was obscene and warranted. The next time Cremins hand checked another foul was called immediately. I believe a third call was made shortly thereafter. Frank McGuire and the USC bench went ballistic. What they caught from the stands was mayhem. Of course my memory might be faulty or this could be an instance of wishful thinking. The Wake-USC games were wars that always ended poorly and the vitriol was vicious. A fun part of the game, back in the day.
 
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We were possibly one admissions exception away from a Final Four in 1970 and/or 1971. Artis Gilmore wanted to come to Wake after two years at Gardner-Webb but WF would not accept him. Instead, he ended up at Jacksonville University where he led JU to the NCAA championship game in 1970 and led the NCAA in rebounding in both 1970 and 1971. With him at center, sliding Gil McGregor to the power forward and with CD in the backcourt, that would have been one awesome team!
 
We were possibly one admissions exception away from a Final Four in 1970 and/or 1971. Artis Gilmore wanted to come to Wake after two years at Gardner-Webb but WF would not accept him. Instead, he ended up at Jacksonville University where he led JU to the NCAA championship game in 1970 and led the NCAA in rebounding in both 1970 and 1971. With him at center, sliding Gil McGregor to the power forward and with CD in the backcourt, that would have been one awesome team!

The Wake Freshman team played Gardner Webb in '67-'68, so Gil and Artis went up against each other. It was a pretty good game.

An additional thought - We couldn't accept him because the ACC had recently instituted a rule that made JC transfers more difficult (IIRC, it had to do with grades). That rule was changed just in time for Bob McAdoo to transfer to UNC in 1971. That's how much UNC controlled everything the ACC did.
 
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What made Davis special was what he did with the ball in his hands facing a defense focused on stopping him. He had a great handle and an ability juke a defender with quickness that left his defender out of position. Unlike today, hand checking was permitted unless it impended offensive movement. A foul was seldom called. Davis often backed into his defender using his body to protect the ball and the hand of a defender on his hip. A turnaround fall away jumper was SOP. He often backed in with a little bounce side to side until the defender bit on a fake. He would then bounce in the opposite direction, spin around his defender and drive to the hoop for a lay up. Eventually the big guys down low would knock him on his ass. Today those fouls would be called intentional but in his day it was the price of doing business. He was automatic from the line so the opponent paid a price as well. He also put quality bigs on the bench with foul trouble going to the hoop. Strategy. He also spun and released a quick midrange jumper. Sometimes he'd spin, be met by a defender and spin on him as well. Watching him back in and spin through an entire defense was not uncommon. The fact he was accurate with either hand around the basket made for some truly remarkable shots. That's why you had to see him in action to believe his creativity. I'm probably missing something but I'll leave it to others to describe. The only player who I can compare him with is Earl Monroe. They never knew what they would do until they did it.

Final thought. The worst of the hand checkers was Bobby Cremins of the USC Gamecocks. He would hook the top of his fingers into the top of Charlie's shorts for as long he got away with it. Spent entire games screaming at the reffs to no avail. IIRC, it ended when Cremins couldn't release his grip on a Davis spin move, the elastic on the waist band stretched to the max and released from Cremin's fingers with a loud, very noticeable snap on CD's hip. The call was made. The abuse the reff received was obscene and warranted. The next time Cremins hand checked another foul was called immediately. I believe a third call was made shortly thereafter. Frank McGuire and the USC bench went ballistic. What they caught from the stands was mayhem. Of course my memory might be faulty or this could be an instance of wishful thinking. The Wake-USC games were wars that always ended poorly and the vitriol was vicious. A fun part of the game, back in the day.

You've reminded me how loud and raucous the old coliseum could become. There was a blonde-headed guy who sat down low at center court who could be counted on to unleash an unbelievable tirade at least once a game. Then again, there was also Bobby John, who I believe you might remember.
 
As a class of seventy alum (and pep band member) I was fortunate to see CD in action as well as the Freshmen vs Gardner Webb game. If I recall correctly, Joe Menzer's book, "Four Corners" (which I highly recommend) addressed the Artis Gilmore incident which confirms that Artis did want to attend Wake;however, the deciding vote was cast by an ACC committee member Dr Drake, a professor at Wake Forest.
 
I was sitting behind the guy who was as manic as you described. In one game, after a very personal tirade directed to the referee, the ref stopped play and tried to get him tossed. Gene Hooks who was sitting close by simply shook his head, refusing to eject him.
 
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And then followed by Frank Johnson. For over a decade, Wake was Point Guard U.

Wasn't Frank Johnson more of a shooting guard his first couple of years and then switch to point guard after he missed a season with an injury?
 
You've reminded me how loud and raucous the old coliseum could become. There was a blonde-headed guy who sat down low at center court who could be counted on to unleash an unbelievable tirade at least once a game. Then again, there was also Bobby John, who I believe you might remember.

I believe Bobby John was part of the crew that was in the end zone during the Cremins game I mentioned. He was always good for a performance. We were in the third row and were unmerciful toward the reff, but Cremins was so obvious... Good times long ago.

Edit. What kept Gilmore out of Wake was his inability to make the required minimum score on his SAT. He would have come to Wake as a freshman but he failed on the SAT. He was directed to Gardner Webb for two years in effort to improve his academics and avoid the SAT, which wasn't required of JC transfers. Spring of his sophomore year, UNC lobbied the ACC to include the SAT for transfers and it passed. Artis still couldn't reach the minimum on the SAT and went to Jacksonville instead. UNC did successfully lobby the ACC to have the SAT rule removed for transfer two years later to ensure admission for Robert McADoo.

Whether Wake cast the deciding vote on Artis may be legend. The version I heard the night of the vote is different and it came directly from one of the basketball coaches.
 
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I believe Bobby John was part of the crew that was in the end zone during the Cremins game I mentioned. He was always good for a performance. We were in the third row and were unmerciful toward the reff, but Cremins was so obvious... Good times long ago.

Edit. What kept Gilmore out of Wake was his inability to make the required minimum score on his SAT. He would have come to Wake as a freshman but he failed on the SAT. He was directed to Gardner Webb for two years in effort to improve his academics and avoid the SAT, which wasn't required of JC transfers. Spring of his sophomore year, UNC lobbied the ACC to include the SAT for transfers and it passed. Artis still couldn't reach the minimum on the SAT and went to Jacksonville instead. UNC did successfully lobby the ACC to have the SAT rule removed for transfer two years later to ensure admission for Robert McADoo.

Whether Wake cast the deciding vote on Artis may be legend. The version I heard the night of the vote is different and it came directly from one of the basketball coaches.

Not sure if this game was CD’s soph year, but I distinctly remember all the excitement when USC came to town for his first game. An unheralded soph named John Roche took us to the cleaners that night . I still remember Roche driving the lane and we couldn’t stop him.
 
You've reminded me how loud and raucous the old coliseum could become. There was a blonde-headed guy who sat down low at center court who could be counted on to unleash an unbelievable tirade at least once a game. Then again, there was also Bobby John, who I believe you might remember.

IIRC the guy's name was Petersen, and he later helped Wake recruit Frank Johnson.
 
Not sure if this game was CD’s soph year, but I distinctly remember all the excitement when USC came to town for his first game. An unheralded soph named John Roche took us to the cleaners that night . I still remember Roche driving the lane and we couldn’t stop him.

I believe it was CD's junior year. The only home game I missed in four years was the the Wake-USC game his sophomore year. The Gamecocks were big, tough and physical teams. 69-16 overall from 1968-71.
 
Not sure if this game was CD’s soph year, but I distinctly remember all the excitement when USC came to town for his first game. An unheralded soph named John Roche took us to the cleaners that night . I still remember Roche driving the lane and we couldn’t stop him.

Roche was one of those players you loved to hate. Maybe not in the Redick/Laetner/Allen category but close.
 
He was definitely a two guard his freshman year, the only year he played with Skip. That was one of the best Wake backcourts ever.

IMO, that was THE best WF backcourt ever. Also, I think that 1977 team was THE best WF team ever.....better than the 1962 F4 team. The 1977 team had an unbelievable 6-man nucleus of Rod Griffin, Skip Brown, Frank Johnson, Jerry Schellenberg, Leroy McDonald & Larry Harrison. It was 18-2 at one point in the season and had 3 wins over teams that played in the Final Four. And a possible 4th win was barely missed in a 2-point loss to UNC. Then, in the NCAAT, it beat a 26-1 Arkansas team that was on an 18-game winning streak at the time.

After leading by 4 points at the half in the regional final, it let that game slip away to Marquette. Otherwise, we would have been back in the Final Four with UNC & UNC-Charlotte....against whom we had already won 3 games earlier in the year.
 
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[The fact he was accurate with either hand around the basket made for some truly remarkable shots.]

I can still see CD hanging in mid-air, 8 feet away in the right short corner, switching the ball from right hand to left hand, to get off a shot against Duke’s bigs, and nothing but net. Amazing.
 
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