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Eddie Payne

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godeacsplate

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wilson, nc
We lost a great man, friend and Deacon this morning. Eddie had a massive stroke on Sunday and passed away during the night.
 
godeacsplate said:
We lost a great man, friend and Deacon this morning. Eddie had a massive stroke on Sunday and passed away during the night.
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Sad news. Condolences to his family , friends and the Deacon Nation.

Eddie will be remembered for one of the greatest plays in WFU Basketball history.
 
Sucks. I knew him well. Before I left Winston we had many good times. I was concerned when I read he had left Upstate for health reasons, though I

think that had to do with bad knees.

RIP Snoozy, you were one of the good ones.
 
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Didn't realize that Eddie had such an extensive and varied coaching career over more than 40 years:
1976–1978 Clemson (assistant)
1978–1979 Truett McConnell
1979–1981 East Carolina (assistant)
1981–1986 Belmont Abbey
1986–1991 South Carolina (assistant)
1991–1995 East Carolina
1995–2000 Oregon State
2000–2002 Greensboro
2002–2017 USC Upstate

Payne coached one of the only two ECU teams to make the NCAA tourney. His 1993 team won the CAA tournament, and made the NCAAs as a #16 seed, and played #1 UNC, who eventually won the tournament when Chris Webber infamously called a TO which Michigan didn't have.

As a player, Payne played 3 years at WF (freshman weren't eligible back in those days). He averaged 1 ppg at soph, 9 as a junior and 15 as a senior. His senior year, WF finished DFL in the ACC, but the Deacs upset UNC 54-52 in the first round of the ACC tournament. Payne led WF with 18 in that game. That UNC team included Bobby Jones and George Karl. Here is an excerpt from an article about that WF upset:
Led by George Karl and Bobby Jones, the Tar Heels finished second, between N.C. State and Maryland, during the regular season and entered the ACC tournament ranked eighth nationally. With State on probation, all they needed to do was advance to the ACC final to qualify for the NCAA and a chance at a second consecutive Final Four. In the ACC quarterfinals, Carolina played last-place Wake Forest, a team it had defeated by 19 and 18 points during the regular season. Jones' tip-in gave the Tar Heels a 48-46 lead with two seconds remaining, before Eddie Payne threw a length-of-the-court inbounds pass to Lee Foye, who made a 12- footer at the buzzer to force overtime. In OT, Karl missed a 15-footer in the waning seconds, and Phil Perry converted a fast-break layup at the buzzer to give the Deacons a 54-52 victory. Wake, the first last-place team to win an ACC tournament game, lost to Maryland the next day.

 
So sorry to hear, always had good thoughts for him. As for his playing at Wake, I still recall listening to that game on the radio and the ending moments described above.
 
Pilchard said:
Didn't realize that Eddie had such an extensive and varied coaching career over more than 40 years:
1976–1978 Clemson (assistant)
1978–1979 Truett McConnell
1979–1981 East Carolina (assistant)
1981–1986 Belmont Abbey
1986–1991 South Carolina (assistant)
1991–1995 East Carolina
1995–2000 Oregon State
2000–2002 Greensboro
2002–2017 USC Upstate

Payne coached one of the only two ECU teams to make the NCAA tourney. His 1993 team won the CAA tournament, and made the NCAAs as a #16 seed, and played #1 UNC, who eventually won the tournament when Chris Webber infamously called a TO which Michigan didn't have.

As a player, Payne played 3 years at WF (freshman weren't eligible back in those days). He averaged 1 ppg at soph, 9 as a junior and 15 as a senior. His senior year, WF finished DFL in the ACC, but the Deacs upset UNC 54-52 in the first round of the ACC tournament. Payne led WF with 18 in that game. That UNC team included Bobby Jones and George Karl. Here is an excerpt from an article about that WF upset:
Led by George Karl and Bobby Jones, the Tar Heels finished second, between N.C. State and Maryland, during the regular season and entered the ACC tournament ranked eighth nationally. With State on probation, all they needed to do was advance to the ACC final to qualify for the NCAA and a chance at a second consecutive Final Four. In the ACC quarterfinals, Carolina played last-place Wake Forest, a team it had defeated by 19 and 18 points during the regular season. Jones' tip-in gave the Tar Heels a 48-46 lead with two seconds remaining, before Eddie Payne threw a length-of-the-court inbounds pass to Lee Foye, who made a 12- footer at the buzzer to force overtime. In OT, Karl missed a 15-footer in the waning seconds, and Phil Perry converted a fast-break layup at the buzzer to give the Deacons a 54-52 victory. Wake, the first last-place team to win an ACC tournament game, lost to Maryland the next day.
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And had Wake defeated Maryland, Wake would have gone to the NCAA's since everyone left was on probation,

all for the recruitment of David Thompson.
 
bluefish said:
And had Wake defeated Maryland, Wake would have gone to the NCAA's since everyone left was on probation,

all for the recruitment of David Thompson.
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This was in the old days when only the winner of the ACC tournament went to the NCAA tournament. By beating u*NC, Wake kept them from an opportunity for an NCAA title.
 
Deaconblue said:
This was in the old days when only the winner of the ACC tournament went to the NCAA tournament. By beating u*NC, Wake kept them from an opportunity for an NCAA title.
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We gave Md everything it wanted for a half or so. Carolina really wasn't all that good in 1973. Too many white guys. Dean played cream puff schedules in those days with few non-conference road games. That was the year Miami of Ohio came into Carmichael and absolutely smoked them behind Phil Lumpkin. David Lamm, then of G-boro Daily News, said he told Dean that "there are 12 Jesus freaks in Chapel Hill and 6 of them are on your god damn team."
 
Total shame, he was a good man and a good Deacon! RIP and prayers to his family!
 
I was at that game and I will never forget it. Eddie Payne was the best walk on we ever had.
 
First met Eddie at of all places Dean Smith Basketball Camp when we were 14 years old. He was good then. Move in day as a freshman at Wake and Eddie was moving into another room in the suite. Sad to lose him so early. RIP.
 
He threw that famous pass in the 1973 tourney.

Does anyone remember the year of the "scoreboard" call? Seems like it was the very next year
 
I was a freshman that year, not from the Carolinas and totally unfamiliar with the rivalry of the Big Four schools. Luckily the fall semester was a huge indoctrination into those rivalries so the Carolina game meant everything to me. It was not on TV, but radios all over campus were tuned in. I will NEVER forget the explosion of students screaming and cheering as they streamed out of their dorm rooms toward the quad when the layup went in. I have never experienced anything like that before or since. RIP Eddie. HOF memories.
 
Fusiondad10 said:
I was a freshman that year, not from the Carolinas and totally unfamiliar with the rivalry of the Big Four schools. Luckily the fall semester was a huge indoctrination into those rivalries so the Carolina game meant everything to me. It was not on TV, but radios all over campus were tuned in. I will NEVER forget the explosion of students screaming and cheering as they streamed out of their dorm rooms toward the quad when the layup went in. I have never experienced anything like that before or since. RIP Eddie. HOF memories.
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I was also a freshman. Can't remember the class I was in when the game ended, only that the professor was an older woman, and she was nice enough to tell us to get the hell out of class and onto to quad to celebrate.
 
The article cited above failed to mention Carl Tacy's coaching ability or his craftiness. He employed the 4 corners O the entire game. Gave UNC a big serving of their own medicine. Great psychological ploy that worked. Dean had no answer. Had he, UNC easily wins the game by a comfortable 10 point cushion, IMO.

Payne was a walk-on freshman JV'er, but a scholarship player by the time of this game. I'm pretty sure Phil Perry, who hit the winning layup, was a walk-on freshman, as it was the first year freshman were eligible, IIRC. Karl made the decision to close-out on Byers, thinking there is no way he doesn't take the shot, and give the ball up to a seldom used freshman. But Tony, who was a great shooter who transferred in from Vincennes Jr. College, hit Phil breaking to the basket for the winner. (Tacy followed Byers when he played h.s. ball near Shelby, but didn't qualify for Wake when he graduated.)
 
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80deacon said:
The article cited above failed to mention Carl Tacy's coaching ability or his craftiness. He employed the 4 corners O the entire game. Gave UNC a big serving of their own medicine. Great psychological ploy that worked. Dean had no answer. Had he, UNC easily wins the game by a comfortable 10 point cushion, IMO.

Payne was a walk-on freshman JV'er, but a scholarship player by the time of this game. I'm pretty sure Phil Perry, who hit the winning layup, was a walk-on freshman, as it was the first year freshman were eligible, IIRC. Karl made the decision to close-out on Byers, thinking there is no way he doesn't take the shot, and give the ball up to a seldom used freshman. But Tony, who was a great shooter who transferred in from Vincennes Jr. College, hit Phil breaking to the basket for the winner. (Tacy followed Byers when he played h.s. ball near Shelby, but didn't qualify for Wake when he graduated.)
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Perry was on scholly and he was a soph.
 
Catch and drive from the top of the key in 1 second, good thing there was no replay.
Now the perfect pass to Brown hitting the scoreboard, that’s another story. Living and dying with the Deacs for 53 years now. Here’s to the next 50 starting now!
 
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