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Four Corners: How Unc, NC State, Duke, and Wake Forest Made North Carolina the Crossroads of the Basketball Universe
Deep in the heart of tobacco country, the Tar Heel State brings out the best of college Michael Jordan, James Worthy, and Dean Smith; Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, and Mike Krzyzewski; Billy Packer, Tim Duncan, and Bones McKinney; David Thompson, Lorenzo Charles, and Jim Valvano. What these men have in common -- besides being legends in the world of college hoops -- is that they are all part of Big Four basketball in the state of North Carolina. For the last fifty years the Big Four -- North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, and North Carolina State -- have defined greatness on the hardwood courts. Nowhere else in America are there four schools with such rich basketball history and tradition located so close to one another. The four grew up within a thirty -- four -- mile radius of one another, and to this day, North Carolina, N.C. State, and Duke are only a half hour's drive apart. (Wake Forest, which had been located nineteen miles west of Duke University and sixteen miles north of North Carolina State, received a hefty gift from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1956 to move to Winston -- Salem, 110 miles due west.) In Four Corners, Winston-Salem Journal sportswriter Joe Menzer chronicles the storied histories, timeless traditions, and fierce rivalries that have placed these four basketball -- crazed schools among the best college programs in the nation. In North Carolina, college basketball is not a matter of life and death; it's much more important than that. It isn't just that these teams are near one another geographically or that they're very good every year. It's the way the fans embrace their team and hate the other three schools that makes the rivalries so dynamic. Newcomers to the region find themselves forced to choose from among the four. You're either a Wolfpack fan, a Blue Devils fan, a Demon Deacons fan, or a Tar Heels fan -- and if you're not a Tar Heels fan, then you're an automatic member of one of the largest organizations in the state no matter what team you root the ABC gang -- Anybody But Carolina. Menzer traces the history of the greatest concentration of talent, success, and venom in all of college sports, He tells the stories of how these four schools established themselves in an era dominated by big-city schools from New York or California, of the ebb and flow of success that each of these schools has experienced throughout the years, of the point-shaving scandals and recruiting violations that periodically rocked the rivalries between the schools, of the numerous ACC and national championships these teams have won, and of the unforgettable personalities who led the programs and dominated the sport. From the early days of N.C. State's Everett Case and Wake Forest's Bones McKinney to the retirement of North Carolina's Dean Smith, from North Carolina's triple-overtime victory over Wilt Chamberlain's Kansas team in the 1957 NCAA Finals to Christian Laettner's miraculous buzzer beater against Kentucky in the 1992 Eastern Regional final, Menzer presents the sprawling story of the Big Four in an exciting and dramatic fashion. The first book to chronicle the entire history of life in that area of hoops heaven known as Tobacco Road, Four Corners brings back all the memories that have made basketball in the Tar Heel State the force it is today.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 14, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 29, 2023
Four Corners by Joe Menzer is a book about the history of the 4 North Carolina schools that make up the Big Four of ACC Basketball. These schools are in close proximity to each other in North Carolina and have dominated the ACC since it's inception. I enjoyed reading about the early history of the ACC since its formation. Starting with Everett Case at North Carolina State to Frank McGuire at North Carolina who wins a National Championship in 1957 by beating Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain in the Championship game in Triple Overtime! Then Bones McKinney at Wake forest and after- Vic Bubas at Duke while Dean Smith took over for McGuire at North Carolina, struggling early in his coaching career. Norm Sloan at NC State who won the 1974 NCAA Championship with a win over UCLA, breaking their 7 straight National championships. Next is Bill Foster at Duke followed by Mike Kryzezewski in 1980. Jim Valvano at North Carolina State.
Again, I enjoyed reading this book for the History of the ACC. the book only goes to 1997-98. Good book to check out for the older history of the league.
Again, I enjoyed reading this book for the History of the ACC. the book only goes to 1997-98. Good book to check out for the older history of the league.
May 28, 2011
Four Corners: How UNC, N.C.State, Duke, & Wake Forest Made North Carolina the Center of the Basketball Universe by Joe Menzer (Simon and Shuster 1999)(796.32363). This is a well-told story of how the ACC became the pinnacle of college hoops with a focus on the history of the conference. As Coach Mike Kryzewski of Duke pointed out, "People can talk all they want about the Big Ten. About Michigan and Ohio State and Indiana and Kentucky or whatever, but there's no way that compares. They're in different states. Here, we share the same dry cleaners." (p. 287). Here are some great quotes and stories from the book: Charles Shackleford, a star center in the mid-1980's, described how he could shoot the ball with either hand by saying, "Sure, I'm amphibious." Or when South Carolina native Cozell McQueen, another player under Valvano, told reporters he "came to N.C. State to get out of the South." (p. 242). Here's a mention of the Duke student section, which is known as the “Cameron Crazies”: "On one occasion, the Crazies absolutely infuriated former (N.C.) State coach Norm Sloan when one of them jumped from the stands dressed as a rather large older woman and began crooning the national anthem. It was a parody of Sloan's wife, who used to sing the national anthem at Reynolds Coliseum prior to State home games." (p. 273).
"In 1984, when Duke was just beginning to become good again under Kryzewski, the upstart Blue Devils, led by Tommy Amaker, Johnny Dawkins, and David Henderson, were giving a previously unbeaten Carolina team all they could handle...Duke officials were under pressure to clean up the Crazies' act. So the Crazies arrived with makeshift halos on their heads, and they politely welcomed Carolina to the building during pregame introductions. 'It was kind of funny,' said Al Featherstone, who covered the game for the Durham Herald. 'It was good, clean fun-until the game started. Then it got ugly because it was a brutal game.' With five minutes left, David Henderson hit a jumper to put Duke ahead 67-64. Twenty-three seconds later, Sam Perkins of Carolina was whistled for his third personal foul. Smith jumped off the bench. He thought maybe the foul had been assessed to the wrong player. He wanted to confer with the officials over it, but the crowd was loud and officials Mike Moser and John Moreau didn't notice him right away. It was not a shooting foul, so they gave the ball to Duke out of bounds and play resumed. Smith went ballistic. He started banging on the scorer's table, still demanding his conference with officials. He implored Tommy Hunt, the scoreboard operator, to blow the horn and stop play. Hunt refused. Then Smith really lost it. He tried to punch the buzzer button on the scoreboard himself. He hit the wrong button. Smith inadvertently gave his own team 20 more points on the scoreboard, which suddenly read: Carolina 84, Duke 67. 'The crowd went bonkers,' Featherstone said. 'At that point, the whole place was bonkers.' The Crazies screamed at the officials, imploring them to give Smith a technical foul. Smith kept pleading that he only wanted to dispute the specifics of the earlier foul call. Kryzewski was yelling at the officials, telling them to keep Smith in line. Yet Hunt quickly corrected the scoreboard and the game went on. Carolina ended up winning 77-73, after Michael Jordan hit three straight jump shots down the stretch. Kryzewski was fuming. He opened up his postgame press conference by saying, 'I want to tell you something. When you come in here and start talking about how Duke has no class, you'd better start getting your stories straight.- because our students had class and our team had class. There was not a person on our bench who was pointing a finger at the officials or banging on the scorer's table...So let's get some things straight around here, and quit the double-standard that exists in this league. All right?' Three days later, (Duke A.D. Tom) Butters rewarded Kryzewski, who had a 52-51 record at Duke up to that point, with a five-year contract.” (p.274-5). My rating: 7.5/10, finished 5/27/11.
"In 1984, when Duke was just beginning to become good again under Kryzewski, the upstart Blue Devils, led by Tommy Amaker, Johnny Dawkins, and David Henderson, were giving a previously unbeaten Carolina team all they could handle...Duke officials were under pressure to clean up the Crazies' act. So the Crazies arrived with makeshift halos on their heads, and they politely welcomed Carolina to the building during pregame introductions. 'It was kind of funny,' said Al Featherstone, who covered the game for the Durham Herald. 'It was good, clean fun-until the game started. Then it got ugly because it was a brutal game.' With five minutes left, David Henderson hit a jumper to put Duke ahead 67-64. Twenty-three seconds later, Sam Perkins of Carolina was whistled for his third personal foul. Smith jumped off the bench. He thought maybe the foul had been assessed to the wrong player. He wanted to confer with the officials over it, but the crowd was loud and officials Mike Moser and John Moreau didn't notice him right away. It was not a shooting foul, so they gave the ball to Duke out of bounds and play resumed. Smith went ballistic. He started banging on the scorer's table, still demanding his conference with officials. He implored Tommy Hunt, the scoreboard operator, to blow the horn and stop play. Hunt refused. Then Smith really lost it. He tried to punch the buzzer button on the scoreboard himself. He hit the wrong button. Smith inadvertently gave his own team 20 more points on the scoreboard, which suddenly read: Carolina 84, Duke 67. 'The crowd went bonkers,' Featherstone said. 'At that point, the whole place was bonkers.' The Crazies screamed at the officials, imploring them to give Smith a technical foul. Smith kept pleading that he only wanted to dispute the specifics of the earlier foul call. Kryzewski was yelling at the officials, telling them to keep Smith in line. Yet Hunt quickly corrected the scoreboard and the game went on. Carolina ended up winning 77-73, after Michael Jordan hit three straight jump shots down the stretch. Kryzewski was fuming. He opened up his postgame press conference by saying, 'I want to tell you something. When you come in here and start talking about how Duke has no class, you'd better start getting your stories straight.- because our students had class and our team had class. There was not a person on our bench who was pointing a finger at the officials or banging on the scorer's table...So let's get some things straight around here, and quit the double-standard that exists in this league. All right?' Three days later, (Duke A.D. Tom) Butters rewarded Kryzewski, who had a 52-51 record at Duke up to that point, with a five-year contract.” (p.274-5). My rating: 7.5/10, finished 5/27/11.
July 24, 2011
UNC-CH, NC State, Duke, and Wake Forest, the titular ‘four corners’ of ACC basketball, have won 50 of 58 (and 17 of the first 18) ACC tournament championships. North Carolina’s spot at the center of college basketball universe was driven by the rivalry between the four schools. Both storied venues, NC State’s Reynolds Coliseum was modeled on Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium. When legendary Indiana high school coach Everett Case arrived to coach the Wolfpack, he looked at the bare girders that had sat since WWII broke and declared, “It needs to be bigger.” Duke would respond to the Wolfpack’s dominance by hiring a Case disciple, Vic Bubas, to put them on the map. Billy Packer went to Wake Forest in retaliation for Duke waffling on a scholarship offer. Beating out UNC-CH for David Thompson cost NC State a year’s probation.
Basketball really hit the big-time in North Carolina with the wild, wild west days of Everett Case (NC State) and Frank McGuire (UNC-CH). They opened up pipelines from Indiana and New York City, respectively, to bring some of the best talent in the nation to North Carolina. Case also worked tirelessly to promote the sport within the state (it worked—NC produces some of the best home-grown talent in the nation today). They, along with a colorful whiskey drinking Baptist preacher named Bones McKinney at Wake Forest, built teams that could play with anyone in the country. UNC-CH toppled Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain in the 1957 national championship game. NC State toppled UCLA and Bill Walton in the 1974 Final Four before going on to win their first national championship. It was a rough-and-tumble time: NCAA rules were bent and differences on the court were sometimes settled by blows.
The section surveying the early years of the Big Four is by far the best. Menzer has a storyteller’s flair and plenty of stories to tell. But the later sections may give a hint why those stories were so good. Four Corners is by no means a work of journalism. Menzer is here to tell good stories, not get it right. He repeats a number of apocryphal anecdotes of NC State coach Jim Valvano, a legendary raconteur, as if true. He quotes Charles Shackelford as saying he was “amphibious” (Shackelford never said that; it was another one of Valvano’s apocryphal anecdotes and V didn’t even make up the joke). He says Peter Golenbock’s piece of yellow journalism, Personal Fouls, was “quickly” picked up another publisher after Simon & Schuster dropped it under threat of lawsuit by NC State (it was actually only picked up by another publisher after the Raleigh News & Observer printed Golenbock’s most salacious claims as if they were true). Menzer’s desire as a local sportswriter to keep in the good graces of the reigning powers in the state may have influenced him as well. Describing the infamous Final Four incident, he says Duke player Christian Laettner “tapped” a Kentucky player (unfortunately for Menzer, YouTube is now available to show just how ridiculous his use of that term is). He fully buys into UNC-CH coach Dean Smith’s “aw shucks, Old Well and education” routine (Menzer characterizes Smith disclosing information on the SAT scores of two Duke players, likely in violation of federal law, as Smith just “trying to do what he thought was right”). He describes the Cameron crazies as “creative” (they’ve brought us such creative cat-calls as “you suck”).
But all-in-all, Four Corners captures the heart of Big Four and ACC basketball: outsize personalities, high-flying athletes, terrible officiating, a center of gravity firmly in the state of North Carolina, and a view of history rooted as much in legend as fact.
Basketball really hit the big-time in North Carolina with the wild, wild west days of Everett Case (NC State) and Frank McGuire (UNC-CH). They opened up pipelines from Indiana and New York City, respectively, to bring some of the best talent in the nation to North Carolina. Case also worked tirelessly to promote the sport within the state (it worked—NC produces some of the best home-grown talent in the nation today). They, along with a colorful whiskey drinking Baptist preacher named Bones McKinney at Wake Forest, built teams that could play with anyone in the country. UNC-CH toppled Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain in the 1957 national championship game. NC State toppled UCLA and Bill Walton in the 1974 Final Four before going on to win their first national championship. It was a rough-and-tumble time: NCAA rules were bent and differences on the court were sometimes settled by blows.
The section surveying the early years of the Big Four is by far the best. Menzer has a storyteller’s flair and plenty of stories to tell. But the later sections may give a hint why those stories were so good. Four Corners is by no means a work of journalism. Menzer is here to tell good stories, not get it right. He repeats a number of apocryphal anecdotes of NC State coach Jim Valvano, a legendary raconteur, as if true. He quotes Charles Shackelford as saying he was “amphibious” (Shackelford never said that; it was another one of Valvano’s apocryphal anecdotes and V didn’t even make up the joke). He says Peter Golenbock’s piece of yellow journalism, Personal Fouls, was “quickly” picked up another publisher after Simon & Schuster dropped it under threat of lawsuit by NC State (it was actually only picked up by another publisher after the Raleigh News & Observer printed Golenbock’s most salacious claims as if they were true). Menzer’s desire as a local sportswriter to keep in the good graces of the reigning powers in the state may have influenced him as well. Describing the infamous Final Four incident, he says Duke player Christian Laettner “tapped” a Kentucky player (unfortunately for Menzer, YouTube is now available to show just how ridiculous his use of that term is). He fully buys into UNC-CH coach Dean Smith’s “aw shucks, Old Well and education” routine (Menzer characterizes Smith disclosing information on the SAT scores of two Duke players, likely in violation of federal law, as Smith just “trying to do what he thought was right”). He describes the Cameron crazies as “creative” (they’ve brought us such creative cat-calls as “you suck”).
But all-in-all, Four Corners captures the heart of Big Four and ACC basketball: outsize personalities, high-flying athletes, terrible officiating, a center of gravity firmly in the state of North Carolina, and a view of history rooted as much in legend as fact.
February 3, 2017
When I got this book from the library, my partner said, "I don't think they'll hate Duke enough in that book for you to like it." Well, they were right. Got a few chapters in then gave up on the rest.
December 4, 2009
read this book if u like collegebasketbl our a fan of one of this teams
July 22, 2013
Lots of interesting history about the Coaches and players for these 4 storied University's, even for someone knowledgeable about basketball. Not for the non-basketball fan.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews