[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 48 (Wednesday, April 20, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S4015]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           IN MEMORY OF CLARENCE EDWARD ``BIG HOUSE'' GAINES

 Mr. BURR. Mr. President, today I mourn the passing of a great 
North Carolinian. Clarence ``Big House'' Gaines of Winston-Salem, NC 
passed away yesterday at the age of 81. He is survived by his lovely 
wife, Clara, and by his two children, Lisa and Clarence, Jr. All of 
North Carolina mourns his passing and our thoughts, prayers, and 
blessings are with his family.
  Clarence ``Big House'' Gaines was an institution in Winston-Salem, 
where he coached at Winston-Salem State University for 47 years. Coach 
Gaines won 828 basketball games during his 47 years, fifth best of all 
time. To understand just how successful a coach he was, Gaines won more 
games than legends John Wooden and Phog Allen, and finished not too far 
behind Dean Smith. Perhaps Gaines' most successful season came in 1967 
when he coached the Rams to a 31-1 record and an NCAA Division II 
National Championship.
  His was the first predominantly black college team to win an NCAA 
title and he became the first black coach to be named NCAA Coach of the 
Year. He went on to win eight Central Intercollegiate Athletic 
Association titles and was named the CIAA's Coach of the Year five 
times. Coach Gaines was named to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 
1982. Winston-Salem State University honored Clarence Gaines by naming 
the Athletic Department facility and the school's Hall of Fame for him.
  It would be a mistake, however, to merely list his coaching 
accomplishments. Clarence ``Big House'' Gaines was more than a coach. 
He was a community leader, an educator, a mentor and a father figure. 
His most important achievement was the near 80 percent graduation rate 
of his student athletes, a legacy that all college coaches should look 
to emulate.
  Coach Gaines taught school up to his retirement from coaching in 1993 
and continued to involve himself in the lives of the young people at 
Winston-Salem State. His marriage and family served as an example to 
the young people he coached. In his memoirs, published last year, 
Clarence Gaines wrote that ``When these boys, most growing into old men 
themselves, continue to call their old coach and thank him for helping 
them get a college degree, it makes me proud to answer to the nickname 
of Big House.'' He will not be forgotten in North Carolina or in the 
hearts and memories of the many young lives he touched.

                          ____________________