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View Full Version : Former Coach, Neill McGeachy Passes



grad_devil
02-09-2018, 08:39 PM
From Twitter:

"Neill McGeachy, former director of intercollegiate athletics and executive director of the Piedmont Educational Foundation/Bears Club at Lenoir-Rhyne University, passed away early Friday morning at the age of 75.

Read More: https://t.co/LdFptK5JLW"

I had the opportunity to interact with Neil on several occasions - I work with athletics at a school in the same conference where he was the long time AD. While he and I didn't usually see eye to eye on many (any?) things, I enjoyed our conversations.He was a colorful individual.

Although he only coached at Duke for a short time (1 season?), I'm sure he made an impact. Others with more history with Duke than I can chime in on Neil's time at Duke.

rocketeli
02-09-2018, 10:53 PM
Pronounced M'Gai'-hee. I remember those times well although they were not good times for Duke Basketball. McGeahy did a decent job as head coach for the fill-in year, but he didn't have much to work with.

CameronBornAndBred
02-10-2018, 12:07 AM
McGeachy was the coach very early in my life, and I don't remember him, but I remember his players. My parents were friends with him the one year he coached, and my dad actually tried to go to the AD, Carl James, at the time on his behalf to save his job. James had no interest in anything my dad had to say (how shocking!), but he also had no interest in anything McGeachy had to say. (This is all from a story my dad relayed to me.) He would not even talk to his own basketball coach.
Now, the deal was, that James had gotten Adolph Rupp (yep, that guy) to coach Duke for a year. An associate of Rupp's died, though, and it set in motion a series of events where McGeachy, an assistant on the staff, got the job. Good job, lousy timing. James had his sites set on a real coach for a long term haul, and basically Neil was a season's filler.
Because of this, this is how I got to meet Wallace Wade. I don't remember one second of meeting WW, but my dad was so intent on getting James to at least talk to McGeachy that he went to talk to Mr. Wade at his farm, and took me along with him. My dad was a strong headed fellow when he got his head into an idea! He went with the intention of asking Wade how to at least get James to engage in conversation with his coach. It was a futile effort, obviously.
BUT...my dad's relationship with Neil McGeachy was not a futile one, especially not for me at 4-5 years old. I remember my parents having the coach and the majority of the team over for dinners. Want to awe a kid? Get him to look up while Terry Chili and company duck their heads to come in the door after watching them play hoops in his driveway.
Those nights cemented me as a Duke fan, at a very early age. They are literally my earliest memories of Duke basketball; I can recall them playing pickup under my hoop better than I can of watching the same team in Cameron.
RIP Coach...thanks for you and your guys making me the fan that I am.

OZZIE4DUKE
02-10-2018, 06:45 AM
McGeachy coach the ‘73-‘74 season, my sophomore year, and the team went 10-17. The 10th win kept the streak of double digit winning seasons alive, and I think it was Duke’s 500th win.

RIP Neill.

Bill Foster became the next new coach and my senior year Jim Spanarkel was a freshman. There was light at the end of the tunnel! LGD GTHc!

duke74
02-10-2018, 09:36 AM
McGeachy coach the ‘73-‘74 season, my sophomore year, and the team went 10-17. The 10th win kept the streak of double digit winning seasons alive, and I think it was Duke’s 500th win.

RIP Neill.

Bill Foster became the next new coach and my senior year Jim Spanarkel was a freshman. There was light at the end of the tunnel! LGD GTHc!

My senior year...

arnie
02-10-2018, 12:42 PM
McGeachy coach the ‘73-‘74 season, my sophomore year, and the team went 10-17. The 10th win kept the streak of double digit winning seasons alive, and I think it was Duke’s 500th win.

RIP Neill.

Bill Foster became the next new coach and my senior year Jim Spanarkel was a freshman. There was light at the end of the tunnel! LGD GTHc!

He was coach the year we lost two epic games to the cheats. The infamous 8 pts down with 17 sec in Carmichael and the Fox (believe that was the guard’s name) instride pass to Bobby Jones which lost the game at the buzzer. I thought it incredible that we were so competitive with the cheats that year - he really had the team ready to play against a team of stars. But, alas, we lost both and he was never considered for the permanent job. Had he won both, the stars align differently for the future of Duke b-ball.

jv001
02-10-2018, 03:02 PM
He was coach the year we lost two epic games to the cheats. The infamous 8 pts down with 17 sec in Carmichael and the Fox (believe that was the guard’s name) instride pass to Bobby Jones which lost the game at the buzzer. I thought it incredible that we were so competitive with the cheats that year - he really had the team ready to play against a team of stars. But, alas, we lost both and he was never considered for the permanent job. Had he won both, the stars align differently for the future of Duke b-ball.

I believe the 73-74 was the season freshmen were allowed to play. One Tate Armstrong was a freshman on that team and he averaged 6.3ppg. Had he not been injured in his senior year, he would have been one of the best players to ever wear the Duke uniform. He's still one of my all time favorites. Also on the team was: Bob Fleisher a junior who averaged 15.7ppg and 12.4rpg. He was a stud. Chris Redding, Sr. averaged 12.2ppg. arnie is right about the uncheat games. We played them 3 times. We lost 73-71 in Cameron, 84-75 in Greensboro and 96-92(OT) in cheatville. We lost by 3 to Wake, by 3 to the Twerps and 6 to Clemson. We had a decent team but just couldn't pull out some close wins. RIP Coach. GoDuke!

jb75
02-10-2018, 03:10 PM
I believe the 73-74 was the season freshmen were allowed to play. One Tate Armstrong was a freshman on that team and he averaged 6.3ppg. Had he not been injured in his senior year, he would have been one of the best players to ever wear the Duke uniform. He's still one of my all time favorites. Also on the team was: Bob Fleisher a junior who averaged 15.7ppg and 12.4rpg. He was a stud. Chris Redding, Sr. averaged 12.2ppg. arnie is right about the uncheat games. We played them 3 times. We lost 73-71 in Cameron, 84-75 in Greensboro and 96-92(OT) in cheatville. We lost by 3 to Wake, by 3 to the Twerps and 6 to Clemson. We had a decent team but just couldn't pull out some close wins. RIP Coach. GoDuke! 1972-1973 season was first year of freshmen eligibility.

jv001
02-10-2018, 03:15 PM
1972-1973 season was first year of freshmen eligibility.

Thanks for the information. I knew it was in the early 70s. GoDuke!

You are correct. Willie Hodge(72-73) was a freshman who I thought would be star at Duke before he graduated but he never became that star. GoDuke!

jimsumner
02-10-2018, 04:26 PM
Freshmen were allowed to play in 1972-'73.

McGeachy had a really difficult situation.

Bucky Waters was set to start his fifth season in 1973-'74. His contract expired after the season and recruiting was suffering. Waters asked AD Carl James for an extension.

James declined.

So, Waters resigned, days before the opening of practice.

October is not a good time to go looking for a college basketball coach.

Duke wasn't going to get anyone at that time of year.

At least not anyone Duke wanted for the long haul. James talked with recently retired Adolph Rupp about coaching for one year but Rupp's longtime farm manager--Rupp had huge agricultural holdings--died and Rupp withdrew from consideration.

So, Duke elected to wait until the end of the season.

McGeachy was an assistant at Duke and was promoted to head coach, on a one-year contract. McGeachy was always quite adamant that he was never an "interim" head coach. He really bristled if anyone used that word.

James focused in on Utah coach Bill Foster pretty early in his search and I really don't think an extra win or two by McGeachy would have changed his mind.

After leaving Duke, McGeachy was the guy who put on post-season barnstorming tours consisting of area players who had used up their eligibility.

McGeachy was a bright, engaging man whose career encompassed more than just that one miserable 1974 season. I'm sorry to hear of his passing.