Former Campbell hoops coach Fred McCall dies

Fred McCall had no problem luring basketball legends John Wooden, Press and Pete Maravich and others to Buies Creek, where the Campbell Basketball School he co-founded once served as a summer center of the sport's booming universe.

Until Alzheimer's disease began taking its toll several years ago, he remained a fixture on the Campbell campus. McCall died Friday at the age of 84.

In his 43 years at Campbell University, the successful basketball coach and college administrator cemented his legacy in the sport's history. A string of junior college titles and a patented invention that taught the craft of rebounding to generations of high-school players helped land McCall in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

For his wife and three daughters, McCall's life in the gym was not a life away from family. Daughter Leah Devlin recalls Sunday afternoons with her father on the court, learning to play the game that shaped so much of his life.

"My dad was one of those behind-the-scenes legends," said Devlin, the state health director. "For us, he was larger than life, and he always made everything fun. And we always knew that family was first. We just loved the pieces out of him. Having all those great basketball times was just part of who he was."

A native of Catawba County, McCall lettered in football, basketball and baseball at Lenoir Rhyne College. After serving in the Philippines during World War II, he started his teaching and coaching career in Hickory before starting in 1953 at what was then Campbell Junior College.

Starting out, he juggled the jobs of teacher, basketball coach and athletic director and won five state junior college championships while amassing a 221-104 record in 16 seasons.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, started playing for McCall in 1961 as a walk-on and ended his four years as a co-captain of Campbell's team. Etheridge said he remembers how McCall made sure that his players brought their textbooks on every road trip.

"I think coaches change lives, and Coach McCall absolutely changed lives," Etheridge said. "When the game was over, he was quick to remind everyone it's just a game."

It was also a game that grew under his watch with a summer basketball camp that he founded with then-Wake Forest coach Horace "Bones" McKinney. The camp -- touted by Campbell as the first basketball school of its kind -- opened in 1956 with 125 youths. When Wooden and basketball stars such as Bob Cousy began showing up to coach the camp, registrations soared to 1,500 for the camp's two one-week sessions.

To hone his team's rebounding skills, McCall created and patented the McCall Rebounder, a training device featuring a large wire basket attached to the top of a pole.

In 1969, McCall began serving as the university's vice president for institutional advancement. Campbell president Jerry M. Wallace, who joined the university's faculty in 1970, said McCall moved easily into his role as a fundraiser and standard bearer for the school's growing ambitions.

"He made friends easily and was able to tell the Campbell story to people who were generous to us," Wallace said. "He measured everything in terms of how many people came out or what the result was. Whether it was raising funds for the university or a concert or a basketball game or a soccer match, he counted every group that he was ever in."