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News Nuggets, 04.20.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Once-fallen Marcus Vick back on the rise

BLACKSBURG — Marcus Vick has won the Virginia Tech starting quarterback job after sitting out all of 2004 because of off-the-field problems.

Vick, younger brother of NFL superstar Michael Vick, started spring practice at No. 3 on the depth chart but moved up and beat out Sean Glennon and Cory Holt, coach Frank Beamer said.

``After evaluating the spring game, as well as our whole spring practice, we feel that it is appropriate to name Marcus the starter for our football team,'' Beamer said. ``I think Marcus had an excellent spring.''

Vick went 9-for-17 and 107 yards in the spring game Saturday.

``As always, evaluations will continue into preseason, but as of now, these are our plans for the fall,'' Beamer said.

Vick was suspended from the university for the 2004 fall semester after he was arrested following a night of drinking with underage girls. He also later pleaded guilty to reckless driving and no contest to marijuana possession after a traffic stop last summer.

Vick was cleared to re-enroll in school in January and seems to be making the most of his opportunities.

He played in 11 games in 2003, going 30-of-57 for 475 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions. He also rushed 37 times for 102 yards and caught four passes for 82 yards and a score.

Virginia Tech opens the season Sept. 4 at North Carolina State.

Coaching legend "Big House" Gaines passes

WINSTON-SALEM — Hall of Famer Clarence ``Big House'' Gaines, one of college basketball's winningest coaches during his 47 seasons at Winston-Salem State, died Monday evening, his daughter said. He was one month shy of 81.

Gaines entered a hospital on Friday with heart problems, a family member told WRAL-TV in Raleigh. He was released Saturday but had a stroke and returned to Forsyth Medical Center.

Lisa Gaines McDonald told The Associated Press that her father died at 9:10 p.m. Monday, possibly from complications related to a stroke.

Gaines, a native of Paducah, KY,, retired in 1993 after 47 seasons at NCAA Division II Winston-Salem State. His 828 wins rank him fifth on the NCAA career coaching wins list, behind Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Bob Knight and Jim Phelan.

Gaines had eighteen 20-win seasons and won 11 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles at Winston-Salem. In 1967 he led the Rams, featuring future NBA star Earl ``The Pearl'' Monroe, to a 31-1 record and an NCAA championship. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.

Gaines was born and raised when segregation ruled the country. He was a young coach when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball in 1947.

Gaines was a 6-foot-5, 265-pound high school prospect in 1941 and his college possibilities were considered slim.

Yet with the determination of his family and the black community, he was extended scholarship offers from three predominantly black colleges. He went to Morgan State, where a school worker inspired the nickname that stayed with him the rest of his life, telling him, ``the only thing I've seen as big as you is a house.''

After graduation he continued his career goal of becoming a dentist. He was offered a job as an assistant football and basketball coach at Winston-Salem Teachers' College and decided it would be a temporary solution until he figured out what to do next.

It turned into an unexpected career, one that Gaines loved for 47 years, all at Winston-Salem. He gave up coaching football after four years to focus on basketball.

Gaines' autobiography was titled ``They Call Me Big House.''

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:23 PM