Charles E. Slack (February 26, 1931 – July 3, 2020) was an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player from

Marshall University Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

. He holds the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) Division I record for the highest single-season rebound average when he grabbed 25.6 rpg in 1954–55. Considered one of the greatest rebounders in college basketball history, he had his Marshall uniform number (#17) retired in January 2000. In his four-year career with the Thundering Herd, from 1952–53 to 1955–56, Slack compiled 1,916 career rebounds, which is third all-time behind Tom Gola's 2,201 and Joe Holup's 2,030. Additionally, Slack's effort of 43 rebounds against Charleston (West Virginia) on January 12, 1954, is the second highest single game rebound total in NCAA history behind Bill Chambers' 51. Slack owns the top four spots on Marshall's season rebounding average list with 25.6, 23.6, 22.2 and 16.3 rebounds per game. A prodigious rebounder, he also scored 1,551 points during his career. Slack was drafted by the Fort Wayne Pistons in the

1956 NBA draft The 1956 NBA draft was the tenth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 30, 1956, before the 1956–57 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball pl ...

, but he never played professionally. He was, however, an alternate for the 1960 United States men's basketball team at the Olympics. Slack was also a member of the varsity football team and was inducted into the Marshall University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985 as a two-sport star. In 2019, he was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame. Slack died July 3, 2020, at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slack, Charlie 1931 births 2020 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Ohio Fort Wayne Pistons draft picks Forwards (basketball) Marshall Thundering Herd football players Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball players People from Pomeroy, Ohio

See also

References