John Blackwell "

Sprat Sprat is the common name applied to a group of forage fish belonging to the genus '' Sprattus'' in the family Clupeidae. The term also is applied to a number of other small sprat-like forage fish ('' Clupeoides'', '' Clupeonella'', '' Corica'' ...

" Cobb (August 4, 1904 – September 9, 1966) was an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. Cobb is one of eight Tar Heels basketball players who have had their jersey retired, and was nicknamed "Mr. Basketball".

Early life

John Blackwell Cobb was born on August 4, 1904 in Durham, North Carolina to Venable Tobacco Company executive James S. Cobb and Nannie Orr. The Cobbs were of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

ancestry and Orrs of Scottish ancestry.

University of North Carolina

Cobb was a member of the

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and col ...

fraternity. Cobb and

Cartwright Carmichael Richard Cartwright "Cart" Carmichael (December 5, 1902December 12, 1960) was a college basketball player. He was the first member of the North Carolina Tar Heels to earn All-America honors in any sport, when he was named to the 1923 first team for ...

led the

Tar Heels Tar Heel is a nickname applied to the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is also the nickname of the University of North Carolina athletic teams, students, alumni, and fans. The origins of the Tar Heel nickname trace back to North Carolina's promi ...

to their first undefeated season in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...

. Cobb went on to play for three straight

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly k ...

titles (1924, 1925, 1926). He was also the first 3-time All-America selection in North Carolina history. Cobb was named national player of the year for 1926 by the Helms Athletic Foundation. The 1924 team was retroactively named national champion by the Helms Foundation in 1936. Their fast play and defense earned them the nickname the "White Phantoms", use as an alternative nickname for the Tar Heels into the 1940s. After defeating Alabama in the Southern Conference tournament, some 500 students marched to Cobb's house in Durham and woke up the household with fight songs. He averaged 15 points a game, then an incredible stat. 6' 2" was also a large size for a player in his day.

Later life

Cobb's dreams of pursuing a coaching career were dashed when he had a motorcycle accident in 1929 and lost part of his lower right leg. Cobb did continue to coach Little League Baseball teams throughout much of his life.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cobb, Jack 1904 births 1966 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from North Carolina Forwards (basketball) North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Sportspeople from Greenville, North Carolina Sportspeople from Durham, North Carolina Woodberry Forest School alumni