Norman Westbrook Shepard (August 20, 1897 – August 22, 1977) was a head coach of various college athletics at several American colleges and universities. He is best known for being the only Division I

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 ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

to go undefeated in his first season coaching. His 1923–24 Tar Heels team finished the season with a 26–0 record and was retroactively named the national champion by the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owners ...

and the

Premo-Porretta Power Poll The Premo-Porretta Power Poll is a retroactive end-of-year ranking for American college basketball teams competing in the 1895–96 through the 1947–48 seasons. The Premo-Porretta Polls are intended to serve collectively as a source of informa ...

Background and family

He was born Norman Westbrook Shepard, third son of Alexander Hurlbutt Shepard and Mary Augusta Westbrook. Shepard attended the University of North Carolina and after graduating played minor league baseball for a time. Before becoming a head coach, Shepard spent three years abroad in France during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

in the United States army as an

artilleryman Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, ...

. In 1928, he married Edith Ruckert, of Brooklyn, NY, in Peking, China. Norman's family had various ties to athletics at North Carolina. His brother, Bo Shepard, became the head coach for North Carolina after Norman, and two of his other brothers, Caryle Shepard and Alex Shepard, played basketball for North Carolina.

Coach of North Carolina Tar Heels

Shepard decided to accept the head coaching job for the Tar Heels while planning to attend law school on the side. When Shepard took over, the Tar Heels had been without a head coach for the previous two seasons. Even though the Tar Heels had been without a head coach for the previous seasons, they had managed to win the Southern Conference Tournament at the end of the 1921–22 season and tied for first in the

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 ...

during the 1922–23 season. When Shepard took over the team, he inherited a well-rounded Tar Heel squad that included returning senior Cartwright Carmichael, who was the first North Carolina All-American in any sport, and

Jack Cobb John Blackwell "Sprat" Cobb (August 4, 1904 – September 9, 1966) was an American college basketball player at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Cobb is one of eight Tar Heels basketball players who have had their jersey retired, ...

, who would later be named to the All-American team and would later have his number retired at North Carolina. Shepard's North Carolina team earned the nickname the "White Phantoms" because of their fast playmaking and defense. The 1923–24 Tar Heels squad managed to win all 26 games they played that year. Because there was no national post-season tournament, the Tar Heels final game was in the Southern Conference tournament against the

University of Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a me ...

. The Tar Heels managed to win the game 26–18. The local news reported that hundreds of students at North Carolina "waited in the streets in front of telegraph offices and cafes" for news about the game and after the victory students "went wild" and set a

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on the athletic field. In 1936, the

retroactively awarded a national championship to the team since there had been no organization to award national championships at the time. Currently Shepard holds the title of being the only head coach to go undefeated in his first year of coaching.

Living abroad

After coaching North Carolina for one season, Shepard went to the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...

to work as a sales manager for Liggett and Meyer tobacco company. While abroad, he played for and coached a basketball team in the Far Eastern Olympics. Shepard married his wife while in China and returned to the United States after being abroad for five years.

Return to coaching

After returning to the United States, Shepard took coaching jobs at

Guilford College Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for Continuing Education (CCE). Founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society o ...

Randolph College Randolph College is a private liberal arts and sciences college in Lynchburg, Virginia. Founded in 1891 as Randolph-Macon Woman's College, it was renamed on July 1, 2007, when it became coeducational. The college offers 32 majors; 42 minors; � ...

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

and finally

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

where he coached baseball, basketball and football. He retired from being the head coach in 1968.

Head coaching record

Football

Basketball

References

General * * * Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Shepard, Norman 1897 births 1977 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players United States Army personnel of World War I Davidson Wildcats athletic directors Davidson Wildcats baseball coaches Davidson Wildcats men's basketball coaches Guilford College faculty Guilford Quakers athletic directors Guilford Quakers football coaches Guilford Quakers men's basketball coaches Harvard Crimson baseball coaches Harvard Crimson men's basketball coaches North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball coaches North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players People from Marion, South Carolina Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets athletic directors Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets football coaches Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets men's basketball coaches