Edmund McCullough Cameron (April 22, 1902 – November 25, 1988) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexing ...

for one season in 1924–25 and at Duke University from 1928 to 1942, compiling a career

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 ...

record of 234–104. Cameron was also the head football coach at Duke University from 1942 to 1945, tallying a mark of 25–11–1, and the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and university, universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of c ...

at the school from 1951 to 1972. Cameron was part of Duke athletics from 1926 to 1972, the second longest tenure in the school's history. Duke's home basketball arena was renamed as

Cameron Indoor Stadium Cameron Indoor Stadium is an indoor arena located on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The 9,314-seat facility is the primary indoor athletic venue for the Duke Blue Devils and serves as the home court for Duke men's ...

in his honor in 1972.

Early life and playing career

Cameron attended

Culver Military Academy Culver Academies is a college preparatory boarding school located in Culver, Indiana, which is composed of three entities: Culver Military Academy (CMA) for boys, Culver Girls Academy (CGA), and the Culver Summer Schools and Camps (CSSC). Culver ...

Culver, Indiana Culver is a town in Marshall County, Indiana, United States. Culver is part of Union Township, which also includes the communities of Burr Oak, Hibbard, Maxinkuckee and Rutland. The population of Culver was 1,129 at the 2020 United States Cen ...

before becoming a fullback at

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

. At Washington and Lee, he was captain of both the basketball and football teams, and tied for the national scoring title in football.

Coaching career

When Washington and Lee coach Jimmy DeHart was hired by Duke, Cameron followed him to coach the freshman team. After

Wallace Wade William Wallace Wade (June 15, 1892 – October 7, 1986) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Alabama fro ...

was lured away from

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

by Duke, school administrators urged him to retain Cameron. Cameron eventually became the backfield coach, scout, and recruiter for Wade. In 1929, he got the additional responsibility of head basketball coach, a position he kept until 1949. Cameron's first two Duke basketball teams made the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

tournament finals even as a new team in the league. Cameron's teams had a 226–99 record (.695), 119–56 (.680) in conference play, during his 14 years as head coach, which included conference championships in 1938, 1941 and 1942. During his tenure, in 1940, Duke built the largest basketball arena south of the

Palestra The Palestra, often called the Cathedral of College Basketball, is a historic arena and the home gym of the Penn Quakers men's and women's basketball teams, volleyball teams, wrestling team, and Philadelphia Big 5 basketball. Located at 235 Sou ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. Cameron coached the first game, a 36–27 victory over

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

, on January 6, 1940. That arena would eventually come to bear his name. Eddie Cameron, Chanticleer 1968

After Wade entered the military service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Cameron became the head football coach. In four years Cameron's teams won three conference championships, compiled a record of 25–11–1 and won the 1945 Sugar Bowl by beating

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

, 29–26. Cameron became permanent Director of Physical Education and Athletics in 1946 when Wade returned and resumed coaching football.

Later life

Cameron was a founder of the Atlantic Coast Conference, chaired the basketball committee of the Southern and ACC conferences for decades, was on the selection committee for the NFL Hall of Fame and was on the governing committee of the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. Cameron died at the age 86 on November 25, 1988 at his home in Durham, North Carolina.

Head coaching record

Basketball

Football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Eddie 1902 births 1988 deaths American football fullbacks American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Indiana Basketball players from Pittsburgh Duke Blue Devils athletic directors Duke Blue Devils football coaches Duke Blue Devils men's basketball coaches People from Marshall County, Indiana People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pittsburgh Sportspeople from Durham, North Carolina Sportspeople from Pittsburgh Washington and Lee Generals football players Washington and Lee Generals men's basketball coaches Washington and Lee Generals men's basketball players