Early Years
Gaines was born in Paducah, Kentucky to Lester and Olivia Bolen Gaines. He helped his family by working in a garage. He attended local Lincoln High School where he excelled academically, played basketball, was an All-State football player, and played trumpet in the school band. He graduated as class salutatorian in 1941.
Despite his academic qualifications, Jim Crow Era segregation laws and the suggestions of a friend of the family led him to attend Morgan State University (then Morgan State College) in Baltimore, Maryland. He entered in the fall of 1941 on a football scholarship.
It was at Morgan State that Gaines got his nickname "Big House": a student saw the 6 ft. 3in., 265 lb Gaines and declared: "You're as big as a house." Gaines played as a lineman for the Bears football team, was a member of the basketball team, and participated in track. Gaines was an All-CIAA selection as a lineman in football all four seasons and twice elected an All-American. When it came to basketball, he described himself as "a very average basketball player." In 2004, he explained that "I was an All-America in football, but I was just on the basketball team to have something to do."
Gaines graduated from Morgan State in 1945 with a Bachelor's of Science in Chemistry. He intended to go on into dental school, however his college football coach, Eddie Hurt, suggested that he temporarily go to what was then known as Winston-Salem Teachers College. At the time, the small southern college had one coach for all sports, Brutus Wilson, who as also a Morgan State graduate; Hurt suggested that Gaines would make a good assistant coach. Gaines agreed and went to Winston-Salem.
Read more about this topic: Clarence Gaines
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or years:
“Betwixt the black fronts long-withdrawn
A light-blue lane of early dawn,”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“The meaningful role of the father of the bride was played out long before the church music began. It stretched across those years of infancy and puberty, adolescence and young adulthood. That’s when she needs you at her side.”
—Tom Brokaw (20th century)