History
The team, under the name High Point College [2] , began play in the 1927–28 season with coach J.P. Boylin. The first game was on December 10, 1927, in a 37–35 win over the Carolina Night Hawks. The team went on to a 14–4 record. Boylin served as coach for three seasons and finished with a 39–16 record. He was followed by two seasons of coach Julian Beall who had two consecutive losing seasons and finished with a 16–21 record. [3] The team began playing as part of the North State Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NSC) in 1930.
First Virgil Yow stint
Virgil Yow, a multisport star at High Point College, was hired as the third coach for the team in 1932. [4] After hovering around the .500 mark, for his first two seasons, the team went 18–4 in his third year and in the following year went 20–4 defeating Wake Forest along the way and winning the 1936 NSC men's basketball tournament 49–39 over Lenoir–Rhyne.
The program began playing in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) with the founding of the NAIA men's basketball championship in 1937. The team first made the NAIA tournament in 1939.
In 1944, during the height of World War II, the college was facing a male student shortage and thus had difficulty filling the basketball roster. Yow recruited female student Nancy Isenhour to play on the team and she became the first woman to play on a collegiate men's basketball team. [5] Following the 1944–45 season, Yow left the school after 13 seasons, two conference championships, and two NAIA tournament appearances, to coach the Hanes Hosiery AAU women's team. [6] [7]
Ralph James and Bob Davis eras
Ralph James was hired as the football and basketball coach in 1945. [8] James had previously played for Wake Forrest [9] and served as head coach for Western Carolina in both football and basketball. He finished with a record of 81–45. Bob Davis was hired in 1950. Davis won two conference titles in three years. Davis left High Point after three seasons to coach at Georgetown College and eventually Auburn. [10]
Second Virgil Yow stint
Following eight years coaching women's basketball and three AAU national titles, Yow returned to High Point. He coached nine more seasons before retiring with a record of 342–215.
Tom Quinn
Tom Quinn was announced as the head coach in 1962, coming from Newberry College and had previously won the Conference Carolinas title. [11] He served in the capacity for four years compiling a record of 95–22. His teams made the NAIA tournament twice and won the Conference Carolinas tournament twice. He left to be the coach of East Carolina. [12]
Jerry Steele tenure
Jerry Steele was hired in 1972 as the 10th head coach of the team. Steele had previously served as head coach of the professional ABA team the Carolina Cougars. He coached at High Point for 32 years, from 1972 to 2003. He won eight conference titles, made one appearance in the NAIA tournament.
Beginning in the 1993–94 academic year, the school and conference began transitioning to NCAA Division II. During his last decade, Steele earned two trips to the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament. The team left Conference Carolinas in 1997 and joined the Big South Conference in 1999 and transitioned to NCAA Division I. His record at High Point was 493–412, making him the winningest coach in program history. Steele retired after the end of the 2002–03 season.
Scott Cherry
Scott Cherry was hired as coach on March 26, 2009. In his fourth year, the team won the Big South north division, earning them a spot in the 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, this was the school's first postseason appearance since joining NCAA Division I. The following year, he again led the Panthers to a Big South north division championship, and the regular season championship, another program first. The Panthers were invited to the 2014 National Invitation Tournament, losing in the first round to Minnesota. Cherry led High Point to the best start in school history in 2014–15 campaign, starting the season 14–3. They qualified for the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. Cherry mutually agreed to part ways with the school in 2018. [13]
Tubby Smith and G. G. Smith
Former High Point player and 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship coach with Kentucky, Tubby Smith, was hired to be the team's head coach after having been fired by Memphis a few weeks prior. Additionally, a new arena was announced for the school. [14] Smith never had a winning record in his five seasons and resigned in favor of his son G. G. Smith. His son was fired the season after. [15]
Alan Huss era
Alan Huss was hired on March 27, 2023. [16] He won the Big South regular season title in his first season.
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