Norman Shepard

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Norman Shepard

| image = Norman_Shepard_Davidson.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Shepard circa 1948

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1897|8|20}}

| birth_place = Marion, South Carolina, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1977|8|22|1897|8|20}}

| death_place = Sarasota, Florida, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| coach_sport1 = Football

| coach_years2 = 1928

| coach_team2 = Guilford

| coach_years3 = 1929–1935

| coach_team3 = Randolph–Macon

| coach_sport4 = Basketball

| coach_years5 = 1923–1924

| coach_team5 = North Carolina

| coach_years6 = 1928–1929

| coach_team6 = Guilford

| coach_years7 = 1929–1936

| coach_team7 = Randolph–Macon

| coach_years8 = 1937–1949

| coach_team8 = Davidson

| coach_years9 = 1949–1954

| coach_team9 = Harvard

| coach_sport10 = Baseball

| coach_years11 = 1940–1944

| coach_team11 = Davidson

| coach_years12 = 1955–1968

| coach_team12 = Harvard

| admin_years1 = 1928–1929

| admin_team1 = Guilford

| admin_years2 = 1929–1936

| admin_team2 = Randolph–Macon

| admin_years3 = 1936–1949

| admin_team3 = Davidson

| overall_record = 37–27–9 (football)
323–277 (basketball)
234–154–4 (baseball)

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships = Foosball
1 Virginia Conference (1931)
3 Chesapeake (1933–1935)

Basketball
Helms Athletic Foundation national (1924)
Premo-Porretta national (1924)
SoCon regular season (1924)
SoCon Tournament (1924)

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

Norman Westbrook Shepard (August 20, 1897 – August 22, 1977{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6q1VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KeADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6114,5915942&dq=norman+shepard+basketball+died&hl=en|title=Eugene Register-Guard - Google News Archive Search}}) 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 coach to go undefeated in his first season coaching.{{cite web |url=http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/m_basketball_RB/2009/Coaching.pdf |title=NCAA stats |work=NCAA |publisher=NCAA |access-date=2009-09-23}}{{rp|159}} His 1923–24 Tar Heels team finished the season with a 26–0 record{{cite web| title =North Carolina Tar Heels season-by-season results |work=sports-reference.com |publisher=Sports Reference LLC |year=2014| url =https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/north-carolina/ |access-date=May 23, 2014}} and was retroactively named the national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.{{cite web |title=NCAA Division I Men's Basketball – NCAA Division I Champions |publisher=Rauzulu's Street |year=2004 |url=http://www.rauzulusstreet.com/basketball/college/helmscollegechampionship.htm |access-date =May 23, 2014}}{{cite book |title=ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game |editor-last=ESPN |publisher=ESPN Books |location=New York, NY |year=2009 |page=536 |isbn=978-0-345-51392-2}}

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.{{harvnb|Rappoport|2002|p=13}} Before becoming a head coach, Shepard spent three years abroad in France during World War I in the United States army as an artilleryman.{{harvnb|Rappoport|2002|p=13}}

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, Carlyle Shepard and Alex Shepard, played basketball for North Carolina.{{harvnb|Rappoport|2002|p=14}}

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.{{harvnb|Rappoport|2002|p=13}}

When Shepard took over, the Tar Heels had been without a head coach for the previous two seasons.{{harvnb|Rappoport|2002|pp=12–13}} 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 during the 1922–23 season.{{harvnb|Rappoport|2002|pp=14–15}}

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, who would later be named to the All-American team and would later have his number retired at North Carolina.{{harvnb|Rappoport|2002|p=11}} Shepard's North Carolina team earned the nickname the "White Phantoms" because of their fast playmaking and defense.{{harvnb|Powell|2005|p=16}}

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 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 bonfire on the athletic field.

In 1936, the Helms Athletic Foundation 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.{{cite web

| agency = Associated Press

| title = OSU's Sutton has Cowboys unbeaten

| work = Amarillo.com

| date = December 16, 2006

| url = http://www.amarillo.com/stories/121606/col_6327445.shtml

| access-date = September 23, 2009

| url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110804235027/http://amarillo.com/stories/121606/col_6327445.shtml

| archive-date = August 4, 2011}}

Living abroad

After coaching North Carolina for one season, Shepard went to the Far East to work as a sales manager for Liggett and Meyer tobacco company.{{harvnb|Rappoport|2002|p=13}} While abroad, he played for and coached a basketball team in the Far Eastern Olympics.{{harvnb|Powell|2005|p=14}} 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, Randolph College, Davidson College and finally Harvard University where he coached baseball, basketball and football. He retired from being the head coach in 1968.

Head coaching record

=Football=

{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Guilford Quakers

| conf = Independent

| startyear = 1928

| endyear = single

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1928

| name = Guilford

| overall = 5–3

| conference =

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Guilford

| overall = 5–3

| confrecord =

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets

| conf = Virginia Conference

| startyear = 1929

| endyear = 1932

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1929

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 2–5

| conference = 2–3

| confstanding = 6th

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1930

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 3–5–2

| conference = 3–2–1

| confstanding = 3rd

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship = conference

| year = 1931

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 7–1–1

| conference = 5–1

| confstanding = 1st

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1932

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 5–1–2

| conference = 2–1–2

| confstanding = 3rd

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets

| conf = Chesapeake Conference

| startyear = 1933

| endyear = 1935

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship = conference

| year = 1933

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 3–6

| conference =

| confstanding = 1st

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship = conference

| year = 1934

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 4–3–2

| conference =

| confstanding = T–1st

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship = conference

| year = 1935

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 8–0–2

| conference = 3–0

| confstanding = 1st

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 32–12–9

| confrecord =

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record End

| overall = 37–27–9

| bowls = no

| poll = no

| polltype =

}}

=Basketball=

{{CBB Yearly Record Start

|type=coach

|conference=

|postseason=

|poll=no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

|name=North Carolina Tar Heels

|startyear=1923

|conference=Southern Conference

|endyear=1924

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship = national

| season = 1923–24

| name = North Carolina

| overall = 26–0

| conference = 7–0

| confstanding = T–1st

| postseason = Helms National Champion
Premo-Porretta National Champion

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = North Carolina

| overall = 26–02007-08 North Carolina men's basketball media guide 2007, p.177

| confrecord = 7–0

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

|name=Guilford Quakers

|startyear=1928

|conference=Independent

|endyear=1929

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1928–29

| name = Guilford

| overall = 6–12

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Guilford

| overall = 6–12

| confrecord =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

|name=Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets

|startyear=1929

|conference=Virginia Conference

|endyear=1936

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1929–30

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 14–7

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1930–31

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 16–7

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1931–32

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 7–12

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1932–33

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 11–11

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1933–34

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 15–4

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1934–35

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 11–13

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1935–36

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 9–11

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Randolph–Macon

| overall = 83–65

| confrecord =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

|name=Davidson Wildcats

|startyear=1937

|conference=Southern Conference

|endyear=1949

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1937–38

| name = Davidson

| overall = 10–12

| conference = 4–11

| confstanding = 11th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1938–39

| name = Davidson

| overall = 19–9

| conference = 9–7

| confstanding = 5th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1939–40

| name = Davidson

| overall = 8–13

| conference = 4–11

| confstanding = 11th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1940–41

| name = Davidson

| overall = 11–12

| conference = 5–7

| confstanding = 10th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1941–42

| name = Davidson

| overall = 12–13

| conference = 3–8

| confstanding = 13th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1942–43

| name = Davidson

| overall = 18–6

| conference = 7–4

| confstanding = 4th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1943–44

| name = Davidson

| overall = 16–7

| conference = 3–4

| confstanding = 6th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1944–45

| name = Davidson

| overall = 9–9

| conference = 3–6

| confstanding = 9th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1945–46

| name = Davidson

| overall = 13–12

| conference = 5–9

| confstanding = 12th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1946–47

| name = Davidson

| overall = 17–8

| conference = 7–7

| confstanding = 9th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1947–48

| name = Davidson

| overall = 19–9

| conference = 10–7

| confstanding = 5th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1948–49

| name = Davidson

| overall = 18–8

| conference = 11–6

| confstanding = 5th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Davidson

| overall = 170–118

| confrecord = 71–87

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

|name=Harvard Crimson

|startyear=1949

|conference=Ivy League

|endyear=1954

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1949–50

| name = Harvard

| overall = 9–15

| conference = 3–9

| confstanding = 6th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1950–51

| name = Harvard

| overall = 8–18

| conference = 3–9

| confstanding = 6th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1951–52

| name = Harvard

| overall = 5–17

| conference = 0–12

| confstanding = 7th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1952–53

| name = Harvard

| overall = 7–16

| conference = 2–10

| confstanding = 7th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| season = 1953–54

| name = Harvard

| overall = 9–16

| conference = 2–12

| confstanding = 8th

| postseason =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Harvard

| overall = 38–82

| confrecord = 10–52

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record End

|overall= 323–277

|poll=no

}}

References

General

{{Cite book|title=University of North Carolina Basketball|first=Adam|last=Powell|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2005|isbn=0-7385-4150-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4YhGeDCjS7wC}}
{{Cite book|title=Tales from the Tar Heel Locker Room|first=Ken|last=Rappoport|publisher=Sports Publishing LLC|year=2002|isbn=1-58261-489-X|url=https://archive.org/details/talesfromtarheel0000rapp|url-access=registration}}
{{Cite web|title=2008-09 North Carolina men's basketball media guide |publisher=UNC Athletic Communications |url=http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/100708aab.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090917024418/http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/100708aab.html |archive-date=2009-09-17 }}

Specific

{{navboxes|list=

}}

Category:1897 births

Category:1977 deaths

Category:American men's basketball coaches

Category:American men's basketball players

Category:United States Army personnel of World War I

Category:Davidson Wildcats athletic directors

Category:Davidson Wildcats baseball coaches

Category:Davidson Wildcats men's basketball coaches

Category:Guilford College faculty