Babe McCarthy

James Harrison "Babe" McCarthy ( * in Baldwyn, Mississippi; ?. † March 1975), also " Ol'Magnolia Mouth" or just " Magnolia Mouth" called, was a coach in professional and college basketball. McCarthy is probably best known for the appearance of the crew of the Mississippi State University in the NCAA Men 's Division I Tournament in 1963, as his team slipped out of the city to take on the Loyola University Chicago, which had four players of color. He coached several teams in the American Basketball Association.

In March 1975 McCarthy died of colon cancer.

College career

McCarthy coached at Mississippi State University, where his teams won 169 games and lost 85, and won four titles in the Southeastern Conference or shared. While he was at MSU, he was appointed coach of the year three times in the SEC. When he left school, he was there the best coach of all time, what the victories were concerned. Meanwhile, he was overtaken by Richard Williams and Rick Stansbury

McCarthy most likely be best remembered because his team the color line in the segregated South of the 1960s exceeded. Even before it was certain that Mississippi State would take on Loyola and her four colored starter, were racist elements in the media of Mississippi in action. On March 7, 1963, the Jackson Daily News printed a picture from the starter Loyola to show that four of them were African American. As Caption called the editor of the Daily News, Jimmy Ward, should that readers cut out the photo of the team from Loyola and send it to the Board of Trustees of MSU, to avoid that the game takes place.

The editorials were a response to the decision of the President of MSU, Dean W. Colvard, from 2 March 1963 to accept the automatic invitation to the NCAA tournament as champions of the SEC, which has been rejected three times, than you should take on integrated teams. The College Committee met on 9 March 1963, confirmed Colvards decision. But on March 13, just one day before the team was to travel to East Lansing, erwirkten of Senator Billy Mitts and former Senator BW Lawson an injunction against the team to leave the state.

While the sheriff was on his way to Starkville, Mississippi to enforce the injunction, the team took the night before their departure, participate in a scavenger hunt, in which replicas of the racist senators Mitts and Lawson were hanged. The original plan was that we Thursdays dungeons Starkville at 8:30 clock in the morning. But when it was learned that the Sheriff of Hinds County already Wednesday night came at 23.30 clock in the city, the sophisticated emergency plan MSU came into force.

Coach Babe McCarthy, the sports director and his assistant drove to Memphis and flew from there to Nashville. The team even sent the youth team to the airport to show up there than expected first team. This in turn hid in a dorm on campus. The next morning they went to a private plane and flew to Nashville to meet there on the coach and his staff. From Nashville from then you took a normal flight for the game to East Lansing, Michigan. These events were documented on the DVD One Night in March, which was produced by Broadcast Media Group in Starkville.

He later coached the basketball team at George Washington University who managed to 1966/67, 9 wins in 18 defeats.

ABA career

In the American Basketball Association McCarthy coached the New Orleans Buccaneers from 1967 to 1970, the Memphis Pros from 1970 to 1972, the Dallas Chaparrals 1972/73 and the Kentucky Colonels in 1973/74. With the Buccaneers in 1968 he reached the final, which they lost in seven games against the Pittsburgh Condors. He was named ABA Coach of the Year in 1969 and 1974. He was the first coach of the ABA, who won 200 games.