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Norm Sloan
Biographical details
Florida Gators men's basketball coach Norm Sloan, circa 1961
Born	(1926-06-25)June 25, 1926 Anderson, Indiana, U.S.
Died	December 9, 2003(2003-12-09) (aged 77) Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
Playing career
Basketball
1946–1949	NC State
Football
1948–1950	NC State

Position(s)	Guard (basketball) Quarterback (football)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Basketball
1951–1955	Presbyterian
1955–1956	Memphis State (assistant)
1956–1960	The Citadel
1960–1966	Florida
1966–1980	NC State
1980–1989	Florida
Football
1951	Presbyterian (assistant)
Track
1955	Memphis State

Head coaching record
Overall	627–395 (basketball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NCAA champion (1974) 3× ACC tournament (1970, 1973, 1974) 2× ACC regular season (1973, 1974) SEC regular season (1989)
Awards
SoCon Coach of the Year (1957) SEC Coach of the Year (1961) 3× ACC Coach of the Year (1970, 1973, 1974)

Norman Leslie Sloan Jr. (June 25, 1926 – December 9, 2003) was a famous American college basketball player and coach. Born in Indiana, Sloan played both basketball and football at North Carolina State University. After graduating in 1951, he started a long coaching career.

He led basketball teams at Presbyterian College, The Citadel, North Carolina State University, and had two different periods coaching at the University of Florida. Over 38 seasons, Sloan was named conference coach of the year five times. He also won the national championship in 1974 with North Carolina State, his old school. People called him "Stormin' Norman" because he was very competitive and sometimes argued with the media, his players, and school leaders. His coaching career ended in 1989 at Florida, and he felt he was treated unfairly.

Early Life and School
Playing in College
Coaching Journey
After Coaching
See also

Early Life and School

Norman Sloan was born in Anderson, Indiana, in 1926. He went to Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis. There, he earned a "letter" in basketball, which means he was a top player on the team.

Playing in College

Sloan received a sports scholarship to attend North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. He played as a guard for the NC State Wolfpack from 1946 to 1949. He was part of a special group of players from Indiana called "Hoosier Hotshots."

While at NC State, Sloan was teammates with Vic Bubas, who later became a coach for the Duke Blue Devils. Sloan helped the Wolfpack win three Southern Conference championships in 1947, 1948, and 1949. In the fall, he also played as a backup quarterback for the NC State Wolfpack football team and was on the school's track and field team.

Sloan left the basketball team before his final year because he disagreed with his coach about how much he played. He graduated from NC State in 1951 with a degree in education.

Coaching Journey

Presbyterian College

Right after college in 1951, Sloan became the head basketball coach at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. He also worked as an assistant football coach. His Presbyterian Blue Hose men's basketball teams had a great record of 69 wins and 36 losses in four seasons. They won conference championships and played in the national tournament in his first and last years there.

Memphis State (Assistant Coach)

In 1955, Sloan moved to Memphis State University to be an assistant coach for the Memphis Tigers. The team had a good season, winning 20 games and losing 7. They also made it to the NCAA tournament for the first time ever.

The Citadel

In 1956, Sloan became the head coach at The Citadel. The basketball team there had only won two games in the previous two seasons. His first team in 1957 won 11 games and was named the "Most Improved Team in the Nation." Sloan was also named coach of the year in South Carolina. His teams at The Citadel had winning seasons for the next three years. Overall, he won 57 games and lost 38 there.

First Time at Florida

In 1960, Sloan became the first full-time basketball coach at the University of Florida. Before him, a football coach usually coached basketball because the sport wasn't a big focus. His Florida Gators men's basketball teams won 85 games and lost 63 in six seasons. They even beat the famous Kentucky Wildcats team in 1965, which was a big deal.

Even though his teams played well, they couldn't get into the postseason tournaments. Back then, only one team from each conference was guaranteed a spot. Still, Sloan set up a strong base for Florida's basketball program. Many people say he was the "father of UF hoops" because he made the program much better.

North Carolina State

Sloan returned to coach at his old school, North Carolina State, in 1966. His NC State Wolfpack basketball teams won three Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships in 1970, 1973, and 1974. His 1973 team was amazing, winning all 27 of their games! However, they couldn't play in the NCAA tournament that year due to some questions about how a star player, David Thompson, was recruited.

A year later, in 1974, he led the Wolfpack to a fantastic 30-1 record and the school's first NCAA national championship. They beat the UCLA Bruins in the NCAA Final Four, stopping UCLA's coach, John Wooden, from winning his eighth straight championship. Sloan's Wolfpack then won the championship game against Marquette, 76–64.

Sloan won 266 games and lost 127 in his 14 seasons at NC State. His best teams had legendary players like David Thompson, Tommy Burleson, and Monte Towe. "Stormin' Norman" was known for his bright red-and-white plaid jacket and his intense games against other famous coaches like Lefty Driesell and Dean Smith. He was named National Coach of the Year in 1973 and 1974.

Great Britain National Team

In 1980, Sloan was chosen to coach the Great Britain men's national basketball team for the Olympic qualifying games. He held a training camp for the team in Florida. The team played several games in Europe but did not qualify for the Olympics.

Second Time at Florida

Sloan left NC State due to a disagreement about his salary. The new, modern basketball arena at the University of Florida helped convince him to return to Gainesville in 1980. After three tough seasons, he made the Florida Gators basketball program strong again. He did this by getting top high school players from Florida, like Vernon Maxwell and Dwayne Schintzius, to play for the Gators.

From 1984 to 1989, Sloan's Gators had winning records for six years in a row. They also made it to the postseason tournaments for the first time in the program's history. His last three teams won over 20 games each, which was a rare achievement for Florida basketball. His final team even won the school's first Southeastern Conference regular season basketball championship.

In his second time at Florida, Sloan won 150 games and lost 131. This gave him a total of 235 wins in 15 years with the Gators.

Leaving Florida

Sloan had planned to retire at the end of the 1989-90 season. However, he left his coaching job on October 31, 1989, just before the season began. This happened because of concerns about the Gators' basketball program.

Later, Sloan said that the situation was "mishandled." He believed that university officials "panicked" over small issues because the school's football team had faced problems before. Sloan felt his reputation was unfairly hurt, and he said that his requests for travel, which were later questioned, had gone through the university's official channels without any issues at the time. He felt that the university's actions were too harsh for what he called "unconscious" rule mistakes.

Awards and Achievements

Norm Sloan's total coaching record was 627 wins and 395 losses. This places him among the top college basketball coaches in history. His 266 wins at NC State are still the second-highest in the school's history. His 235 wins at Florida were the most in Florida history until another coach, Billy Donovan, passed him in 2006.

Sloan was honored in several sports halls of fame:

Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame (1984)
North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (1994)
Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame (2002)
North Carolina State University Athletic Hall of Fame (2013)

After Coaching

After leaving Florida, Sloan briefly coached basketball in Greece. He then retired and lived in Raleigh, North Carolina. He passed away on December 9, 2003, due to lung problems. He was survived by his wife, Joan, and his three children, Mike, Leslie, and Debbie.