McGuire, Frank J.
Basketball
b. Nov. 8, 1914, New York, NY
d. Nov. 11, 1994
McGuire was instrumental in making the Atlantic Coast Conference a major force in basketball, largely through his ability to recruit so-called "Yankee Rebels" from the metropolitan New York area.
He won four letters in both baseball and basketball at St. John's University and captained both teams in his senior year. After graduating in 1936, he became baseball coach at his high school alma mater, Xavier High in New York City and he also played pro basketball with the Brooklyn/New York Visitations.
McGuire entered the U. S. Navy during World War II. He returned briefly to Xavier before becoming basketball coach at St. John's in 1947. In five seasons there, he won 103 games while losing 35 and his teams went to two National Invitation Tournaments and two NCAA tournaments.
The University of North Carolina hired McGuire in 1952. The school had won just 24 games, losing 30, during the previous two seasons. McGuire quickly produced winners, culminating with the 1956-57 team that won all 32 of its games, beating Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain to win the NCAA championship.
McGuire left North Carolina to coach the NBA's Philadelphia Warriors to a 49-31 record in 1962-63. He returned to the ACC with the University of South Carolina in 1964 and built a successful program there. After two losing seasons, South Carolina had 20 or more victories for six consecutive seasons and went to four straight NCAA tournaments.
McGuire retired in 1980. He was the first coach to win 100 or more games at three different schools. His overall college record was 550 wins and 235 losses, a .701 winning percentage. Two of his St. John's players, Lou Carnesecca and Al McGuire, became very successful college coaches.