as football coach for three years (1946–49), and in 1948 was named Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) "Football Coach of the Year" after leading his team to an 8–1 season. He dropped coaching football to focus on basketball in 1949. He earned his Master of Arts in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1950. Gaines coached basketball at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) from 1946 to 1993, compiling an 828–447 record. He led the Rams to 18 20-win seasons, eight CIAA titles, and in 1967 led WSSU to a Division II NCAA Championship, making the Rams the first basketball program from a historically black college or university to capture an NCAA national championship. Toward the end of his coaching career, Gaines struggled to recruit student players. The end of the Jim Crow Era laws led to college basketball becoming fully integrated at all levels. This made it difficult to lure star talent to WSSU. Among Gaines notable student players were Earl Monroe; Cleo Hill, the first African American from an historically Black college or university to be drafted in the first round by the National Basketball Association (St. Louis Hawks, 1961); and Stephen A. Smith, who became a noted commentator and columnist. Accomplishments and recognition As of April 2010, Gaines stands ninth on the NCAA men's basketball coaches win list. When Gaines retired from Winston-Salem State University in 1993, only Rupp had amassed more wins. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. After winning the national title in 1967, he was named the NCAA Division II College Coach of the Year. Gaines was named the CIAA coach of the year a record six times (1957, 61, 63, 70, 75, 80); received the CIAA Basketball Tournament Outstanding Coach Award eight times (1953, 57, 60, 61, 63, 66, 70, 77); was inducted into the CIAA Hall of Fame (1975), NAIA Helms Hall of Fame (1968) and N.C. Sports Hall of Fame (1978) and received the Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America. In 2006, he was named part of the founding class of the College Basketball Hall of Fame. The C. E. Gaines Center (built 1976), an athletic complex on the WSSU campus and home of the basketball team, is named after him. WSSU's C.E. "Big House" Gaines Athletic Hall of Fame is also named after him. Gaines was a member in numerous organizations, including the