Sport(s) | Football, basketball |
---|---|
Biographical details | |
Born |
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
April 22, 1902
Died | November 25, 1988 Durham, North Carolina |
(aged 86)
Playing career | |
1923 | Washington and Lee |
Position(s) | Fullback |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
Football | |
1926–1941 | Duke (assistant) |
1942–1945 | Duke |
Basketball | |
1924–1925 | Washington and Lee |
1928–1942 | Duke |
Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
1951–1972 | Duke |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 25–11–1 (football) 234–104 (basketball) |
Bowls | 1–0 |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
Football 3 SoCon (1943–1945) Basketball 3 SoCon (1938, 1941–1942) |
Edmund McCullough "Eddie" Cameron (April 22, 1902 – November 25, 1988) was an American football and basketball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Washington and Lee University for one season in 1924–25 and at Duke University from 1928 to 1942, compiling a career college basketball record of 234–104. Cameron was also the head football coach at Duke University from 1942 to 1945, tallying a mark of 25–11–1, and the athletic director at the school from 1951 to 1972. Cameron was part of Duke athletics from 1926 to 1972, the second longest tenure in the school's history. Duke's home basketball arena was renamed as Cameron Indoor Stadium in his honor in 1972.
Cameron attended Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana before becoming a fullback at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. At Washington and Lee, he was captain of both the basketball and football teams, and tied for the national scoring title in football.
When Washington and Lee coach, Jimmy DeHart, was hired by Duke, Cameron followed him to coach the freshman team. After Wallace Wade was lured away from University of Alabama by Duke, school administrators urged him to retain Cameron. Cameron eventually became the backfield coach, scout, and recruiter for Wade. In 1929, he got the additional responsibility of head basketball coach, a position he kept until 1949.
Cameron's first two Duke basketball teams made the Southern Conference tournament finals even as a new team in the league. Cameron's teams had a 226–99 record (.695), 119–56 (.680) in conference play, during his 14 years as head coach, which included conference championships in 1938, 1941 and 1942. During his tenure, in 1940, Duke built the largest basketball arena south of the Palestra in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cameron coached the first game, a 36–27 victory over Princeton University, on January 6, 1940. That arena would eventually come to bear his name.