Four full-body statues will be constructed of former NC State basketball coaches in a project called “Coaches Corner” that is expected to open in the fall of 2016.
The four coaches that will be honored at Coaches Corner will include: Everett Case, Norman Sloan, Jim Valvano and Kay Yow.
The goal is to have all four statues tell the story of NC State basketball through the years. Each coach was selected for their individual accomplishments in the game of basketball.
Case led the Wolfpack from 1946-1964 and compiled the best record in school history. Sloan led the Wolfpack to its first national championship in 1974 and Valvano led the Wolfpack to the 1983 national championship. Yow won a gold medal in women’s Olympic basketball.
“Each statue of the coaches will be unique to not only their character but it will also reflect their legacy and the impact they left on campus,” said Andy Walsh, former NC State student body president.
The idea for the Coaches Corner project came after Yow passed away. While student body president at the time, Walsh, asked students how they should honor her legacy. Amongst the responses, many students pushed the idea of honoring her legacy with a statue outside of Reynolds Coliseum.
The idea picked up traction within student government and flourished into a bust of Kay Yow that is now between Reynolds and Talley Student Union.
“They then made additional plans to expand that site into something called Coaches Corner,” said Karli Moore, finance committee chair of the project.
As the project has taken shape and expanded over time, the decision was made to replace the bust of Yow and make it a full head-to-toe statue, along with adding the other three coaches.
The cost of the project is estimated to be $300,000, and is all funded privately, through alumni and resources outside of the university, according to Moore. The statues will cost approximately $55,000 each.
“The fundraising for this project is still ongoing, though it has been successful to this point and time,” Walsh said.
Coaches Corner was originally supposed to be unveiled in 2014, but because of delays in the Reynolds Coliseum renovation that is about to begin, the goal is to unveil the four statues in the fall of 2016. They plan to sync the two projects and have them revealed together, according to Moore.
To find artists to design the statues, a national search was put out. Forty-seven submissions were received and two were selected.
“We are extremely happy with the product and the quality of artists that we are getting for these statues,” Walsh said. “We have two artists working on the project, and both artists are getting compensated the same $110,000 each.”
Tyson Snow is one of the selected artists and from Utah. The second artist is Ben Victor from Idaho. Victor is the only living artist in the U.S. to have two statues in the National Statuary Hall in the Capitol Building, according to Moore.
Coaches Corner will be visible to those passing by between Reynolds and Talley Student Union, according to Walsh.
“I’m truly excited for when we reach that finish line so we can have a place to honor our history,” Walsh said.
