When he was at Wake Forest, Billy Packer took some guff for going over to Winston-Salem State to watch the Rams play. Why would Packer, who led Wake Forest to the 1962 Final Four, go over to see Winston-Salem State play when the ACC was still segregated and even visiting WSSU was frowned upon?
Because Winston-Salem State had a great, iconic player in Earl “the Pearl” Monroe, and Monroe was mesmerizing. And Packer, who knew great basketball when he saw it, soaked it up.
Monroe was, in a sense, the first ABA player, the first guy to bring a playground sensibility to the league…