CMC75 Landmark Years (1974): Gymnasium Named in Memory of Ted Ducey

As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments and landmark years from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you would like to add to the memories of one of these moments, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moment, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.

Great Moments Featured in This Story:
1963 Men's Tennis: Stags Go 10-0 in SCIAC
1966 Men's Basketball: Stags 60, Occidental 59 (SCIAC Playoff)
1970 Men's Basketball: Stags 94, Azusa Pacific 82 (NAIA Districts)
1972 Men's Basketball: Stags 62, Redlands 57 (SCIAC Clincher)

During the first 15 years of Claremont-Mudd athletics, after the department was founded in 1958-59, the sports facilities didn't have any special names. The football field was sometimes called Stag Field or CMC Field, and you can see old references to CMC Pool and CMC Gym in local newspapers.

Under tragic circumstances, that changed in the fall of 1974 when the basketball and wrestling teams began competing at Ducey Gymnasium.

Ted Ducey joined the Claremont-Mudd athletic department just one year into its existence, taking over as the head coach of the men's basketball and men's tennis programs in 1959-60. The debut year for Claremont-Mudd had plenty of high points, including a swimming and diving team that went 14-3 and swept SCIAC foes, and a football team that started out with a solid 4-4 record.

Ducey, though, had a bit of an uphill battle with his two sports. Men's basketball was 1-20 in its debut season in 1958-59, avoiding the dreaded 0-21 with a 55-50 win over Caltech. Men's tennis didn't fare much better, finishing 2-10 in 1959.

The first year of the Ducey Era saw some progress in basketball, with the Stags finishing 7-18 and picking up its first-ever league win with a 66-47 victory over Pomona. Tennis struggled again, finishing 2-17 and 0-10 in the league, but his first recruiting class would turn that around in a hurry.

In 1962, the men's tennis team won the first-ever NAIA District title for the entire Claremont-Mudd Athletic department, as Bob Goss swept the singles and doubles championships, winning doubles with Dave Moffett. They added a SCIAC title in 1963, going 10-0 in SCIAC, just three years after finishing 0-10, with the four members of the "Fabulous Four" in the Class of 1964, Goss, Moffett, Joe Zerboni and Barry Swayne, playing 1-4 in singles.

That success would quickly be mirrored on the basketball court, as Ducey's 1965-66 team doubled its win total to finish 18-11 and tie for first in the SCIAC, before defeating Occidental 60-59 to advance to the NAIA Championships. The following year, the Stags finished 23-7, won the SCIAC title outright, and defeated Pasadena two games to one to advance to the NAIA Nationals in Kansas City.

Ducey's teams remained competitive, with men's tennis finishing as runner-up to Redlands every year from 1967-74 (Redlands was the dominant program of the era, winning all but two SCIAC titles from 1950-85). Men's Basketball, meanwhile, added another SCIAC Championship in 1970 in what might have been his greatest coaching job, coming off a rare down season (8-16 in 1968-69). 

"With a freshman, three sophomores, and a transfer junior coming off a mediocre 1968-69 season nobody, and I do mean nobody, expected us to be a factor in the championship competition," said John McKniff, a sophomore on that team. "Of the five starters, only two played in the varsity program the year before."

Not only did the Stags earn a share of the SCIAC title, but they also defeated top-seeded Azusa Pacific in the NAIA District playoffs to reach the 20-win plateau. Ducey's team added another SCIAC title in 1972, led by senior captain David Wells, but lost a huge senior class in both quantity and quality (Wells, McKniff, Rex Huxford, Jeff Naslund, Cal Whitham) and slipped back in 1973 and 1974, which had Ducey working hard to get the program back to championship level.

In September of 1974, though, while vacationing in Nelson Landing, Nevada, Ducey and several others were caught in a flash flood along the Colorado River and he tragically drowned. His sudden passing left the Claremont-Mudd athletic department reeling, and the trustees quickly voted to rename the gymnasium in his honor.

Prior to an exhibition game against the alumni, there was a ceremony to celebrate Ducey and what he meant to the program, including the official dedication of the gymnasium.

"Few educators have made such a profound impression upon young people as Ted Ducey," said Jack Stark, president of Claremont McKenna at the time. "By naming the sports facility in honor of Ducey, it will remind our student-athletes daily of a great man, one who used the game of basketball to develop leadership, sportsmanship and to bring out the very best in every young man who played for him."

One of those young men was Nat Baumer, a member of the 1970 SCIAC Championship team and a CMS Hall of Fame member.

"He was my friend," said Baumer, "and at times he was like a father to me. Coach never criticized a person. He always talked about their better points. He had great regard for everyone."

He also had a profound impact on the coaches around him.

"It's difficult to comprehend," said John Zinda, who was the Claremont-Mudd football coach at the time. "The world lost a great family man, friend and coach. One thing I heard was Ted was on top of the car and was trying to help somebody else when he was last seen."

David Wells, the captain of the 1972 championship team, took over as the head basketball coach under difficult circumstances only two years after his graduation, and became a legendary figure at CMS in his own right (the men's and women's basketball teams still compete at the David Wells Classic every Thanksgiving). After a stopgap season in 1975, the men's tennis program would bring in Hank Krieger, who would lead CMS to the 1981 national championship and remain as the head coach until 1999. The tennis program added a second national title in 2015, as the foundation that Ducey built with both of his programs carried on his name for generations. 

Ducey Gymnasium, meanwhile, which also carried on his name in a more tangible way, was a fixture on the CMC campus and the hub of the athletic department until being torn down in 2014 to make room for Roberts Pavilion. Once Roberts Pavilion was built, though, it was important to everyone around CMS Athletics that Ted Ducey's name still had a place. His legacy still remained, even though anyone who had come through in the previous 40 years never personally had the privilege of knowing him.

As a result, one of the first things you will see when you enter the ground floor of Roberts Pavilion is the Ted Ducey Hall of Fame, a place which highlights the greatest and most significant members of CMS Athletics over the last 75 years.

Naturally, Ted Ducey is also a member.