| Wins against Kentucky - 0 | Losses against Kentucky - 1 |
Alma Mater: Wake Forest [1926]
Hometown: Raleigh, N.C.
Date Born: December 26, 1901
Date Died: January 1, 1960
Overall Record: 285-243 [23 Seasons]
| Date | Matchup | UK Result | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/14/1953 | Wake Forest at Kentucky | W | 101 - 69 | - |
Obituary - Florence (SC) Morning News (January 2, 1960)
Murray Greason, Former WF Coach and Ad, Is Killed In Automobile Accident
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Murray Crossley Greason, who devoted almost half of his 58 years to Wake Forest College as athlete, coach and more recently assistant athletic director, was killed here Friday in an automobile accident.
Greason retired two years ago after serving for 23 years as Wake Forest head basketball coach.
An ardent hunter and fisherman, he was wearing hunting clothes when he met death. Greason was riding alone when his car struck the supports of a bridge on Highway 70. He was dead on arrival at Wesley Long Hospital.
Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem. Burial will be in Winston-Salem. His widow, the former Elizabeth Hackney of Lexington N.C., and a son, Murry Jr., a Wake Forest Law School student, survive.
Greason had attended the Dixie Classic basketball tournament finals, won by Wake Forest, at Raleigh Wednesday night and apparently had been on a hunting trip Thursday.
Russell Brantley, Wake Forest news bureau head, expressed the opinion that Greason may have dozed off at the wheel.
Greason was born in Raleigh and went on to become one of Wake Forest's outstanding athletes before graduation in 1926. He won 12 varsity letters in football, baseball and basketball. He captained the basketball and football teams.
He was a halfback on the football team and once recalled a 1924 game with Washington and Lee at Lexington, Va., in which he suffered a broken nose, but played the full 60 minutes.
His biggest football thrill came that same season when Wake Forest beat North Carolina 7-6 on a 72-yard off-tackle run by Greason. It was the first Wake Forest football victory over the Tar Heels in more than 30 years.
He started his coaching career at Lexington High School in 1926, remaining there until returning to Wake Forest as head basketball coach and football assistant. He also coached freshman baseball for a time.
His 1953 team won the Southern Conference basketball title and earned for him the conference cage coach of the year award.
Horace (Bones) McKinney, in his third year as head coach at Wake Forest, came on the scene as assistant to Greason in 1952. Greason seldom moved a muscle as he sat placidly on the bench through the wildest basketball games he coached. But his calm exterior belied his true feelings, he confessed. He owned up to having "a big knot" in his stomach and being so upset that he often couldn't eat for hours after a game.
In his 23 seasons as head coach he won 283 basketball games against 244 losses.
Fishing and hunting occupied much of his spare time. He raised beagle hounds.
A slow-talking, witty speaker, he was a widely sought banquet speaker.
He celebrated his 58th birthday last Saturday.
