Among the earliest standouts are three members of the first South Carolina (Sigma) team in 1909: Wade Bolt, Charles dillingham and J.D. Hamer. At North Carolina (Kappa), George Tennant captained the Tar Heels in 1917 and 1918 while T.W. Hawkins was Davidson’s (Epsilon) 1918 captain. The 1920’s saw more Pi Kapps on the court. F.D. “Dewey” Cline of North Carolina State (Tau) starred from 1916 through 1920. Cline was the captian of the team in 1919 and 1920. The Asheville, N.C. native played guard and was essential to the success of the 1920 NC State team, particularly in leading the Wolfpack to a 32-21 upset victory over North Carolina.
The NC State team lost the State Basketball Championship to Trinity (now Duke University) with Cline again starring. In an interesing side note, Cline was Tau Chapter’s number one initate. He helped form the chapter through his friendship with famous Pi Kapp author, Thomas Wolfe. Cline and Wolfe were friends while growing up in Asheville, N.C..