Confessions of a Coach

College cage coach in the South from 1951 to 1989, Sloan took his North Carolina State team to the national championship in 1974. His account of his career, concerned mainly with setting straight the record about his forced resignation from the University of Florida in 1989, covers the time when athletic teams became integrated. Though raised by a racist father, he reports, he stood firm against efforts to maintain segregation in his sport. Asked to resign ostensibly for having violated NCAA regulations by giving money to a team member, Sloan charges that the real reason lay in athletic department politics. Still bitter about his dismissal, Sloan is unusually candid in this behind-the-scenes story, told with Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel sports columnist Guest. (Nov.)