Leadership and Basketball

On Friday, February 3, in a ceremony honoring Coach Jerry Faulkner, the basketball floor in the Beck Student Activities Center’s Jones Arena was named “Faulkner Court.” The Hall of Fame former coach led the Hawks to five state titles during his tenure at Latin before retiring in 2007.

More than 50 basketball alumni joined Coach Faulkner on the floor during this special dedication. In an effort led by Ed McMahan ’93 and John Harris ’97, this same group of alumni raised $740,000 in support of Sunny’s Legacy Endowment as a reflection of their love and gratitude for their coach. Helping to fund this endowment and its scholarship supporting students who would otherwise not be able to afford a Latin education was the perfect way to honor Coach Faulkner’s leadership.

“If all I teach you is how to put a ball into a net on one end of the court and to keep a guy from doing it at the other end, then I’m absolutely wasting your time.” And Coach Faulkner is not a man who takes the value of time lightly.

When Faulkner joined Latin’s coaching staff, he intentionally set out to create a community environment. “I didn’t want a team, I wanted a family. I wanted to teach lessons of life through basketball,” he says. Known for his life lessons with a firm emphasis on academics, Coach Faulkner has positively influenced countless studentathletes during his career, 23 years of which were spent at Charlotte Latin.

Respect, excellence, leadership. These Core Values of Latin’s all pair naturally with Faulkner’s coaching style. His daughter and 1989 graduate Tara Faulkner McAlister says, “He never saw or thought of them as ‘players’ but as young men with whom he shared a love of a game with a ball and two nets. Basketball was just his tool to influence and support young men to grow up to be kind, respectful adults. I loved how my friends who played for him were better people because of him.”

When asked about his own role models and favorite leaders, Faulkner says he has always tried to read as much as he can by people from as many different areas as possible. While he worked closely with and deeply respected the leadership style of Coach Dean Smith (former longtime coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), he is quick to add the caveat, “You can’t be anybody else. I can’t be Coach Smith and you can’t be me. You have to find your own way to lead, and you have to be yourself.”

For Faulkner, it’s important that players know that the leaders on his team are not the shooters making the most baskets or scoring game-winning points in the last seconds on the clock. Faulkner shares a story of a state championship game his team won by a single point. While a particular player scored only two early-second-quarter points in the whole game, Faulkner was clear with his players that those two points were just as integral to their one-point victory as any other play in the game. “I always made sure they knew everything we did was about all of us. If you missed a shot, that was us—we did that. If the team won a championship, we all did that, too,” he says. “There are different ways to lead. It’s not always the loudest guy in the room or the one with the most points.”

Coach taught us as much about life as basketball. The importance of being on time, of working hard, of doing things the right way—these were all values instilled in us by him. As I’ve told Coach, I remember my one technical foul in my career just as clearly as I do our two state championships, and I think he would want it that way. It was important to me to honor Coach in the way we did— with his name on the court and the endowed scholarship—not only given all of the success he had in his career but because it means he will continue impacting so many lives in the future like he did with all of his players.

– Ed McMahan ’93

We are deeply saddened by the death of Mr. Robert “Bob” Vernon Knight, Jr., a true visionary and the last surviving Founder of Charlotte Latin School. Bob, born on October 27, 1928, passed away on March 6, 2023, after a brief illness. He lived a full life dedicated to his faith, his family, and his incredible commitment to service. The ultimate gentleman, he was known for his gracious and thoughtful demeanor. As Charlotte Latin’s longest-living founder, Bob’s gifts, wisdom, and dedication to the school spanned six decades. From the earliest discussions around creating a new independent school in the late 1960s to a birthday celebration on campus last fall, his enthusiasm for the school never wavered. He remained an engaged supporter of all things Latin for more than sixty years.

In the Eastover neighborhood, Bob and his wife, Betsy Knott Knight, lived across the street from Frank and Janet Thies. These four felt strongly that Charlotte was ready for another independent school. Together, they engaged many friends and neighbors in initial conversations, and ultimately, those conversations led to planning sessions to open a new school in Charlotte. Bob and Betsy’s energy and dedication, along with the other Founders—Carol Belk, Patrick Calhoun, Tom Creasy, Jr., Alan Dickson, Cam and Catherine Faison, John Pender, Howard Pitt, and John Stedman—were critical to launching Latin. The Founders were keen businessmen and women and were determined to run a break-even operation, to hire the best teachers, and to pay these employees well.

The Founders understood that to attract teachers to a brand new school, investing in the faculty through desirable salaries and benefits would be critical—a progressive thought at the time and one that has enabled Charlotte Latin to be a leader in compensation among independent schools nationwide. The Founders studied financial models of the best schools in the country and established a shared vision of prudent fiscal leadership. They would pay their teachers well, without being cavalier in spending school resources.

Without any significant funding available, the group secured a bank loan with more than 700 pledge cards of potential tuition payments. When funding fell through, Bob and the other founders used their own good credit records to continue construction. Before Charlotte Latin hired a business officer, Bob became the first official “keeper of the balanced books,” working nights and weekends to help establish and balance the school’s

By Mary Yorke Oates ’83

accounts. Bob served as the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees for many terms and was an active member of the Board of Visitors until his death. In 2018, the KnightDickson Library was named in honor of both the Knight and Dickson families for their generosity and commitment to the school.

Knight’s love and dedication to Latin were evident through the decades, shepherding Heads of School, Trustees, employees, students, and parents through incredible growth and expansion. Bob witnessed every building project from the Middle School to The Nest and the Inlustrate Orbem Building to the changes on the Howard Levine Athletics Campus. During his years of service to the school, Bob saw countless campus improvements, including multiple land purchases, the conversion of the library into the cafeteria, the growth of the bus fleet, the creation of financial aid services, and the introduction of the school’s annual fund, the Latin Fund. He was delighted with the growth of the music department and rarely missed a musical. He, and the other founders, believed all students should be leaders, and he was especially pleased with the school’s continued focus on leadership today. He marveled at the growth of opportunities for all children and parents, and he never failed to thank those working hard to make it happen every time he came to campus. It is no understatement to credit Bob Knight’s sharp pencil, open mind, and sustained support of the school as one of the key reasons Latin’s operations and balanced ledger are still successful today. Bob’s legacy lives on through the thousands of students whose lives have been positively impacted by the educational opportunities he helped create.

Bob was preceded in death by his first wife and Latin Founder, Betsy Knott Knight, in 1979, and his second wife, Barbara Fehr McManeus, in 2019. Bob is survived by his daughter, Ruth Knight Gammon ’77, and her husband, Chris Gammon, of Charlotte, as well as his son, John Knight ’74, and his wife, Denise Knight, of New York, NY.

In addition, Bob is survived by his greatest source of pride, his four granddaughters: Sydnor Gammon ’07 of Charlottesville, VA; Betsy Gammon ’10 MD of Nashville, TN; Julia Knight of New York, NY; and Helen Knight, MD and her husband Zach Baca of Boston, MA. Also left to cherish Bob’s memory are Barbara’s children—Marcia Teal, Rob McManeus, Cammie Stadler, and Marc McManeus.