College Marshall Awards Jersey number 17 Sport Basketball Name Charlie Slack Positions Basketball positions | Career 1952–1956 Height 1.96 m Nationality American Education Marshall University | |
 | ||
High school Pomeroy (Pomeroy, Ohio) | ||
Conference Mid-American Conference | ||
Charles E. "Charlie" Slack is an American former college basketball standout from the Marshall University. He holds the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I record for the highest single-season rebound average when he grabbed 25.6 rpg in 1954–55.
Considered the greatest rebounder in college basketball history, he had his Marshall uniform number (#17) retired in January 2000. In his four-year career with the Thundering Herd, from 1952–53 to 1955–56, Slack compiled 1,916 career rebounds, which is third all-time behind Tom Gola's 2,201 and Joe Holup's 2,030. Additionally, Slack's effort of 43 rebounds against Charleston (West Virginia) on January 12, 1954 is the second highest single game rebound total in NCAA history behind Bill Chambers' 51. Slack owns the top four spots on Marshall's season rebounding average list with 25.6, 23.6, 22.2 and 16.3 rebounds per game. A prodigious rebounder, he also scored 1,551 points during his career.
Although he was drafted by the Fort Wayne Pistons in the 1956 NBA Draft, he never played professionally. He was, however, an alternate for the 1960 United States men's basketball team at the Olympics. Slack was also a member of the varsity football team and was inducted into the Marshall University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985 for being a dual-sport star.