Fayetteville Sports Hall of Fame

All inductee information courtesy of the Fayetteville Observer and City View

2026 Inductees
(capsule biographies courtesy of Earl Vaughan Jr.)

David Culbreth

Culbreth has been one of the biggest stars in local wrestling dating back to his high school years at Seventy-First when he was a state champion in the 187-pound weight class in 1987. He took over as wrestling coach at his alma mater and in 1999 fielded what many consider the greatest high school wrestling team in county history. That year the Falcons earned five individual state titles and broke their own record for most points scored in the wrestling finals, 191. They set state records for most individual champions, most top four finishers (nine) and tied the mark for most second-place finishers (three). In Culbreth’s final year as Falcon coach, his team was the N.C. High School Athletic Association dual team champ again. Following his coaching career, Culbreth moved into school administration, as athletic director at South View High School, principal at Pine Forest High School and student activities director for the Cumberland County Schools. Culbreth continues to officiate high school wrestling matches and remains one of the most respected officials on the mat.

A standout player for another Hall of Famer, E.E. Smith’s Dee Hardy, Hill was a versatile athlete for the Golden Bulls, taking part in women’s track and field, volleyball, basketball and softball before graduating in 1990. She was an all-conference pick in volleyball and basketball along with MVP in the latter. She was named Smith’s outstanding senior athlete and was eventually inducted into Smith’s Hall of Fame. Basketball was her best sport as she moved on to play for North Carolina A&T. In 1993, Hill became the first player in N.C. A&T history to win MEAC Player of the Year. As a senior she averaged 14.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and shot 52 percent from the floor. She led the 1994 Aggies to the MEAC title and played on the first team to represent the MEAC in the NCAA tournament. She was added to the N.C. A&T Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

Buddy Martin

At the age of 16, Martin had a growing love for cars and trains. Trains would provide him a profession as he worked with Norfolk and Western Railroad. He used the money from his job to purchase a 1958 Corvette that he began racing at local drag strips. It was during that time he met another young racing enthusiast named Ronnie Sox, who was incredibly skilled at the all-important drag racing talent of shifting gears quickly. Thus was born one of the greatest drag racing teams in history, Sox and Martin. While Sox handled the driving, Martin focused on securing sponsorships and growing the new Sox and Martin Racing Team. In 1975, Martin negotiated a sponsorship deal with Chrysler/Plymouth. That grew into Martin starting the Plymouth Supercars Program in 1967, which connected the brand to young car buyers and racing enthusiasts. Martin also led the charge to create a new class of racing for the NHRA, Pro Stock. The Sox&Martin Plymouths won over 30 NHRA and AHRA races, and was part of a delegation that met President Richard Nixon in 1971. Although his team dissolved in the 1980s and Martin retired, he continued to dabble in Pro Stock in the 1990s and as late as 2007 was with Dodge Stratus. He still works at his local car lot and attends Mopar Car shows throughout the country.

Bernie Poole

Bernie Poole coached some of the best basketball teams in Cumberland County history during his years at Seventy-First. He was on the Falcon staff from 1984-2006. In addition to coaching basketball, he was a football assistant coach and was on the sidelines when the Falcons earned state titles under Bobby Poss in 1984 and 1986. He also coached tennis. Poole has more than 400 career wins, with 300 of them coming during his time coaching girls’ and boys’ basketball for the Falcons. His teams won 11 of the Cumberland County Holiday Classic tournaments it played in, missing the event one year when his Falcons were invited to play in a national invitational tournament in Delaware. Poole won countless conference tournament and regular season titles along with five sectional titles, two NCHSAA Eastern Regional titles and two NCHSAA runner-up finishes. More than 40 of his former players competed at the college level and some are coaching at the college and professional level. After leaving Seventy-First, Poole coached boys’ and girls’ basketball at Jacksonville High School and served four years at Dixon High School. At Dixon, he took a team that had only won one game in the previous couple of years to the NCHSAA playoffs twice. He returned to Cumberland County and served as an assistant coach at Pine Forest and Cape Fear before joining the staff at Methodist University where he is currently an assistant coach.

Jim "Sarge" Semple

A native of Philadelphia, Semple was an Army veteran who served for years with the 82nd Airborne. He was the Fort Bragg Sports NCO during the 1950s and 1960s. He was involved in military sports at all levels, including football, basketball, baseball, fast pitch softball and boxing. He also was involved in sports officiating in the local civilian community.After retiring from the Army in 1963, he served as youth director at the local YMCA where he was involved in recreation sports for youth and adults. One of his favorite programs was summer youth day camps, especially those for underprivileged children. He became director of the local USO in the 1970s and enjoyed his love of the military and serving soldiers and their families.When professional boxing came to Fayetteville in the late 1970s, Semple served as a boxing judge for some of the professional bouts held at the old Cumberland County Arena.After fully retiring from both careers, he passed away in 1999.

Harris, a product of E.E. Smith High School and N.C. Central University, had a lengthy career as a coach at the collegiate and professional level. He coached for a few years at the local high school level before moving up the ladder. Harris coached at Duke and N.. State before becoming the first black coach on the staff of Louisiana State when he was hired by Bo Rein in 1979. Harris coached with Rein at N.C. State. After leaving LSU, Harris coached at Notre Dame and Minnesota, then served as head coach at his alma mater N.C. Central for two seasons. After that he moved to the NFL for the rest of his coaching career. Over the years he was on the stff of the Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers. Among his best players were future Pro Football Hall of Famer Curtis Martin of the New Your Jets and San Francisco 49ers All-Pro Frank Gore. A 1963 graduate of N.C. Central, Harris earned a master's degree from Duke in 1972.

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2025 Inductees
(capsule biographies courtesy of Earl Vaughan Jr.)

Curtis Frye
Frye served as an assistant football coach on the staff of Douglas Byrd coach and fellow Hall of Famer Bob Paroli. He went ton to be an assistanct at East Carolina, Florida, N.C. State and North Carolina. He carved out his greatest success during a lengthy and outstanding career as the head women's track coach at the University of South Carolina. He guided the Gamecocks to the school's first NCAA title in any sport as his women's track team won the 2002 national championship. He has coached some of the finest track athletes in NCAA and Olympic history. The list of names includes another Hall of Famer, Demtria Washington of Terry Sanford. Of the approximately 200 athletes he coached while at South Carolina, all but one earned a degree from the school. Frye also founded the Frye Foundation to increase awareness of diabetes and deal with mental health in the African-American community. His foundation host diabetes runs and fundraisers for nursing scholarships.

Bishop Harris

Bob McEvoy
McEvoy was a successful coach and athletic administrator. He started out as the men's basketball coach at Douglas Byrd High School where he took a program mired in losing and turned it into a state playoff qualifier. Eventually he landed at then Methodist College as basketball coach where he served seven seasons. In 1996-97 Methodist was 22-8, setting a school record for wins, and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight. He was honored as National Association of Basketbll Coaches Region Coach of the Year. In addition he was twice named conference Coach of the Year. He became the Methodist athletic director and held the position for 25 years. During his tenure Methodist teams earned 15 NCAA national titles and placed in the top five 15 other times. Methodist won the President's Cup for overall athletic excellence five times, including three is a row from 2013-2016. Since 1998, Methodist has won 100 league titles, more than any other conference member. McEvoy served on numerous NCAA committees overseeing various sports and was tournament director for a number of NCAA regional and national championships.

Glenn Riddle
Riddle is thought to be the only Cumberland County native who officiated men's basketball in the Atlantic Coast Conference. In 1983, he officiated games involving both NCAA men's and women's national championship teams that season, North Carolina State and Old Dominion respectively. In 1986 he was chosen to officiate the NCAA 1-A football championship playoffs at the regional level. He also officiated the N.C. Coaches Association East-West All-Star game in Greensboro as well as state championship football games for the N.C. High School Athletic Association at the 1-A, 2-A, 3-A and 4-A levels. He officiated with such greats as Lou Bello and Lenny Wirtz. Among the coaches and athletes he call the games of were Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith, Jim Valvano, David Thompson, Len Bias, Tommy Burleson, Jay Bilas, Clarence "Cornbread" Maxwell and Ralph Sampson. He also officiated high school, college and American Legion baseball. In addition, Riddle served as an assistant superintendent for both the Cumberland County and Lee County school systems.

Dean Saffos
Saffos enjoyed a long and successful career as a head football coach that saw him make two stops in Fayetteville, once as head coach at E.E. Smith from 1984-89 and later as Pine Forest from 1998-2006. He was a coach in Cumberland County during a golden era of local high school football that included contemporaries like fellow Hall of Famers Douglas Byrd's Bob Paroli, South View's Randy Ledford and Seventy-First's Bobby Poss. Saffos made other coaching stops in the eastern half of the state at Jacksonville, Wilmington Hoggard and East Columbus. While on the staff with Ray Durham at Jacksonville in 1982, Saffos helped guide the Cardinals to a state championship. He was recognized three times as the Coach of the Year in the old Mid-South 4-A Conference along with being named Southeastern Regional Coach of the Year and the state Coach of the Year by N.C. Preps. He was also won a distinguished service award from Mid South Sports. His teams made multiple deep advances into the N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs and he averaged seven wins per season during his careet.

2024 Inductees
(capsule biographies from City View Magazine)

Brent Barker
Barker was the women's basketball coach at South View High School from 1994-2021, the longest tenure of any women's coach in school history. He compiled a record 0f 557-166, making the NCHSAA playoffs 27 times. His 2006-07 team went 32-0 and won the NCHSAA 4-A championship. Barker's Tigers were led by Amber Calvin and Samantha Ramirez. Calvin led the unbeaten Tigers in scoring with 18.4 points per game while Ramirez averaged 17.1. Ramirez was the team's top 3-point shooter, hitting 65 for the season. Calvin connected on 44. Nine other times under Barker the Tigers made either the Sweet 16, quarterfinals of final four in the state.

Aaron Curry
Curry is one of the most honored football players in the history of E.E. Smith High School. While at Smith he earned all-conference and all-region, playing in the annual Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas at the end of his prep career. He was an All-American at Wake Forest and won the pretigious Butkus Award as the nation's best linebacker. He was the fourth player overall in the 2009 NFL draft. He spnt four seasons in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders, and the New York Giants. After leaving pro football he coached with the Charlotte 49ers at the college level, then the Seattle Seahawks, and is currently the inside linebackers coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Marques Murrell
Murrell was a standout defender for Jack Britt, recording 21 sacks in his final two seasons for the Buccaneers. He was named All-Region. He went on to play at Appalachian State, helping lead the Mountaineers to a pair of NCAA Division I-AA national titles in 2005 and 2006. He forced a fumble returned by E.E. Smith's Jason Hunter for the winning score in a 21-16 victory over Northern Iowa. Murrell signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He also played for the New England Patriots and in the Canadian Football League with Montreal.

Tammy Brown Tew
Tew was one of the top basketball players in a long list of stars at Terry Sanford High School. She finished her 1984-87 career with 2,644 points. Her best scoring average for a season was 18.1. She went on to stardom at Campbell University. Thirty years after graduation in 1991 she remained the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,893 points. She was named the school's outstanding female as a junior and senior. The Big South Conference honored her as its women's basketball player of the year in 1990 and 1991. She was twice named All-American by the American Women's Sports Federation. She was also a three-time All-Big South choice. In 1989 Tew led the Camels to the Big South Championship. She set a conference all-time scoring record in her senior year and hit double figures in the final 65 games of her career.

Ray Williams

Williams was an electrifying high school football player at Reid Ross High School under the coaching of fellow Hall of Famer John Daskal. In 1981, Williams led the Cougars to the state's first NCHSAA Division II football title with a 21-7 win over High Point Central. A football and baseball star coming out of Reid Ross, Williams enrolled at Clemson where he as a start in both sports for the Tigers. He turned down an offer to play at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill because the Tar Heels wouldn't allow him to play football and baseball. After a red-shirt season, Williams became a starter in both football and baseball for the Tigers. In football, he became one of only six Tigers with at least 1,000 yards receiving and 1,000 yards in kickoff returns. In baseball, Williams is one of only two Clemson players with at least 30 home runs and 70 stolen bases. He had brief stints in Major League Baseball and the NFL, playing for the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Browns. Williams died from complications of diabetes last July after receiving a liver transplant in 2016. Four years before his death he created a foundation encouraging people to donate organs. The website is www.registerme.org/campaign/raywilliams.

Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame announces new inductees (Fayetteville Observer - 2/2/24)

Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame announces its class of 2024 inductees (City View) - 2/1/24)

2023 Inductees

Courtney Willis Colborne
Willis was a star athlete at Terry Sanford High School, lettering all four years in volleyball, basketball and soccer. She was honored as the N.C. High School Athletic Association's Athlete of the Year in 2000. She went on to star at East Carolina in basketball. As a senior in 2004, she was among the NCAA leaders with 18.1 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. She left ECU as the fifth-leading scorer in school history and first team in Confeence USA. She was invted to a couple WNBA training caps but decided to play pro basketball in Europe, spending most of her career in Italy. She made the Italian All-Star game three times and twice led teams to the semifinals of the Italian championship.

Marsha Kouba
Kouba, a prolific distance runner, has run over 120 marathons and at least one in every state in the United States. In addition she’s run on all seven continents and has participated in five of the six world major marathons. She was training for her sixth major marathon in Tokyo when a hip ailment forced her to withdraw. She has competed in 13 Boston Marathons, including 2013 when the race was tragically marred by a terrorist bombing.

Rachel Yepez Rogers
Rogers was such a prolific scorer in soccer for Terry Sanford, her coach required her to kick only with her left foot after she scored three goals in a game to keep the score down. She finished her career as a Bulldog with 166 goals. She was twice named conference player of the year. She went on to star at Louisiana State. In 2007 she scored 31 points and scored 14 goals for the Tigers. She's among the career leaders in games played with 82 and finished with 33 goals. Rogers was a National Player of the Week in 2009.

LaToya Pringle Sanders
Sanders, who starred at Seventy-First High School, is one of the most accomplished basketball players, male or female, in Cumberland County history. She led the Falcons to back-to-back state 4-A championships in 2003 and 2004. She pulled down a whopping 28 rebounds in the 2003 championship game with Charlotte Vance. She was heavily recruited and chose to play for Sylvia Hatchell at the University of North Carolina. She was a key player for the Tar Heels, scoring 1,208 career points and averaging 5.7 rebounds. Pringle and North Carolina made the NCAA Women’s Final Four in 2006 and 2007. She was the 13th overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft, going to the Phoenix Mercury. She went on to play for the Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks, then spent her last six years with the Washington Mystics. In her final season, 2019, the Mystics won the WNBA title. She started all 34 games during the championship season

Gary Weller

Weller enjoyed two successful stints as head football coach at Pine Forest High School. He spent a total of 15 seasons as head coach, his stint briefly interrupted when he joined the staff of the late Ed Emory at East Carolina from 1980-82. n his 15 years at Pine Forest Weller only had two losing seasons and averaged nearly seven wins per year with a career record of 98-61. His two best records were 11-2 in 1978 and 12-1 in 1980. Weller suffered multiple serious injuries in 2004 when he was deliberately run over by a driver in a stolen van. After extensive surgery and therapy he recovered and eventually became a motivational speaker, using his incredible story to inspire others.

Kenneth "Kenny" Wilson
Wilson ended his high school career as the third-leading scorer in South View history with an average of 20.8 points. He was All-State, All-East, made the East-West All-Star game and led the Tigers to the final eight in the NCHSAA playoffs. He went on to Davidson College where he became one of the top scorers in school history. He finished his career fifth all-time in scoring for the Wildcats with 1,573 points. He played in all but one game in his career. He scored double figures in 52 of his last 56 games. He led the team in scoring his final two seasons with 17.4 and 18.3 points per game respectively. He was All-Southern Conference his last two seasons and had one of the best shooting percentages in school history, 53.4 percent.

Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame announces class of 2023 (Fayetteville Observer - 2/28/23)

6 athletes selected to be inducted into Fayetteville Sports Hall of Fame (City View Magazine - 2/21/23)

2022 Inductees

Dwayne Allen
Allen played football and basketball for Terry Sanford and was a highly sought recruit before choosing Clemson. He earned the John Mackey Award while attending Clemson as the best tight end in the nation and was named a consensus All-American. He skipped his senior year of eligibility and was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the third round of the 2012 draft. He played with the Colts, New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins, winning Super Bowl LIII with New England.

Francie Barragan
Barragan played on three state championship tennis teams at Terry Sanford High School and was ranked as high as No. 6 in the Southern Section and No. 90 nationally in USTA competition as a junior. She played college tennis at NC State and reached No. 1 in singles and doubles, helping the Wolfpack earn a berth in the NCAA tournament. She returned to Fayetteville to coach at Methodist University, earning multiple regular-season and conference tournament tennis titles. She is a member of the school’s athletic hall of fame. She served as director of tenns at MacGregor Downs Country Club in Cary and last April was hired as USTA Southern Sectional tennis service representative for North Carolina.

Leonard Sanders
Sanders, who attended Saint Augustine's and Fayetteville State, was a trailblazer in the local African-American sports community. He was the first African-American program director hired by the Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Department. He spent 34 years with the department in various leadership roles before retiring in 1974. Among the youth programs he helped organize were multiple teams in baseball, football and softball. He had close associations with a number of previous Hall of Fame inductees, including Doug Wilkerson, Arthur “Monk” Smith and Ike Walker.

Earl "Air" Harvey
Primarily a basketball player at Douglas Byrd High School, Harvey played just one season of varsity football for Hall of Fame head coach Bob Paroli. He would to on to play football at NC Central where he rewrote the school's passing record book and earned the nickname "Air". From 1985-88 he was All-CIAA four times, and the first freshman to pass for over 3,000 yards in a season. He set school, conference and NCAA Division II records for career passing completions, career passing yards, career total offense, consecutive games throwing a touchdown pass, most touchdowns responsible for and career touchdown passes. He broke 15 Division II career records and held eight Division II single-season records.

Horace Whitaker
Whitaker was a football standout, first at Seventy-First High School, and then one of the first players for the newly-created Douglas Byrd High School in the mid-1970s. He led that first Byrd team to an 8-2 record and the school’s first conference football title. As a senior, Whitaker rushed for 1,400 yards and made the East-West All-Star game. He was named the top player in the county as well as All-East. As a senior, Whitaker rushed for 1,400 yards and made the East-West All-Star game. He was named the top player in the county as well as All-East. He was also a standout in basketball and baseball, and was recruited to play football at NC State by Lou Holtz. After finishing college he entered the insurance business and became an accomplished pickleball player until his death in 2021.

Mabon Leslie "Beau" Williford
Williford became a boxer growing up in Fayetteville, earning a North Carolina Golden Gloves title and becoming National Amateur Champion in 1967. He later sparred with Muhammad Ali and founded the Ragin’ Cajun Boxing Club in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he trained numerous state and regional Golden Gloves winners. He also trained some top-rated pros, including women’s world featherweight champion Deidra Gogarty. Gogarty was the first woman appointed to the Louisiana Boxing Commission.

Sports club inducts 11 new members into Hall of Fame (City View - 3/30/22)

Fayetteville Sports Club to honor classes of 2021 and '22 in dual induction ceremony (Fayetteville Observer - 2/16/22)

2021 Inductees

Sheila Boles
Sheila Boles was a star athlete at Seventy-First High School who attended college at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. As a Seahawk, Boles was on the school's first women's basketball team, became the school's first female scholarship athlete and was the team's first most valuable player. In 1989 she became the head coach of the varsity boys basketball team at Wilmington's Hoggard High School where she won multiple conference titles and had the schools gym named in her honor. This year she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the YWCS of the Lower Cape Fear.

Alex Gaines
Alex Gaines was a soccer star at Seventy-First High School, who is best remembered as a Falcon for kicking the only field goal in the 1986 state 4-A championship game with West Charlotte, giving them a 3-0 win at Loyd E. Auman Athletic Field. In soccer, he led the conference in scoring in 1986 with 55 goals. Gaines went to to play soccer, basketball, baseball and run track at UNC-Pembroke. He was all-conference four times and all-district three time in soccer. He set school records for most goals and points in a career. He was team Most Valuable Player in 1989 and 1990. In track, he was all-conference and all-district twice in the javelin and helped the Braves to two conference and district titles. He spent 20 years in the Air Force and earned a Bronze Star for actions in Operation Eduring Freedom in 2003. He was inducted into the UNC-Pembroke Hall of Fame in 2004.

Blair Sutton Craig
Blair Sutton Craig was a tennis standout at Terry Sanford High School. She dominated the sport in the early 1990s, winning N.C. High School Athletic Association singles championships in 1990. 1991, and 1993. She went on to play at the collegiate level for NC State, where she became only the fourth player in Wolfpack history to be selected to the All-ACC team. Her senior year, 1997-1998, the Wolfpack had its most successful tennis season ever with a 16-8 record that included a trip to its first-ever NCAA regional where they lost to South Carolina 5-2.

Raymond McDougal
Raymond McDougal was both a succesful football and golf coach for Fayetteville State, working in a variety of roles for the school for 44 years. He only had losing records in three of his first 10 seasons as a football coach. He had back-to-back 7-3 records in 1975 and 1976. Three times he was named NAIA District 26 Coach of the Year and was the CIAA Coach of the Year in 1975. He had 17 all-conference players and nine NAIA District 26 All-Americans. But it was golf where McDougal made his greatest mark. His teams won 15 CIAA titles and six PGA National Minority/Division II championships. His team's second-place finish in the 2009 NCAA regional earned the Broncos a berth in the NCAA tournament, making it the first historically black college or university to compete in the NCAA finals in 35 years. In 2018, McDougal was inducted into the CIAA Hall of Fame.

Former players honor retired Fayetteville State coach Ray McDougal

Jack McGinley
Jack McGinley was a standout high school athlete in Haddonfield, New Jersey, who went to Wake Forest University to play baseball. As a member of the Demon Deacons, he played an integral role in leading Wake Forest to the 1955 NCAA baseball championship. McGinley was only 3-2 during the regular season, but everything came together for him in the postseason. He won two games in the regional playoffs and another three games in the College World Series for a 5-0 record. His final earned run average was 2.52 in 90.3 innings pitched. McGinley eventually moved to Fayetteville where he was a involved in high school coaching and later got into school administration. For many years he served as the principal of Reid Ross High School.

Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame releases Class of 2021 (Fayetteville Observer - 3/5/21)
Earl's Pearls (City View NC - 3/5/21)

2020 Inductees

Neil Buie
A 1965 graduate of Fayetteville High School, Buie has been involved in various levels of officiating since 1967. He was a baseball umpire for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association from 1967-98. He umpired five high school state championship series. He also called seven American Legion state title series plus a dozen area championships. Buie also worked at the NCAA Division I, II, and III levels calling baseball. In addition to baseball, Buie called high school football. He was involved with six NCHSAA regional championship games, two state championships, the 1993 North Carolina Coaches Association East-West All-Star game and the 1996 Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas. Buie has served as regional supervisor of baseball officials from 1998-2019 and done the same for football officials from 2013 to the present. He has won a number of awards from the NCHSAA including the Golden Whistle Award, the highest award given to officials, along with the Special Person Award and the Distinguished Service Award.

Jimmy Edwards Jr.
Better known by his nickname "Porky," Edwards was one of the most successful dirt-track racers in North and South Carolina. He began his career in the lower levels of both dirt and asphalt racing in 1975, then advanced to the popular Late Model division in 1976. Edwards claimed more than a dozen track titles and took his 400th career win in July of 2007 at the Fayetteville Motot Speedway. In 1979, he won 40 races. In 1983, he won 24 times in only 35 starts. He competed hear-to-head with NASCAR stars like Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt and David Pearson in short track competition. Edwards died at the age of 57 in 2011.

Melanie Grooms-Garrett
Grooms-Garrett was one of the most versatile and outstanding athletes in the history of South View High School. Her senior year with the Tigers, she was athlete of the year in three different sports, volleyball, basketball and softball. She enrolled at UNC-Pembroke and continued her athletic success there, becoming the only player in school history to be named an NAIA All-American in the sport of volleyball. Grooms-Garrett also played softball for the Braves was All-Carolinas Conference from 1991-92 and All-District her senior year. She returned to UNC-Pembroke to serve as head coach of the volleyball and softball teams. She coached softball for two years, nearly tripling the school's win total from the first season in her final year as softball coach. She was inducted into the UNC-Pembroke Hall of Fame in 2003.

Roy McNeill
During his stint as head basketball coach at E.E. Smith, McNeill compiled a record of 185-62. He coached from 1993-1999 and earned one Holiday Classic championship, two conference titles and three sectional championships. Those were impressive numbers considering he inherited a team his first year that went 4-22 in the previous season. He ended his career with six 20-win seasons, nine consecutive state playoff appearances and nine straight winning seasons. His prior head coaching stops included Northwest Halifax, Wilson Hunt, Lumberton and Littlefield. He was voted Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year in 1999. McNeill played college basketball at Fayetteville State and was inducted into the Fayetteville State Hall of Fame in 1993.
Brent Sexton
Sexton was a football standout at Terry Sanford High School before going on to star on the football team at Elon University. He earned All-American recognition at Elon in 1974 and was elected into the Elon Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. Sexton was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1975 and played three seasons with the organization, winning a Super Bowl ring in 1975 when the Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl X by a score of 21-17. Sexton was the third-highest player drafted in Elon history, taken in the fifth round. The only players who went higher were Rich McGeorge, a first-round choice of the Green Bay Packers in 1970 and Jimmy Smith, who was taken in the fourth round by the Washington Redskins in 1984. Sexton set an Elon record in 1971 when he intercepted five passes in one game vs. Gardner-Webb.

Bobby Spicer Sr.
Spicer, a native of Richmond, Va., and a longtime Fayetteville resident after his baseball career was over, was among a trio of players drafted by the old Philadelphia Athletics before they relocacted to Kansas City. During his high school days he played on a two-time state championship basketball team in Newport News, Va. He later played semi-pro football in the Dixie League. Spicer made appearances with teams in Lumberton, Fayetteville, Macon and Springfield before spending a number of seasons in the Pacific Coast League with Los Angeles. His best pitch was a screwball, complemented by a knuckleball and a slider. One of his teammates in Los Angeles was the actor Chuck Connors of "The Rifleman" fame. One of his best years was with Macon in the South Atlantic League in 1949 when he compiled a 30-6 record with an earned run average of 2.73. He struck out 119 batters. In his lone season in Fayetteville, 1948, he was 18-4. In 1958, he won the Rawlings Silver Glove Award for his fielding. Spicer was also a successful billiards player who competed against legends like Willie Mosconi and Rudolf Wanerone Jr., better know as Minnesota Fats. In golf he was a one handicapper.

6 tabbed for Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame (Fayetteville Observer - 1/28/20)

Fayetteville Sports Club announces Hall of Fame class for 2020 (Up & Coming Weekly - 1/28/20)

2019 Inductees

Charles Davenport
Davenport was a multi-talented athlete at Pine Forest who starred for the Trojans in the late 1980s. He played football at North Carolina State University from 1988-91 as both a quarterback and wide receiver. He earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors at wide receiver in his senior year, catching 33 passes for 558 yards and four touchdowns. He went on to play three seasons in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Once he left pro football, Davenport returned to Fayetteville, where he briefly served as an assistant football coach at his alma mater, Pine Forest. He is currently working as a football official with the Southeastern Athletic Officials Association.

Fred McDaniel
McDaniel played college baseball at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke and began his coaching career at Terry Sanford High School in 1974 as head baseball and wrestling coach and assistant football coach. In 1988, he moved into administration as athletic director at Westover High school. In 1994 he took over the same position at Cape Fear High School. He spent the final 10 years of his career as an administrator as student activities director for Cumberland County Schools. He has been a leader in the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association. He was elected to the NCADA Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2011 he received a citation award from the National Federal of State High School Associations.

Dr. Joe Quigg
Quigg was a member of one of the most famous teams in the history of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels’ 1957 National Collegiate Athletic Association championship squad. That year, the Tar Heels finished the season 32-0 and defeated Kansas, led by future National Basketball Association legend Wilt Chamberlain, 54-53 in triple overtime in the championship game. n that contest, Quigg made two free throws to clinch the win then batted away a pass to Chamberlain in the final seconds. Despite missing his senior year at UNC because of a broken leg, Quigg was drafted by the New York Knicks. He never fully healed and elected to become a dentist, settling in Fayetteville with his wife, Carol Moser Quigg. He ran a successful dental practice here for many years before retiring.

William "Nub" Smith
Longtime Fayetteville residents who saw him play still claim Smith was the greatest high school football player in Fayetteville history. City councilman Johnny Dawkins said his grandfather drove to Alabama to bring Smith to Fayetteville in the late 1940s, promising him that the Dawkins family would take care of him and get him into Wake Forest University. Smith only played two years at Fayetteville High School, under the legendary coach Bill Dole. Many argue they were two of the greatest years in the school’s football history. The Bulldogs, led by Smith at running back, won state titles in 1947 and 1948. Fayetteville beat Charlotte 39-0 and Burlington 14-13. Smith went on to Wake Forest, where he set the school’s single-game rushing record of 246 yards against William & Mary in 1949. It still ranks as the third-best single-game performance in Wake Forest history. Smith went on to play briefly for the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League.

George Vossler
Vossler, a 1930 graduate of University of Miami, Ohio, was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 1982. He was a triple threat fullback for the football team, earning All-Ohio honors. He was also a champion in the shot put. He was a three-time conference champion in the shot put, qualifying for the NCAA championships in 1929. After coming to Fayetteville, where he became a successful businessman, he became involved in officiating, calling both high school football and basketball games, as well as sports at Fort Bragg.

Marcus Wall
Wall is best remembered for his key role in leading South View High School’s Tigers to the school’s first and only state 4-A football championship when they defeated West Charlotte High School 10-7 in the 1991 North Carolina High School Athletic Association finals. Wall was the key to the Tiger offense of coach Bobby Poss with 2,501 yards and 27 touchdowns. In the championship game, he rushed 27 times for 178 yards. The game was played at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan Stadium, and Wall caught the eye of then-Tar Heel coach Mack Brown, who recruited him. Wall still ranks among Tar Heel football’s best. He’s fourth in kickoff return yardage with 2,120 yards and fifth in punt return yardage average at 27.5. In recent years, Wall has returned to Cumberland County, where he serves as an assistant coach on the staff of his alma mater, South View. This past year, he was chosen as an assistant coach on the North Carolina Shrine Bowl staff for the annual Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas high school football all-star game..

Photos

Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame inductees for 2019 (Up & Coming Weekly - 1/21/19)

Six chosen for Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame (Fayetteville Observer - 1/15/19)

2018 Inductees

Chip Bishop
Bishop was a standout athlete at Terry Sanford High School who once returned a pass interception 102 yards for a touchdown. He went on to a successful career as a coach and athletic administrator at Terry Sanford and Fayetteville Academy. He’s spent 36 years with the Academy, the last 22 as athletic director. As a coach, he won two North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association boys’ basketball titles with the school. He recently received the Chuck Carter Athletic Director of the Year Award from the NCISAA.

Jim Farthing
Farthing was a veteran coach in the Cumberland County Schools system, spending many years working at Pine Forest High School. He coached a variety of sports and was recognized in 2017 with the naming of the gymnasium at Pine Forest Middle School in his honor. He won 245 games while coaching in the same gym before Pine Forest High School moved to its current campus on Andrews Road.

Buck Melton
A graduate of old Massey Hill High School, Melton went on to become one of the best athletic officials in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. One of the best tributes was paid to Melton by former Cumberland County Schools central office staff member Glenn Riddle, who was a fellow official during Melton’s years. In a column by Bill Kirby Jr. that appeared in The Fayetteville Observer, Riddle made the following comment about Melton. “Buck was an outstanding official, a great guy and a true friend to many, many people. If there was a crucial game to be played, Buck Melton was almost always selected to be one of the officials. He was a mentor to so many beginning officials. I never officiated football or basketball, at the high school level or college level, with a better official. I will truly miss Buck Melton.’’

Lisa Monaco Wheless and Margit Monaco Hicks
This duo from Terry Sanford High School dominated the open classification of North Carolina High School Athletic Association doubles tennis like no other duo in state history. They remain the only players in the history of NCHSAA tennis, boys or girls, to win four consecutive state championships in doubles from 1977-80 when the sport was unclassified and they competed against every tennis-playing school in the state. Their final two years at Terry Sanford, under veteran coach Christine Cherry, they helped lead the Bulldogs to the team state title.

Bill Kirby Jr.: 'Sports club wants to make this a memorable night' (Fayetteville Observer' - 1/18/18)

Five chosen for local sports hall (Fayetteville Observer - 1/18/18)

Five members added to FSCHF (Up & Coming Weekly - 1/16/18)

2017 Inductees

James McLamb
In 2016, McLamb was inducted into both the Southern Softball Association of America and the National Senior Softball halls of fame. McLamb, who has had two knee-replacement surgeries, has been a slow-pitch player for more than 50 years. McLamb, 68, is a graduate of Fayetteville High School and Campbell and is a retired teacher.

Michelle Semmes
Semmes was a star at Fayetteville Academy before enjoying a stellar career for the Tar Heels from 1998-2001. In 2000, Semmes, as a shortstop was voted the ACC Player of the Year, and in 2002, she was selected to the ACC's 50th anniversary softball team. Semmes was a three-time all-ACC selection, and during her time at UNC, she set school records of career hits, total bases and infield assists. At the time, her career .355 batting average was seventy best in ACC history. She is seventh in the ACC record book in career doubles (50).

Larry Tearry
Tearry was a dominating tackle with E.E. Smith in the early 1970s who went on to star at Wake Forest. After a year at offensive tackle, Tearry was moved to center and was the starter his remaining three seasons. He was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference choice as a senior, and he was chosen in the fourth round of the 1978 NFL draft by Detroit. Tearry was a starter for the Lions before retiring after two seasons, then was a coach and administrator at multiple schools in Cumberland County.

Bracey Walker
Walker was also a fourth-round choice, picked by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1994. A 1989 graduate of Pine Forest, Walker was a defensive back at UNC and in the NFL, and his hard-hitting style earned him the nickname "Novocaine". In 1993, he was the Tar Heels' first All-American defensive back, and Sports Illustrated named him its Special Teams Player of the Year. Walker would play 12 seasons in the NFL, suiting up for Cincinnati, Miami, Detroit and two stints with the Chiefs. In 2004, with the Lions, Walker returned a blocked field goal 92 yards for a touchdown against Chicago.

2016 Inductees

Robert Brickey
Brickey first turned heads in the gym at E.E. Smith with his incredible leaping ability, which eventually earned him a scholarship at Duke. While at Smith he led the Golden Bulls to a couple of trips to the Eastern Regional tournament and one visit to the N.C. High School Athletic Association championship game in 1985. He played at Duke from 1986-1990, serving as team captain his final year and making first team All-ACC tournament. He played in three NCAA Final Fours and started the 1990 National Championship game. He has held several coaching jobs since graduating from Duke and currently works as a financial advisor in Raleigh.

Chuck Mohn
Mohn came from an era of some of Cumberland County's best high school basketball coaches that includes other hall of famers such as Len Maness, Ron Miller and Leon Brock. He retired in 2002 after 26 seasons at Pine Forest. During that time he recorded 421 wins and won eight conference or division titles. He was Coach of the Year eight times and took his 1998 team to the NCHSAA finals. Mohn sent 31 of his players to the college ranks, 11 of them to the NCAA Division I level.

Howard Ward
Ward worked for The Fayetteville Observer 41 years, the last 27 as sports editor. He retired in 1997 and later worked as golf writer for The Pilot in Southern Pines. Best known for his talents as a golf writer, Ward became one of the few writers inducted into the Carolinas Golf Association Hall of Fame in 2011. During his career, Ward covered the Masters 22 times and the U.S. Open seven times.

Demetria Washington Davis
After starring in track at Terry Sanford High School, Davis went on to become the most-honored track athlete in the history of the University of South Carolina.While at Terry Sanford, she made history in 1998, winning the 55, 300 and 500-meter dashes in the state indoor track meet. She scored enough points to win Terry Sanford the runnerup team plaque in the meet, but was not allowed to because N.C. High School Athletic Association rules require two or more athletes from a school compete in the state meet to win team honors. She won the 400 meters at the NCHSAA outdoor meet in 1996 and 1997 and the 100 and 200 meters in 1998. At South Carolina, she was a 21-time All-American, the most in school history, and a six-time NCAA champion. She was the 2002 National Indoor Athlete of the Year.

Basketball greats, track star, veteran sports editor head 2015 Sports Club Hall of Fame class (Fayetteville Observer - 1/21/16)

2015 Inductees

Leonard Black
A multi-sport athlete at Fayetteville High School in the 1950s, Black was chosen to play in the Shrine Bowl and earned a scholarship to Duke.He took part in two Orange Bowls, including Duke's 1955 34-7 win over Nebraska. Following his college years he played briefly with the Washington Redskins and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. He was one of the early leaders of the Fayetteville Sports Club and was instrumental in bringing the ACC Women's basketball tournament to Fayetteville from 1983-91.

Jeff Capel
Capel first made headlines as a high school star at South View, leading the Tigers to the 1993 state 4-A basketball title. He attended Duke and led the team in scoring as a junior with 16.6 points per game when the Blue Devils finished No. 8 in the AP poll. He finished his career with 1,601 points. After a brief pro career, Capel was an assistant coach with his father, Jeff Capel II, at Old Dominion. At the age of 27, he became the youngest Division I head coach in the country when he was hired at Virginia Commonwealth in 2002. He left there to coach Oklahoma, where he coached current NBA star Blake Griffin. Capel joined Mike Krzyzewski's Duke staff in 2011 and was promoted to associate head coach prior to the current season.

Gene Clayton
Clayton is a longtime coach and administrator at Methodist University. He was involved in athletics from 1966-85. He coached six sports at the school and won nine conference titles. He is best remembered for his years coaching the men's basketball team. He served as athletic director for 20 years and currently is the school's Vice-President for Business Affairs. He was inducted into the Methodist Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.

Garvin Stone
Stone was the quarterback on the only E.E. Smith football team to win an outright state title, the late D.T. Carter's 1967 team. He went on to star at North Carolina Central in Durham. In 1972, he lead the Mideastern Athletic Conference in passing yards and total offense and was named All-MEAC. In 1973 he was the No. 2 passer among all small black colleges. During his years as a starting quarterback, N.C. Central only lost seven games. He was inducted into the N.C. Central Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988.

Fayetteville Sports Club announces four-man class for 2015 (Fayetteville Observer - 1/13/14)

2014 Inductees

George Crumbley
Crumbley served 16 years as head of the Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Department from 1950-66. During those years he organized baseball leagues for children from little league through junior and senior league. He was also in charge of softball leagues. Other sports he oversaw included those for men and women, as well as little league football. Instructional leagues were provided for those youngsters who did not make a regular youth team. Crumbley also handled organizational meetings for the various sports, as well as field supervision.

Randy Ledford
Ledford was a star athlete at Seventy-First High School in both baseball and football. He briefly attended Clemson before transferring to what is now UNC-Pembroke to play baseball. He built Westover High School's baseball program into a top contender before moving to South View as baseball and assistant football coach. He took over the football program in 1993. Ledford guided the Tigers to the state 4-A baseball title in 1991 and took his team to the football finals twice, in 2000 and 2004. He has coached in both the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas and the N.C. Coaches Association East-West All-Star game. He is by far the career leader in football wins at South View, with a 21-year record of 178-86, including 24-15 in the state playoffs.

Thomas Pope
Pope, a Fayetteville native, joined the Observer staff in 1978 with motorsports as his primary beat, and was named sports editor in 2011. His awards for racing coverage include: the Henry McLemore Award in 2013 for lifetime contributions to motorsports journalism; the Russ Catlin Award for the best national story of 2012 in the print/daily division; the George Cunningham Award as the National Motorsports Press Association's Writer of the Year in 1994; and three North Carolina Press Association writing awards. In addition, Pope was a panelist who helped select the top 50 drivers in NASCAR and National Hot Rod Association history. He is the co-author of three NASCAR-related books, including the biography of the late Davey Allison. He is a four-time recipient of the International Hot Rod Association's Media Person of the Year award.

Gary Robinson
Robinson has been a dominant figure on the Cumberland County golf scene for years. This past year he won his seventh Cumberland County Golf Championship, the only golfer in the history of the event with seven titles. He has teamed with daughter Lauren Robinson to win the last three Carolinas Golf Association Parent-Child Championships. Robinson also won the 2007 Mid-Amateur championship.

John Weaver
Weaver is a former high school track and cross country coach who has gone on to greater success at the college level. A 1967 graduate of Seventy-First, Weaver graduated from Appalachian State and returned to Fayetteville to coach at Douglas Byrd in 1972. His cross country teams were 71-11 in dual meets and his teams won six conference titles while competing in four state meets. His track teams produced numerous confererence and regional champions along with state qualifiers. At Appalachian, his teams have men and women who have won 73 Southern Conference titles. He has had one NCAA individual champion and 15 All-Americans. He has won 42 conference coach of the year awards and three Southeast Region coach of the year awards.

Armstrong: Coach tapped for Hall of Fame (Sandspur Online/Bruce Armstrong - 1/29/14)

Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame names Class of 2014 (Fayetteville Observer - 1/6/13)

2013 Inductees

Brenda Jernigan
Jernigan was a star basketball player at old Central High School in the late 1960s under another Hall of Famer, Doris Howard. She was named the first girls' basketball coach at South View in 1972 and retired in 1996 with 200 career wins. She coached in the 1979 East-West All-Star Game. Her volleyball teams won nine straight conference titles and she once had a string of 48 consecutive conference wins. She retired from coaching volleyball in 1999. She died at the age of 53 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident

Ben Martin
Martin coached boys' and girls' basketball at the original Gray's Creek High School. Following his successful coaching career he became a principal, serving at Reilly Road Elementary School, which was eventually renamed in his honor.Martin also served 20 years as a high school basketball official. He was honored with a lifetime membership to the Fayetteville Sports Club.

Arnold Pope
A Methodist minister and former Dean of Students at Methodist University, Pope is a charter inductee in the N.C. Weightlifting Hall of Fame. He won 27 state titles and six Southern titles in the Open Division. In the Masters Division, he won the 1988 World Championship, 11 consecutive national titles, and was inducted into the National Masters Weightlifting Hall of Fame in 1998. He was a high school football official for 43 seasons, and officiated in the Atlantic Coast Conference for 13. He now serves as supervisor of officials for the Southeast Football Officials Association. He also competed in the Scottish Games as a pro for 20 years and was the North Americah caber toss champion in 1976. He was the first American to win a caber-tossing title in Scotland in 1971.

Arthur "Monk" Smith
Smith is best known for the role he played in the opening the door to a bright athletic future for some of the biggest names in the E.E. Smith community. He began work with the Parks and Recreation Department in 1946 and was responsible for developing an athletic field for the community. In 1953, he was named program director at Seabrook Recreation Center, which would one day be named after him. He organized numerous programs for young people. Some of those who took advantage of those programs included sports club Hall of Famers Jimmy Raye, Charles Baggett, Doug Wilkerson and Joe Harris. Smith left his job with Fayetteville in 1971 and moved to Pender County

Doug Watts
Watts began playing baseball in 1951 in Whiteville. He was a walk-on at East Carolina and was eventually elected team captain. He moved to Hope Mills in 1964 and coached various sports at both Hope Mills and later South View high schools. He began his work with American Legion baseball in 1966 with American Legion Post 32. Since that time, he has continued to work with American Legion baseball every summer and has helped keep the sport alive in Cumberland County. In recent years, Watts fielded the only American Legion team left in Cumberland County. His best team was 1984, when his Hope Mills squad finished second in the state to Salisbury. He is a member of the state American Legion baseball Hall of Fame.

Hope Mills area coaches selected for Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame (Sandspur Online- 1/9/13)

2012 Inductees

Howard Cheshire
Cheshire played quarterback and running back on Fayetteville High football squads that claimed back-to-back state championships in 1947 and 1948. Over a four-year varsity career, his teams produced a 35-6-4 overall record. Cheshire scored two touchdowns as Fayetteville beat Charlotte, 39-0, for the 1947 state title. He was an All-East selection as a junior in '47 and All-East, All-State and All-Southern as as senior in '48 when Fayetteville defeated Burlington, 14-13, for its second straight crown. Cheshire scored 16 of his 24 career touchdowns as a senior. He played collegiately at Wake Forest and later served as head of the Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Department.

Steve Conley
Conley is in his 25th year as head coach of the men's golf program at Methodist University. He has directed the Monarchs to 10 NCAA Division III national titles, 20 conference crowns, produced nine individual national champions and 40 All-Americans. He has been selected conference coach of the year 17 times and has been named Division III national coach of the year on four occasions. Conley also serves as assistant director and professor of Methodist's nationally respected professional golf management program.

Eddie Dees
Dees spent 25 years as softball coach at South View High School, retiring in 2007 as North Carolina's winningest active coach. He compiled a career record of 538-144 with the Tigers and took his teams to the state playoffs 23 times in 25 seasons. The 1993 South View team captured the state 4-A slow-pitch softball crown, defeating Hickory two games to one on the championship series. Dees directed South View's transition from slow pitch to fast pitch in the mid-1990s while continuing the school's success. His teams won 18 conference championships, won four 4-A East Regional titles and more than 35 of his former players went on to play college softball. Dees recently got back in the coaching game, taking over the new program at Freedom Christian Academy.

Earl Vaughan Jr.
Vaughan joined the staff of The Fayetteville Observer in a part-time role in the summer of 1972 and has been one of the state's leading authorities on high school athletics since. He was the first recipient of the N.C. High School Athletic Association's award to the media for contributions to high school athletics and in 1995 received the association's Distinguished Service Award. In 2008, he was the winner of the Dick Knox Distinguished Service Award presented by the NCHSAA and the Southern Football Officials Association. Vaughan has been honored with numerous awards for his stories on high school sports, most recently in 2010 when he received a first-place award from the N.C. Press Association for Sports News Reporting. He will be the first media member inducted into the Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame.

Howard Chesire, Steve Conley, Eddie Dees and Earl Vaughan Jr. inducted into Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame (Fayetteville Observer - 2/14//12)

2012 Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame inductees announced (Fayetteville Observer - 1/6/12)

2011 Inductees

Earl "Moose" Butler
Butler was a high school football star at old Massey Hill High School where his teammates tagged him with the nickname Moose. He was named to the National High School All-American football team in 1955 and went on to play for the University of North Carolina. He was named to the N.C. College All-Star team in 1960 and went to Pittsburgh to play briefly for the NFL's Steelers before an injury ended his professional career. He later became involved in local politics and currently serves as Cumberland County's sheriff.

Joe Horn
Horn was a star football player for another Hall of Famer, former Douglas Byrd coach Bob Paroli, when the two were at the Ireland Drive school. Horn played briefly at Itawamba Community College in Mississippi but managed to attract the attention of the NFL. He spent 12 years in the NFL, seven of them with the New Orleans Saints, where he scored a team-record 50 touchdowns. He made the Pro Bowl four times and finished his career in Atlanta. He had 603 career catches for 8,744 yards and 58 touchdowns. He was praised for the role he played in helping the city of New Orleans recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. He has frequently returned to Fayetteville in the summer to work at the Jimmy Raye football camp for local youngsters.

Latanya "Dee" Hardy
Hardy has been a local standout as both an athlete and a coach. She began her successful career as an athlete at E.E. Smith High School. Upon graduation, she attended what was then Pembroke State and is now UNC-Pembroke. She played volleyball and basketball and was outstanding in both sports at Pembroke. She was a second-team NAIA All-American in basketball in 1985 and All-District in volleyball in 1982 and 1983. She still ranks fifth in career points at the school in basketball with 1,555. After graduating, she joined the faculty at her high school alma mater where she remains today as volleyball and girls' basketball coach. She has guided teams to conference titles in both sports, and her basketball teams have advanced to the 4-A Eastern Regional tournament. This year her girls' team has already won its third consecutive Holiday Classic title and is still unbeaten in Mid-South 4-A Conference play.

Mike Stanbridge
A graduate of Pembroke State, Stanbridge joined the coaching staff at Cape Fear High School in 1972 and built the Colts into a state wrestling power. At least six of his wrestlers over the years have won state titles. Stanbridge coached Cape Fear to the state wrestling championship as a team when wrestling was still an open classification sport in 1983-84. The Colts finished second in the state the following year. Stanbridge eventually left Cape Fear became wrestling coach at South View, where he recorded his 300th career dual match win in 2001-02. His us currently the wrestling coach at Terry Sanford High School.

4 selected to Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame (Fayetteville Observer - 1/24/11)

2010 Inductees

Elmer Arnette
Arnette was a three-sport standout at Massey Hill High School, playing baseball, football and basketball. He was all-county in baseball and basketball and earned all-state recognition in football. He was a member of Massey Hill's state championship football team in 1954. Following high school, Arnette became one of the best fast-pitch softball pitchers in the county history, capable of throwing the ball at close to 100 mph. He worked for the county parks and recreation department. Arnette Park on old N.C. Highway 87 is named in his honor.

Don Clayton
Clayton is best known as the founder of Putt-Putt Golf Courses in 1954. It grew into an international success with franchises located around the world. In addition to his success in the business world, Clayton was also a standout high school athlete in football and track at Fayetteville High School and earned a football scholarship to the University of North Carolina.

Bobby Poss
Poss served as football coach at Seventy First and South View high schools. He led Seventy First to a pair of state 4-A titles, in 1984 and 1986. He took over a South View program that was one of the worst in the state of North Carolina at the time and guided the 1991 South View to an improbable state 4-A title. He left South View two years later and went on to coach at Asheville Reynolds, where he would win two more state titles. He is thought to be the only coach in North Carolina high school history with state championships at three different schools. Poss is currently retired from coaching and live in Asheville.

Ike Walker
Walker, a 1950 graduate of E.E. Smith High School, joined the Smith faculty in 1960 and became the school's boys basketball coach in 1973. Over the years, his teams consistently contended for local and state honors. In 1974, his team qualified for the final eight in the state in Greensboro. His 1985 team, led by future Duke player Robert Brickey, lost to Gastonia Hunter Huss in the state title game. The following year, the Golden Bulls reached the 4-A Eastern Regional finals for a second straight season. Walker's son, Ike Jr. is currently coach of the successful program at Jack Britt High School. Basketball was only one of the sports Walker was involved in at Smith. He also coached football and helped found the track and field program at the school. After 31 years as teacher and coach at Smith, Walker retired in 1989.

Fayetteville Hall of Fame inductee Ike Walker not big on attention (Fayetteville Observer - 2/8/10)

Clayton, Arnette, Walker, Poss chosen for sports Hall of Fame (Fayetteville Observer - 1/5/09)

2009 Inductees

Tom Austin
Austin recently completed his 29th season as Methodist baseball coach. He has a career record of 902-371-9 and is only the eighth coach in NCAA Division III baseball history to reach 900 wins.

Gil Bowman
Bowman has a 28-year record of 463-278 coaching girls' basketball at Terry Sanford. His teams have played for three state championships. He has a record of 339-36 coaching girl's tennis and 532-40 coaching boy's tennis. He has had multiple state champions in team competition, singles and doubles.

Joe Harris
Harris holds the honor of being the first Fayetteville high school football product to play in the Super Bowl. He was a reserve linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams, and appeared in Super Bowl XIV against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Rose Bowl in 1980. Harris holds the honor of being the first Fayetteville high school football product to play in the Super Bowl. He was a reserve linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams, and appeared in Super Bowl XIV against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Rose Bowl in 1980. He is a member of the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame, elected in 2000.

Reggie Pinkney
Pinkney was selected to the East Carolina Hall of Fame this year. He was an All-Southern Conference defensive back for the Pirates in 1976 and set a school record for interception return yardage with 197. He intercepted six passes that year. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the NFL draft and played five years as a pro.

Austin, Bowman among Hall honorees (Fayetteville Observer - 1/14/09

2008 Inductees

Charlie Baggett
Charlie Baggett is best remembered as one of the best scrambling high school quarterbacks in Fayetteville history.A star at E.E. Smith High School, he was originally recruited by the University of North Carolina, but he transferred to Michigan State where he followed in the footsteps of another E.E. Smith star, Jimmy Raye. He played three years for the Spartans, enjoying his best season in 1974 when he accounted for 1,713 yards and 21 touchdowns. Michigan State was 7-3-1 and finished the year with five straight wins. The Chicago Tribune named him the Spartans’ MVP that year. After graduating from Michigan State in 1976, Baggett played briefly for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League and then returned to football as an assistant coach. He worked at Bowling Green and Minnesota before returning to his alma mater in 1983 and staying there until 1992. He spent a year with the Houston Oilers and then returned to Michigan State for three years. He followed that with three tours in the NFL, one at Green Bay, one at Minnesota and one at Miami. He left Miami in 2006 and joined the staff of Tyrone Willingham at the University of Washington, where he remains today.

Luther "Nick" Jeralds
Luther “Nick’’ Jeralds was a star football player at E.E. Smith High School in the mid-1950s. He went on to play at N.C. Central in Durham from 1957-60 and was elected to the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 1987. He played briefly in the NFL with Minnesota and the Dallas Texans before a knee injury in a preseason game ended his career. He spent some time in the Canadian Football League with Edmonton before returning to Fayetteville and entering business. Jeralds became involved in local politics and won a seat in the North Carolina legislature in 1982. He became an effective and respected legislator until his death in 1992. Both the football stadium at Fayetteville State University and a middle school on Ramsey Street are named in his honor

Terry Luck
Luck was a star athlete at Massey Hill High School. He was recruited to play for the legendary Bob Devaney at the University of Nebraska at a time when the Cornhuskers were one of the best college football teams in the country. His career at Nebraska was slowed early by a knee injury. He recovered to come off the bench and lead Nebraska past Florida 13-10 in the 1974 Sugar Bowl. The following season, he shared quarterbacking duties and played in the Fiesta Bowl, which Nebraska lost to Arizona State, 17-14. In that game, Luck completed 12 of 22 passes for 90 yards. In the game’s waning minutes, Luck threw a pass to fullback Tony Davis that put the ball on the Arizona State 21, but Davis was hit hard by two Sun Devil defenders and fumbled. Arizona State recovered and ran out the clock. Luck was not drafted but managed to land an NFL contract with the Cleveland Browns, playing with them for a couple of seasons before leaving pro football and entering the advertising business.

Dwight Miller
A World War II veteran and a prisoner of war, Dwight Miller Jr. spent his entire 36-year career in teaching and coaching at Seventy-First High School. Over the years, he coached nearly every sport the school had to offer. He was best remembered for his years as the school’s tennis coach, a program he headed almost the entire time he was at the school. His final year in coaching, he was honored as conference coach of the year by his peers. Miller continued to stay active in tennis in the community after his retirement. He and his wife of 53 years, Margaret, were regulars in local tennis leagues. Miller became involved in the Fayetteville Area Tennis Association, and was recognized by that organization with its media award for his efforts to promote news about tennis. He also continued to give private lessons. Miller died in January.

Shea Ralph
Shea Ralph didn’t win a state championship while at Terry Sanford High School, but that was one of the few things she didn’t accomplish in her high school career.She led her team to two second-place finishes in the state tournament. When she graduated from Terry Sanford in 1996, she held or shared 17 N.C. High School Athletic Association records. USA Today named her its national high school player of the year. She went to the University of Connecticut, overcoming a knee injury her freshman year to eventually lead the Huskies to the NCAA title in 2000, beating Tennessee in the championship game. That year she was named the Big East’s Player of the Year, MVP in the Final Four as well as Kodak All-American. She was drafted by Utah of the WNBA, but continued problems with her knees prevented her from ever playing pro basketball. She briefly served as an assistant coach with the Springfield Spirit of the National Women’s Basketball League and then joined the University of Pittsburgh staff in 2003 as an assistant coach. She continues to work there today.

Former rivals among new Hall of Fame class (Fayetteville Observer - 2/19/08)

Ralph among five to be inducted into Hall (Fayetteville Observer - 1/11/08)

2007 Inductees

Chris Cammack
Cammack was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s baseball Player of the Year in 1969. He is among a small number of players to make the All-ACC baseball team all four years. He lead the conference in batting as a sophomore with a .429 average. He was selected to represent the United States in the World Amateur Baseball Championships in the Dominican Republic. In addition to baseball, Cammack was a basketball standout during his high school days at Fayetteville High. He was a member of the state championship teams coached by Len Maness in 1965 and 1966.

Junior Edge
Edge was a three-sport star at old Massey Hill High School. He played baseball when the school won back-to-back state titles in 1958 and 1959. But he is best remembered for his football skills, going on to play quarterback and defensive back at the University of North Carolina. He led the Tar Heels to a Gator Bowl win over Air Force in 1963 and was named first team All-ACC at quarterback. He later became a proprietor of a local bowling lanes. He is a former member of the Cumberland County Board of Education and recently has been doing radio color commentary for Terry Sanford High School football games as part of the DK Sports, Inc., announcing crew.

Dr. Franklin Clark
Clark was a member of the 1965 state championship basketball team at Fayetteville High. He played college basketball at North Carolina and has been referred to by former Tar Heel coach Dean Smith as the first true big man in Smith’s program. The Tar Heels made the NCAA Final Four all three years Clark played there, losing the 1968 title game to UCLA and Lew Alcindor. Following his college days, Clark became a successful surgeon before retiring from the medical profession to help found Dark Branch Racquet and Swim Club.

Vann Williford
Another member of the Fayetteville High state basketball championship teams of 1965-66, Williford went on to play for Norm Sloan at N.C. State. In fact, he was the first player Sloan recruited after being named Wolfpack head coach. In 1969 the Wolfpack upset heavily favored South Carolina to win the 1970 ACC tournament with Williford playing guard. He is the only Fayetteville native to be named MVP of the ACC tournament. Following college, he became one of only a handful of former Fayetteville players to reach the professional ranks, playing with the Carolina Cougars of the old ABA.

Tom Jackson
Jackson retired as girls’ basketball coach at Pine Forest in 2004 after 44 years in the sport. He spent his entire coaching career at the school, starting there in 1957. At the time of his retirement, his record of 650-391 made him the winningest active girls’ basketball coach in North Carolina. He won 14 conference championships, qualified for the state playoffs 30 times and had a winning record in 36 of his 44 seasons. He was twice named The Associated Press Coach of the Year in North Carolina. He also won three conference titles in girls’ softball and 11 conference titles in junior varsity football.

Ceremony reunites ‘Dream Team’ from Fayetteville High School (Fayetteville Observer/Brett Friedlander - 2/27/07)

Former FHS teammates top ’07 Hall of Fame class (Fayetteville Observer - 1/20/07)

2006 Inductees

John Daskal
A 1953 graduate of Fayetteville High School, Daskal had the most wins of any active football coach in Cumberland County when he retired in 1990. His 31-year record was 211-100-4. He spent most of his career at Reid Ross and Terry Sanford high schools, although he also coached briefly at Pine Forest. He guided teams from Reid Ross and Terry Sanford to the state 4-A finals. His 1981 Reid Ross team won the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A Division II state title. He worked as a hearing officer for the county schools after retiring. In 1994, he joined Mack Edwards as color commentator on the local television broadcasts of high school football games. The stadium at Reid Ross Classical School is named in his honor.

Lloyd Foster
Foster, who died earlier this year, spent 51 years broadcasting local high school football games. He began his career at WFNC and became known as the voice of Fayetteville and Terry Sanford high schools. In 1989, he began a game of the week broadcast with Mid-South Sports Inc. His final broadcast was a doubleheader as South View and Jack Britt played for the 4-AA and 4-A state titles, respectively, in 2004.

Harry Sydney
Sydney was known for his athletic skill and his refusal to give up on a pro football career. A 1977 graduate of Seventy-First High School, he played college football at Kansas. He played quarterback and running back for the Jayhawks and led the team in rushing as a junior. After college, he bounced around a number of jobs, playing in the old USFL and the Canadian league. He sent video of himself to a number of NFL teams and was picked up by the San Francisco 49ers in 1987. He was with them five years and was on two Super Bowl teams, serving as special teams captain in 1989. He played one season with the Green Bay Packers, then coached with the Packers from 1995-99, getting his third Super Bowl ring as a coach. He writes for a Packers Web site and runs a mentoring organization he founded for young men.

Donnell Woolford
Woolford was a two-way star at Douglas Byrd, graduating in 1984. He went to Clemson, where he earned All-America honors as a defensive back. This fall he was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears and spent 10 seasons in the NFL. He retired in 2000 and eventually returned to Fayetteville, where he now helps coach the semi-pro football team the Fayetteville Ruffriders.

2005 Inductees

Chip Beck
Beck was a standout golfer at the high school, college and professional levels. As a pro golfer he finished as runner-up in the Masters and the U.S. Open. He still shares the PGA record for lowest round in competition, a 59. He won four PGA Tour events and competed for the United States in the Ryder Cup three times. He was unbeaten in singles play in the Ryder Cup, and his win in 1989 over Barry Lane at the Belfry clinched the cup for the U.S. He was second in earnings in 1988 and won the Vardon Trophy for lowest stroke average the same year.

Brad Edwards
Edwards was a quarterback and defensive back on Bob Paroli's first state championship team at Douglas Byrd. He went to South Carolina, where he was an All-American and later named to the school's all-time team. He started his NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings, but his most memorable season was with the Washington Redskins in 1991. In Super Bowl XXVI, he picked off two passes and was second to Washington quarterback Mark Rypien in voting for the MVP award as the Redskins beat the Buffalo Bills 37-24. He is an assistant athletic director at the University of South Carolina.

Len Maness
A coaching contemporary of Miller's, Maness was a star athlete at Massey Hill High School and then Campbell College. He first coached basketball at Fayetteville High School, which later became Terry Sanford. Maness won back-to-back state 4-A titles in basketball in 1965-66. He later took over the school's football team and guided the 1981 squad to the state 4-A finals against South Mecklenburg.

Ron Miller
Miller retired in 2001 as the winningest active high school basketball coach in North Carolina. He finished with 624 victories and a state 4-A championship in 1993. His team that year was led by Jeff Capel, currently the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I basketball at Virginia Commonwealth. In 2003, South View named its gym in honor of Miller.

Jimmy Raye
Raye was a star quarterback at E.E. Smith High School and later at Michigan State. Since leaving the playing field, Raye has enjoyed a long career coaching in the NFL. He has been with a dozen NFL teams since 1977 and is now offensive coordinator for the Oakland Raiders. For the past three years he has put on a benefit football camp in the summer for youngsters in Fayetteville.

2004 Inductees

Leon Brock
Coached basketball, baseball and football at Stedman High School and basketball at Cape Fear High School

Young Howard
Coached football, basketball and baseball at Massey Hill High School

Raymond "Buddy" Luper
Coached football at Fayetteville High School and was athletic director for Fayetteville City Schools

Bob Paroli
Current football coach at Douglas Byrd High School who has more victories than anyone in the history of North Carolina high school football

Marvin Powell
Former Seventy First High School football standout who went on to become an All-American at Southerh Cal and an All Pro with the New York Jets of the NFL

Jerry Richardson
Owner of the Carolina Panthers of the NFL, played football at Fayetteville High School, college football at Wofford College and later played with the Baltimore Colts in the NFL

Rita Wiggs
Voted to the All-City/County basketball team along with nine boys as a senior at Cape Fear High School before being a four year starter at UNC-Greensboro and then head women's basketball coach and athletic director at Methodist College