North Carolina High School Athletic Association
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Six Named To NCHSAA Hall Of Fame

CHAPEL HILL—Six more outstanding names in the annals of state prep athletics have been selected for induction into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.

Al Black of Spring Lake, the late Pat Gainey of Taylorsville and later Pamlico; Charlie Gregory of Randleman, Tommy Hunt of Durham, Joan Riggs of Swansboro and Don Saine of Gastonia have been chosen as the 20th group of inductees to join the prestigious hall. That brings to 102 the number enshrined.

The new inductees will be honored during special halftime ceremonies at a football game at Kenan Stadium on Saturday, October 14, when North Carolina takes on South Florida. The University of North Carolina has designated the day as the 22nd annual NCHSAA Day. The new class will officially be inducted at the special Hall of Fame banquet next spring at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill.

The NCHSAA Hall of Fame is supported by a special grant from GlaxoSmithKline. Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated is also a major corporate partner for the program.

“These individuals joining the Association Hall of Fame this year have certainly had a tremendous impact on high school athletics across North Carolina,” says NCHSAA associate executive director Rick Strunk, who coordinates the Hall for the Association. “Their records are certainly impressive, but the character they exemplified and the lives they touched are really representative of what the NCHSAA stands for. Their selection maintains the high standards of excellence established by previous inductees, and we are proud to honor these deserving individuals.”

Al Black

Al Black’s involvement in high school athletics in North Carolina came in five different decades and at a number of schools.

A graduate of Lillington High School, Black went on to Campbell College and then graduated from Wake Forest in 1951. His high school coaching career included stops at Anderson Creek (1954-59), Boone Trail (1959-75), Coats (1977-80), Topsail (1980-84) and Western Harnett (1990-93).

At Boone Trail his teams won 20 conference championships in four different sports as he compiled an 84-50 mark in football a 264-77 slate in men’s basketball and a 263-90 baseball record in addition to serving as athletic director.

A former member of the NCHSAA Board of Directors, Black coached in the amazing game that went 13 overtimes, still a national record.

Black also had a couple of stints as an assistant basketball and baseball coach at Campbell.

Pat Gainey

The late Pat Gainey, a native of Dunn, recorded a phenomenal record in women’s basketball at a couple of different stops during his coaching career and was a real supporter of women’s athletics.

A graduate of Atlantic Christian College, Gainey began his career at Lee Woodard High in Wilson County and then moved to Pamlico County for a four-year stint. His overall record at Pamlico was an incredible 93-6, and he went from there to Taylorsville, where he coached form 1955-64.

His women’s basketball teams won Western North Carolina High School Activities Association titles five times and at one point recorded 54 consecutive wins and a whopping 140 straight conference victories. His overall women’s basketball mark was 358-57, including 226-37 at Taylorsville, where his teams never lost a home game.

He also taught at Forest Hills and North Iredell. The Taylorsville gym was named in his honor and he coached the West in the 1959 North Carolina Coaches’ Association East-West women’s all-star basketball game.

Charlie Gregory

Charlie Gregory compiled an impressive coaching record in a number of sports at Randleman High School.

Gregory is probably best known for developing Randleman into a football powerhouse. He coached that sport 28 years, winning over 200 games, and earned three consecutive NCHSAA state 2-A football titles, from 1981 through ’83. He served as Randleman’s athletic director for 18 years but also coached basketball, track and golf during his stint there.

He coached in the North Carolina Coaches’ Association East-West football all-star game in 1974 and the Randleman High football stadium is named in his honor.

A graduate of High Point College, Gregory was a three-sport star at Trinity High School and played on the 1949 state basketball championship team. He is also a charter member of the Randleman Civitan Club.

Tommy Hunt

Tommy Hunt has made tremendous contributions in high school athletics as a game official.

Currently the coordinator of football officials for the Atlantic Coast Conference, Hunt officiated approximately 240 NCAA Division I football games, including 10 bowls, during his distinguished career. He also officiated football on the high school level for 18 years, including working the 1969 Shrine Bowl as well as the North Carolinas Coaches Association East-West game. He is a former supervisor of high school football officials for the Triangle Officials’ Association and earned the 2001 Joe Eblen Officials/Booking Agent award from the NCHSAA.

A native of Durham, Hunt was an outstanding athlete at Durham High and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. He has been very active in civic and community affairs. Hunt has served on both the Durham County Board of Education and the Durham County Commissioners and is a past president of the Durham Sports Club.

Joan Riggs

Joan Riggs enjoyed a career as one of the most successful volleyball coaches ever in North Carolina.

A graduate of Swansboro High and UNC-Wilmington, she returned to her high school alma mater and helped it become a state powerhouse in volleyball. Her Swansboro teams posted a collective record of 363-65 from 1974 through 1995, winning five state championships within a 10-year span and finishing as runners-up on three occasions.

Riggs guided her teams to 14 conference championships and was her league’s coach of the year 10 different times. She also coached women’s basketball, softball and track during her career.

Active in her church, Riggs helped lead the Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter at her school, where she was also voted Teacher of the Year in 1990. The town of Swansboro honored her with a Joan Riggs Day in 1995.

Don Saine

Don Saine has made enormous contributions to high school athletics in a number of different capacities, including coach, administrator and game official.

Saine earned 11 varsity letters as an outstanding athlete at Cherryville High and then went on to UNC-Chapel Hill, where he lettered three years in baseball.

He was highly successful as a coach at Dallas High and then at Hunter Huss in Gaston County. At Huss Saine won three league football crowns and coached in both the NCCA’s East-West all-star game and the North-South game, and he also earned six conference crowns as a head baseball coach.

In addition, he guided Cherryville to a state American Legion baseball title and for 22 years worked as a basketball game official.

For 20 years he served as the athletic director of the Gaston County schools. He is a member of the Cherryville Sports Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Athletic Directors Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame plaques are on permanent display in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s Hall of Fame room, located in the Simon F. Terrell Building in Chapel Hill that houses the Association offices.

THE NCHSAA HALL OF FAME

Class of 1987 (Charter Members)

Bob Jamieson, Greensboro

Leon Brogden, Wilmington

Dave Harris, Charlotte

Class of 1988

Tony Simeon, High Point

Wilburn C. Clary, Winston-Salem

L.J. “Hap” Perry, Chapel Hill

Class of 1989

Russell Blunt, Durham

Lee Stone, Asheboro

Class of 1990

Bill Eutsler, Rockingham

Harvey Reid, Wilson

Jay Robinson, Chapel Hill

Simon Terrell, Chapel Hill

Class of 1991

Thell Overman, Wallace

Frank Mock, Kinston*

Raymond Rhodes, Raleigh*

Richard “Bud” Phillips, Greenville

Class of 1992

Everette L. “Shu” Carlton, Gastonia

George J. Cushwa, Jr., Thomasville

Norma Harbin, Winston-Salem

James G. “Choppy” Wagner, Washington*

Modeal Walsh, Robbinsville*

Everett L. “Shorty” Waters, Jacksonville

Thomas H. “Toby” Webb, Albemarle

John W. “Jack” Young, Ahoskie*

Class of 1993

Frank Barger, Hickory*

Donald Bonner, Lumberton

George Whitfield, Hamlet

Class of 1994

George “Buck” Hardee, Wilmington

Doris Howard, Fayetteville

Bruce Peterson, Asheville

Homer Thompson, Winston-Salem

Class of 1995

Willie Bradshaw, Durham

Robert P. Colvin, Robbinsville

Joe Paul Eblen, Asheville

Augustus B. “Gus” Purcell, Charlotte

George W. Wingfield, Reidsville*

Class of 1996

Paul Gay, Sanford

John W. “Honey” Johnson, Elizabeth City*

Glenn Nixon, Clayton

Robert R. Sawyer, Greensboro

Class of 1997

Dr. Wiley “Army” Armstrong, Rocky Mount*

Chuck Clements, Gastonia*

David Lash, Winston-Salem*

Larry Lindsay, Wake Forest

Class of 1998

Gerald “Pearlie” Allen, Shelby

Norris “Pee Wee” Jones, Asheville

Bill Mayhew, Troutman

Dr. Craig Phillips, Raleigh

Mary Garber, Winston-Salem

Marvin “Red” Hoffman, Wilkesboro

Dr. Andy Miller, Asheville

Class of 1999

Charles “Babe” Howell, Webster

Paul Jones, Kinston

Jerry McGee, Elizabeth City

Jim Mills, Garner

Joe Mills, Raleigh

Donna Norman, High Point

Robert Paroli, Fayetteville

Class of 2000

Marion Kirby, Greensboro

Don Patrick, Newton

Hilda Worthington, Greenville

Charles England, Lexington*

Class of 2001

Jack Groce, Boone

Tom Northington, Greensboro

Walter Rogers, Roxboro

Wally Shelton, Mount Airy

John Swofford, Greensboro

Morris Walker, West Jefferson

Herb Young, Cary

Class of 2002

Cliff Brookshire, Brevard

Andrea Cozart, High Point

Bill Friday, Chapel Hill

Herman Hines, Reidsville

Bob Lee, Southern Pines

Ray Oxendine, Pembroke

Class of 2003

Gerald Austin, Greensboro

Pat Harrell, Hertford

Hoy Isaacs, Reidsville*

Raymond “Buddy” Luper, Fayetteville*

David Maynard, Burlington

Clarence Moore, Asheville*

Pres Mull, Lexington

Tom Pryor, Edneyville

Stuart Tripp, Ayden

Class of 2004

Mike Brown, Wilmington

John Clougherty, Raleigh

James “Rabbit” Fulghum, Snow Hill

Ed Peeler, Shelby

Ned Sampson, Pembroke

Dave Smith, Washington

Kathy Stefanou, Raleigh

Carroll Wright, Clyde

Class of 2005

Tim Brayboy, Cary

Jim Burch, Cary

Dick Knox, Chapel Hill

Tom McQuaid, Beaufort*

Mike Raybon, Jamestown

Class of 2006

Al Black, Spring Lake

Pat Gainey, Taylorsville

Charlie Gregory, Randleman

Tommy Hunt, Durham

Joan Riggs, Swansboro

Don Saine, Gastonia

• posthumous induction