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
