WILLIE BRADSHAW

        DURHAM–North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Famer Willie Bradshaw died after a lingering illness on Monday.

        The funeral is scheduled for Thursday at noon at First Calvary Baptist Church in Durham, with visitation to start at 11 a.m.

         A native of Durham, Bradshaw devoted a lifetime of service to his city and his alma mater but was recognized nationally.  He was inducted into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1995 and then was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in 2010.

         Bradshaw was an outstanding athlete at Hillside High School in Durham and played on the 1943 football team that was unbeaten, untied and unscored upon. He graduated in 1945 and went on to North Carolina College, now North Carolina Central University, and was a great athlete there, joining the NCCU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1985, but also pitched professionally for several Negro League teams.

         He coached at I.E. Johnson in Laurinburg, Lincoln High in Chapel Hill, and at Dudley in Greensboro before going to Hillside in 1963. He served as a coach and athletic director there for 15 years, and then was the athletic director for the Durham City School system, becoming the first black city/county athletic director, until 1992.

         A former president of both the North Carolina High School Athletic Directors Association as well as the North Carolina Coaches Association, Bradshaw’s career coaching mark as a head football coach was 96-43-6, while his basketball coaching slate was 215-119 in 14 seasons. 

          He was honored with a NCHSAA Distinguished Service Award in 1992 and was involved at the national level with the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators’ Association. He is also a member of the North Carolina Central Hall of Fame. 

         Willie was also involved with several national programs with both the NIAAA and the National Federation.