The late Buddy Luper was one of the state’s most respected coaches during his outstanding career, coaching football, basketball, track and golf. Luper won nine varsity letters at Rocky Mount Senior as an athlete and then had an excellent football career at Duke. After three years as football coach and athletic director at Hickory, Luper…
The late Hoy Isaacs compiled a brilliant record in several sports, with two years at Statesville High School and then a phenomenal 37-year career at Reidsville. A native of Watauga County and a1943 graduate of Appalachian State Teachers College, Isaacs led his Reidsville basketball teams to 640 victories against just 285 losses. His 1973 squad…
Pat Harrell has had a distinguished career in education, primarily as an outstanding administrator in a number of different school systems. A 1961 graduate of East Carolina University, Harrell was a teacher and coach at the high school level before moving into administration. Among his tenures as a superintendent were from 1976-88 as head of…
Gerald Austin, a native of Asheville, is a retired public school administrator who has served as a teacher, principal and associate superintendent, but he has really made a lasting impact as a game official. Austin was a three-sport athlete at Clyde Erwin High School and later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western Carolina. His…
Kathy Stefanou is the most successful volleyball coach in North Carolina history. A native of Jacksonville and a 1969 graduate of Campbell University, Stefanou came to Millbrook High School in Raleigh in 1970 and has spent her entire career there. She built Millbrook into a state volleyball power and posted a career coaching mark of…
Carroll Wright compiled an outstanding record as a head football coach at several different schools during a career spanning more than 30 years, developing a reputation for turning programs around. A Swain County High and Tennessee Tech graduate, Wright was head football coach, women’s basketball coach, and athletic director at Swain from 1960 to ’67….
Kathy Stefanou is the most successful volleyball coach in North Carolina history. A native of Jacksonville and a 1969 graduate of Campbell University, Stefanou came to Millbrook High School in Raleigh in 1970 and has spent her entire career there. She built Millbrook into a state volleyball power and posted a career coaching mark of…
Dave Smith put together some powerhouse teams during a stellar coaching career. A graduate of Tennessee State University, where he played football and baseball, Smith began his coaching career at P.S. Jones Senior High, the black school in the Washington area, from 1957 to ’68, where he coached football, basketball and tennis. He then coached…
Ned Sampson is considered one of the greatest native American athletes and coaches the state has ever produced. Ned was an outstanding all-around athlete at Pembroke High who later went on to a great career at UNC-Pembroke. He captained the football, basketball and baseball teams there before his graduation in 1953 and is a charter…
Ed Peeler has enjoyed a lengthy career has a highly successful coach and athletic director, primarily at Crest High School in Cleveland County. A graduate of Shelby High and Appalachian State University, Peeler posted a brilliant 562-362 mark as a head men’s basketball coach, including two years at Mooresboro, six at Crest at Boiling Springs…
