The Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame is proud to present our Hall of Fame Inductees.
2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006
2011
Bill Dooley
Bill Dooley was born in Mobile, AL in 1934. He attended McGill High School where he played football and basketball. He received a football scholarship to Mississippi State University then was all southeast conference in both 1954 and 1955. After g...
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Dr. David Esposito
Dr. David A. Esposito is the first physician to be inducted into the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame. Espostio grew up in Connecticut and was a AAAA high school All-Conference, All-State athlete. He lettered in four varsity sports, but was ...
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Sheila Boles
Born to Chuck and Vena Boles on February 13, 1954, Sheila E. Boles was raised in Fayetteville. Her interest in sports began early. She quickly became a stand out on the basketball team and was named All Conference for 4 years. She was also and avi...
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Willie Stargell
Wilver Dornell Stargell, known as Willie, was born March 6, 1940 in Earlsboro, OK. His major league debut was in 1962, as a left fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he would remain with the team for his 21-year National League Career. Beloved ...
Read full bio2010
Benjamin Bourgeois
Benjamin Charles Bourgeois was born in Ocean City, New Jersey to Chuck and Priscilla Bourgeois on October 30, 1978. By the early age of 3, he was surfing and entered his first contest at age 6. In 1986 the Bourgeois family relocated to Wright...
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Joe Miller
Joe Miller's 30 year coaching career began with stints in Georgia, Florida and at Missouri Southern University. He came to New Hanover High School in 1974 and would remain at NHHS for 20 years before becoming the Athletic Director for New Hano...
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Sherriedale Morgan
Sherriedale Morgan was born in 1934. In 1952, he captured an Amateur Athletics Union (AAU) Championship. Two years later he enlisted in the Army. While stationed in Fort Bragg, he won the Army Championship Boxing Title. After 22 years of serv...
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Terry Holland
Michael Terrence "Terry" Holland was born in Clinton, North Carolina on April 2, 1942. He attended Clinton High School where he played football, basketball, and baseball all four years. He graduated valedictorian of his class and receive...
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Brian M. Rowsom
Brian M. Rowsom, the imposing 6'10" forward from UNC-W was a 1987 second round draft pick for the Indiana Pacers. He played 3 seasons in the NBA for the Pacers and the Charlotte Hornets. With the Hornets, he scored his NBA career high of ...
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Chester McGlockton
Chester McGlockton, former NFL Pro and Clemson All-ACC defensive tackle hails from Whiteville, NC. The only freshman on Clemson's 1989 starting team, he led the ACC in sacks. He was a starter on Clemson's 1990 team that finished with a top...
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E.A. Spike Corbin
E.A "Spike" Corbin (1913-2003) began his coaching career at Williston, which was then Wilmington's black high school. In 1956-57, Spike led Williston to state championships in football, baseball and basketball. After 20 years there, ...
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George Rountree, III
George Rountree, III, prominent Wilmington attorney, civic leader and philanthropist, was born in Wilmington. Rountree went on to the University of Arizona on a combined Athletic-Academic Scholarship and played every game for the Wildcats Basketba...
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Helen Grey Smith
Helen Grey Smith is a name synonymous with golf throughout North Carolina. She was a star athlete at Southern Pines High School, lettering in Varsity basketball and tennis before attending and excelling in college athletics at Wake Forest. Hel...
Read full bio2008
Buck Hardee
George “Buck” Hardee began his life, as well as his sports career in Whiteville. In 1943, he was the sparkplug of a Whiteville American Legion team that went to the national finals. Buck compiled a .657 average for the campaign and was...
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Cathy Johnston Forbes
Cathy Johnston Forbes was born in High Point, North Carolina but spent a lot of time in Wilmington, North Carolina where her father, Johnny Johnston, worked as golf pro for Echo Farms Golf & Country Club. She started playing golf at the age of...
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Clyde Simmons
Clyde Simmons (Clyde Simmons) was born on August 4, 1964 in Lanes, South Carolina. After going to high school at New Hanover High School, Simmons attended Western Carolina University. Simmons made his professional NFL debut in 1986 with the Philad...
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Hoss Ellington
Charles "Hoss" Ellington, better remembered as a Winston Cup car owner, enjoyed a few good years as a race car driver himself. Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, he moved to Wilmington in 1961 and began racing on local dirt tracks where he...
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Wray Carlton
Linwood Wray Carlton was a famous 3-sport athlete at Wallace, NC High School. Wray scored 6 touchdowns in a single game as an All-State tailback, scored 48 points in a basketball game, and was good enough as a baseball shortstop to be offered a co...
Read full bio2007
Althea Gibson
Althea Gibson is a woman of many firsts. She become the first black athlete-male or female-allowed into United State Lawn Tennis Association tournaments. She was the first African American to win a Wimbledon singles title, the first to play at the...
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Bill Brooks
William J. "Bill" Brooks is widely credited with the establishment of the athletic program at UNCW, taking the Seahawks from their early junior college beginnings to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and finall...
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Jack Holley
Jack Holley was born on August 15, 1938, in Ashton, North Carolina, Pender County. He moved from Pender County to New Hanover County around the age of three. Jack Holley has been married for 43 years to Judy Wells Holley, and has three children an...
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Jasper "Jap" Davis
Jasper David Davis, Jr. was born on January 5, 1918 in Wilson, North Carolina, the oldest of five children. In 1937 he graduated from Charles L. Coon High School where he was a three sport athlete, playing football, basketball and baseball He atte...
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Tommy Greene
Tommy Greene played baseball for Whiteville High School then went on to become a professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1989-1995 and 1997. He pitched for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and the Houston Astro...
Read full bio2006
Leon L. Brogden
Leon L. Brogden, Sr. was born August 26, 1910 in Wake County, North Carolina. He attended Wake Forest College and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Medicine in 1932. He began his coaching career in 1935 in Edenton, NC. One year later he took...
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Meadowlark Lemon
Meadowlark Lemon, a native of Wilmington, North Carolina attended Williston High School and graduated in 1952. He is perhaps the best-known and beloved member of the Harlem Globetrotters. Known as the "Clown Prince of Basketball," an...
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Roman Gabriel
Roman Gabriel attended New Hanover High School where he made All-State in football, basketball, and baseball. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from NC State where he was a two-time Football All-American. Additionally, his collegiate accompli...
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Sonny Jurgensen
Sonny Jurgensen grew up in Wilmington, N.C. While attending New Hanover High School he played football, basketball, and baseball under Coaches Leon Brogden and Jap Davis. Upon graduation, he attended Duke University and was drafted by the Philadel...
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Wayne Jackson
Wayne Robert Jackson began his television career in Wilmington in 1954 at WMFD as host of a 90-minute afternoon talk show called "Relax with Jax". WMFD changed its call letters in 1958 to WECT. Jackson went on to work with the company fo...
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