GUILFORD COUNTY SPORTS HALL OF FAME

The Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame will have it’s Induction Banquet at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro this Monday night, September 17th. There will be a social from 6:30 until 7:15 with dinner starting promptly at 7:30 pm.

CLASS of 2007

HAL “SKINNY” BROWN – The “Yankee Killer,” Brown played 14 years in the major leagues, making his mark during a six-year run with the Baltimore Orioles in which Brown won 56 games and developed a reputation for beating the perennial champion Yankees. The Greensboro native was later traded to the Yankees, ending his career in 1964 with the Houston Colt 45s. Brown began his career with the Chicago White Sox and the Boston Red Sox before going to the Orioles in 1955.

VINCE EVANS – Vince Evans, the former Smith High School star, played professional football from 1977 to 1995. A “prep phenom” who ran the single-wing at Smith, Vince would go on to play quarterback at the University of Southern California, where he won the MVP award at the 1977 Rose Bowl. Evans passed for almost 10,000 yards in his NFL career and ran for more than 1,000 yards. He played three seasons in the USFL before finishing his career as a member of the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders.

GEORGE FOREE – (Deceased) – George Foree was the basketball coach at High Point’s William Penn High School and Andrews High School. Coach Foree’s 1968 William Penn team won the N.C. High School Athletic Conference state 4-A title. He was an All-CIAA player in 1962 at Winston-Salem State and is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame.

BILL FURCRON – (Deceased)- Coached the Dudley basketball program for a generation, playing for four state titles and winning twice in a seven-year span from 1956-1961 with a team considered one of the greatest in high school basketball history. A team that included Curly Neal, Lou Hudson and Charlie Sanders, all of whom were previously inducted into the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame.

PAGE MARSH – A Jamestown native, Page was the 1989 North & South Champion and in 2003 was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference 50th Anniversary team. Marsh was an all-ACC golfer at North Carolina and was named the team’s MVP for four straight years. She won the N.C. Women’s State Amateur title six times and was inducted into the N .C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. Marsh is currently the Head Women’s Golf Coach at North Carolina State University where she has led the Wolfpack to six straight NCAA appearances in her first seven seasons.

MAC MORRIS – The highly successful basketball coach at Page High School, Coach Morris’s teams won three state titles (1979, 1983 and 1990). The 1983 team went 26-0 to win the 4-A State Title and the 1990 team went 31-0 and is the last 4-A team to go undefeated and win a title. His teams won more than 75 percent of their games in his long career at Page. The gymnasium at Page High School now bears his name. Since 1981, Coach Morris has been the clinic director of the N.C. Coaches Association and in 2006 he was inducted into the N.C. Athletics Directors Association Hall of Fame.

MICHAEL PARKER – In 31 seasons, Parker, the UNCG men’s soccer coach, has led his teams to six national titles and 467 wins with 20 NCAA tournament appearances without a losing season. Parker is currently ranked first among active Division I coaches in victories. In 23 seasons at UNCG, his teams have compiled a record of 355-136-18. He led UNCG to national titles in 1985, 1986 and 1987, the first coach in NCAA history to win three straight NCAA Men’s Soccer National Titles. In 2005, he was the first active male coach to be inducted into the UNCG Athletics Hall of Fame.

MIKE RAYBON – The Ragsdale Athletics Director was named to the N.C. High School High School Athletics Association Hall of Fame in 2006. Mike coached wrestling at Ragsdale from 1965 to 1984, winning three state titles, 14 conference championships and numerous coach-of-the-year awards. His teams compiled a record of 216-45-2 in matches over 20 seasons, seven of which his teams went undefeated. Raybon has also coached football, tennis and cross country and has been the AD at Ragsdale since 1995.

BOB SAWYER – The longtime coach and athletics director at Grimsley High School, Coach Sawyer remains a legend in North Carolina high school athletics. An accomplished swimmer, he was inducted into the East Carolina University Hall of Fame in 1974. In 1957 and 1959, Sawyer was the national (NAIA) champion in backstroke and was named all-American in 1959 at East Carolina. In 1996, he was enshrined in the N.C. High School Athletics Association Hall of Fame.

EMIL “EMO” SHOWFETY – (Deceased) – The late Emil Showfety was a Greensboro native who became the region’s greatest minor-league star during the heyday of baseball in North Carolina. The slugger hit 39 home runs for the Greensboro Patriots in 1949, his last year in baseball. Showfety was a Carolina League all-star in 1947 and 1948 and is probably the most popular player in Greensboro’s long baseball history. Showfety was inducted into the Elon Sports Hall of Fame in 1983 for football and baseball.

DEBBIE YOW – Dr. Deborah Yow became the first female Athletic Director in Atlantic Coast Conference history when she was named Director of Athletics at the University of Maryland in 1994. The Gibsonville native played basketball and later coached at Kentucky and Florida before entering athletics administration. Under Dr. Yow’s leadership, the University of Maryland has won 15 National Titles and she was recently named one of 20 most influential people in intercollegiate athletics by Street and Smith magazine. In 2006 she was inducted into the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame. An acclaimed author and clinician, she is the former president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

2005 Inductees and 2006 Inductees
James Atkinson, Robert B. “Bob” Jamieson, Maxine Allen,

Marion Kirby,Marge Burns, Bob McAdoo, Gerald Austin, Gene Littles

Richard B. “Rick” Ferrell, John Russell, Smith Barrier, Dale Morey,

Wesley C. “Wes” Ferrell, Anthony J. “Tony” Simeon,

Charlie Harville, Curly Neal,“Super Lou” Hudson,CharlieSanders,

Jack Jensen, Jim Paschal, Cal Irvin, Jerry Steele , Jim Staton,

and Sandra Kay Yow……

2 thoughts on “GUILFORD COUNTY SPORTS HALL OF FAME

  1. Congrats To former Chicago Bear Vince Evans! How impressed would todays high school athletes be if someone told them the legend of Vinces Evans. A Greensboro Athlete that played QB for Southern Cal, The Chicago Bears, and Oakland Raiders??

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