Introduction of the 2014 Guilford County Sports Hall Of Fame

Today at Noon, the 2014 Class of the Guilford County Sports Hall Of Fame were introduced.
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GREENSBORO – Four football players and three golfers lead the 12-person class of 2014 selected for the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame.

This is the 10th class for the Hall, created in 2005, and it increases the membership to 113.

The football players selected are Ethan Albright, Reuben Davis, Joey Hackett and Stahle Vincent. The golfers are Larry Boswell, Roger Watson and the late Ellen Griffin.

Griffin is one of three members of the Legends Class, created in 2010 for posthumous induction. Also in this Legends Class are multi-sport player and coach Virgil Yow and tennis player Jack Warmath. The first five classes included deceased inductees.

The other 2014 inductees are former high school baseball and basketball coach Sandy Gann, Greensboro College coach and administrator Jean Lojko, and former Greensboro city council and War Memorial Commission member Dick Grubar.

Biographies of the Class of 2014 follow (in alphabetical order):

ETHAN ALBRIGHT
Albright wasn’t selected in the NFL draft, but he signed as a free agent and spent 17 years in the league with the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers. Long-snapping was his specialty, and he was selected for the Pro Bowl in that role in 2007. At Grimsley High School, Albright was an all-state tight end and also a standout in basketball. As a senior he was selected the NCHSAA Male Athlete of the Year. He played at UNC, first as a tight end and then at offensive tackle, where he made first team All-ACC n 1993.

LARRY BOSWELL
Boswell, who lives in Jamestown, won 13 Carolinas Golf Association championships, third highest in CGA history. He didn’t start playing golf until several years after college and won his first tournament in 1978. He won the inaugural Carolinas Mid-Amateur in 1981 and then won it four more times. Boswell has won CGA championships in five different decades. He has competed in 11 national amateur tournaments conducted by United States Golf Association. In 2009 he was recognized as the PGA Senior Amateur player of the year.

REUBEN DAVIS
Davis was a standout football player in high school, college and in the NFL. At Grimsley High School he was an all-state defensive lineman and also excelled in track, winning the state discus title in 1983. He played at UNC and was first-team All-ACC as a junior. Drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Davis also played with Arizona and San Diego. He was a member of the 1994 Chargers team that played in the Super Bowl. Davis played 11 NFL seasons and recorded 20½ sacks. He also returned an interception 13 yards for a TD and recorded a safety.

SANDY GANN
Gann excelled in coaching boys’ basketball and baseball at Northwest Guilford. He compiled a record of 212-145 in 15 years in basketball, winning four conference titles and five tournament championships. In his 32 seasons as baseball coach, his teams went 422-248, winning six conference titles and, in his final year as head coach, the state 4-A championship. Gann also served as Northwest’s athletics director for 22 years. A graduate of Glenn High School in Forsyth County, he played baseball at Guilford College.

ELLEN GRIFFIN (LEGENDS CLASS)
Griffin combined her love for golf and teaching by establishing a facility in Greensboro known as “The Farm.” A 1940 graduate of Woman’s College (now UNCG), she taught in the Physical Education Department until 1968. She was recognized for her work by the LPGA as its national Teacher of the Year in 1962. The LPGA also honors her with the Ellen Griffin Rolex Award, presented annually to an outstanding golf teacher.

DICK GRUBAR
As a Greensboro city council member, Grubar was instrumental in expanding the Greensboro Coliseum to over 23,000 seats and gaining support to pass the referendum to build a new downtown baseball stadium. He has been active in the community as a board member and chairman of the Greensboro Sports Commission, the Coliseum War Memorial Commission, and the Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. Grubar was chairman of the committee to establish the Atlantic Coast Conference Hall of Fame. A native of Schenectady, N.Y., he was a point guard at North Carolina for three years, 1967-69, during which the Tar Heels won three straight ACC regular season and ACC Tournament titles and made three straight Final Fours. He averaged 13 points as a senior and 10 points for his career.

JOEY HACKETT
Hackett was a two-sport star in high school and college. A quarterback at Southern Guilford, he was converted to tight end at Elon College, where he helped his team to the 1980 NAIA national championship and was named an All-American. He also earned that accolade playing for Elon’s baseball team, hitting .396 with 17 homers and 28 stolen bases as a senior. Twice chosen in the major league draft, Hackett decided to pursue a pro football career. He spent two years with the San Antonio Gunslingers in the USFL, catching 63 passes for eight TDs. He also played with Green Bay and Denver in the NFL.

JEAN LOJKO
Few people have served one school in as many capacities as Jean Lojko. At Greensboro College she has been head coach in volleyball, women’s basketball and women’s tennis; has served as athletics director and in other administrative roles, and been an associate professor of physical education. Her volleyball teams won 649 games in her 31 seasons, earning national rankings four times and regional rankings 14 times. Lojko was an all-around athlete at Western Guilford High School at UNC Greensboro. At Western she lettered in volleyball, basketball, track and tennis. She had a similar career at UNCG, playing volleyball and softball for four years and basketball for two years.

STAHLE VINCENT
After an exceptional career in three sports at Dudley High School, Vincent wanted the opportunity to play quarterback in college, although he didn’t set out to be a pioneer. That chance came at Rice, a small, private school in Houston, where he was one of the first three African-American football players. As a sophomore in 1969 (freshmen weren’t yet eligible), Vincent earned the starting job and became the first black quarterback in the Southwest Conference. He moved to halfback for his last two seasons and he gained 1,675 yards in his career, setting a school record with 945 yards as a senior. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers and played one season before a knee injury ended his playing days. He was inducted into Rice’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.

JACK WARMATH (LEGENDS CLASS)
Warmath began his tennis career on the municipal courts of Greensboro, where his family had moved from his native Louisville. He honed his game at a private high school in Georgia and went on to play at Duke for three years. Warmath won the Greensboro city championship twice and made his mark in state tennis by winning the state junior title and seven doubles titles with three partners, including three times with Allen Morris, another Guilford County SHOF member. He served as president of the Greensboro Tennis Association and ran the state tournament for many years when it was played in Greensboro. Warmath was named to the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame.

ROGER WATSON
Watson has made his mark on golf as a player, teacher, club pro and businessman. He was an NAIA All-American at High Point University. Electing to become a club professional instead of a PGA player, Watson was the head pro at courses in Lexington and Cary. He won the 1969 North Carolina Open and the 1975 PGA and 1976 Carolinas PGA titles. His best-known win came in 1974 when he won the National PGA Club Pro championship in a sudden-death playoff over all-time great Sam Snead at Pinehurst No. 2. He repeated as champion in 1975. Over the years he has founded several partnerships and developed many golf courses in North Carolina.

VIRGIL YOW (LEGENDS CLASS)
Yow grew up in Gibsonville and played basketball, football and baseball at High Point College in the 1920s, He made his mark as a coach, starting with the High Point men’s basketball team from 1933-45. He also coached baseball and football there at various times. In 1946 Yow began an eight-year stint coach the Hanes Hosiery men’s and women’s teams. He led the women to three straight AAU national championships that including a 102-game winning streak. He returned to High Point to coach the Panthers for nine more years. In his 21 years at High Point, Yow’s teams compiled a record of 315-196.

 
Previous Hall of Fame Inductees:
Class of 2005                 Class of 2008              Class of 2011
James Atkinson                Lynne Agee                 Eddie Bridges
Marge Burns                   Dr. Herb Appenzeller       Joey Cheek
Rick Ferrell                  Jeff Bostic                Bradley Faircloth
Wes Ferrell                   Joe Bostic                 Herb Goins
Louis “Sweet Lou” Hudson      Dick Kemp                  Chuck Hartman
Cal Irvin                     Danny Manning              Freddy Johnson
Robert B. “Bob” Jamieson      Bodie McDowell             Angie Polk-Jones
Robert “Bob” McAdoo           Ken Rush                   Tommy Langley
John Russell                  Floyd Lemuel “Pep” Young   Eddie Pope
Charlie Sanders                                          Maurice Spencer
Anthony J. “Tony” Simeon                                 Tripp Welborne
Jerry Steele                                             Larry Dempsey (L)                               
Sandra Kay Yow                                           Claude Manzi (L)
                                                         John Morris (L)

Class of 2006 Class of 2009 Class of 2012 Maxine Allen Nelson Bobb Herk DeGraw Gerald Austin Dick Culler Woody Gibson Smith Barrier Johnny Evans Dino Hackett Charlie Harvell Bill Hayes Julia Ann Holt Jack Jensen Doug Henderson, Sr. Torry Holt Marion Kirby Haywood Jeffires John Inman Gene Littles Sammy Johnson Zack Osborne Dale Morey Allen Morris Wayne Robinson Curly Neal Siri Mullinix Marty Sheets Jim Paschal Rich Brenner (L) Jim Statton, Jr.
Class of 2007 Class of 2010 Class of 2013 Hal “Skinny” Brown Don Corbett Ted Brown Vince Evans Jeff Davis Wilt Browning George Foree Otis Foster, Jr. Gayle Currie Bill Furcron Sharron Frahm Woody Durham Page Marsh Stuart Maynard Ken Free Mac Morris Donald Moore Wade Garrett Michael Parker Benny Phillips Bill Harvey Mike Raybon C.K. Siler Tom Martin Bob Sawyer Irwin Smallwood Jane Preyer Emil “Emo” Showfety Fred Whitfield Jim Winstead Debbie Yow Joseph M. Bryan, Sr. (L) Jesse Morgan “Rube” Eldridge (L) Bob Doss (L) Hunter H. Galloway, Jr. (L) Bill White (L) Ralph Hodgin (L)
(L)- Denotes Hall of Fame Legend