Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2015 announced

TEN SELECTED TO CLASS OF 2015 FOR GUILFORD COUNTY SPORTS HALL OF FAME

GREENSBOROA long-time ACC administrator and two former NFL players are among the 10 members of the class of 2015 selected for the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame.

This is the 11th class for the Hall, created in 2005, and it increases the membership to 123.

The class includes Matt Brown, managing director of the Greensboro Coliseum Complex since 1994, and former NFL players Marques Douglas and Adrian Wilson, who both played for more than 10 seasons.

The other inductees are former coaches: Bob Davidson of High Point University, Mike Gaski of UNCG, Hornsby Howell of North Carolina A&T, Bill Slayton of Southeast Guilford and Kitty Steele of Guilford College and High Point University.

Two additional selections, Fred Barakat and Walter (Tee) Frye, are members of the Legends Class, created in 2010 for posthumous induction. The first five classes included deceased inductees.

The induction will be held Sept. 21 at a reception and banquet at the Greensboro Coliseum.

For ticket information, contact Demp Bradford at demp.bradford@greensboro-nc.gov.

Biographies of the Class of 2015 follow (in alphabetical order):

FRED BARAKAT (LEGENDS CLASS)
Fred Barakat was a standout in basketball and baseball at Assumption College and was drafted by the NBA’s New York Knicks and baseball’s San Francisco Giants. Basketball was his passion and he played five years in the professional Eastern Basketball League. He joined the coaching ranks and guided Fairfield to a 160-128 record and three NIT appearances in 11 seasons. In 1981 he joined the ACC as an assistant commissioner and director of basketball officials and in 2000 became the director of men’s basketball operations, where his focus was managing the men’s basketball tournament. He retired in 2007.

MATT BROWN
In the 56 years since the Greensboro Coliseum Complex opened in 1959, it has had just four managing directors. Matt Brown has served in that role for the last 21 years, the longest tenure of the four. During that time, the facility has expanded to include several new venues including the Greensboro Aquatic Center and the ACC Hall of Champions. Under Brown’s direction, the Coliseum Complex hosts over 1,100 events per year including numerous prestigious sporting events including NCAA and ACC Basketball Tournaments, the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships, USA Gymnastics Championships and a multitude of national swimming and diving competitions.

BOB DAVIDSON
An excellent basketball and baseball player at High Point College, Bob Davidson made his coaching mark in the sports of track and field and cross country. After coaching baseball for seven seasons at Ragsdale High, where his teams won four 2-A state championships, Davidson began coaching men’s track and field at High Point in 1962. Through the years the Panthers added men’s cross country, women’s cross country and women’s track and field, and Davidson coached them all until he retired in 2000 after 38 years. His teams won 32 total men’s and women’s conference championships (18 in track and field, 14 in cross country) and he earned 21 different coach of the year awards.

MARQUES DOUGLAS
Few football players have shown more determination than Marques Douglas. After a standout high school career at Dudley and collegiate career at Howard University, Douglas went undrafted by the NFL. He signed with, and was cut by, Baltimore in 1999, played one game with New Orleans in 2000 and rejoined the Ravens in 2001, playing seven games the next two seasons. His hard work paid off in 2003 when the Ravens made him a starter at defensive end. Douglas went on to start 93 out of 123 games, recording 326 tackles, 131 assists, 20½ sacks and scoring a TD on a fumble recovery return of 41 yards. He played 11 seasons spread among the Ravens, Saints, 49ers, Jets and Titans.

WALTER FRYE (LEGENDS CLASS)
Known as “Teepot” or just “Tee”, Walter Frye spent more than 30 years as coach and athletics director at Oak Ridge Military Academy, winning a state baseball championship in 1974. In his playing days, Frye was a shortstop known for his exceptional defense. He played 10 seasons in the minor leagues, including seven in the Carolina League, where he still holds the career record of playing in 953 games. Frye was called up by the Phillies late in 1942, but was drafted by the U.S. Army and spent three years as a staff sergeant, including time at the Overseas Replacement Depot in Greensboro. In 2000 Sports Illustrated named him as North Carolina’s 50th best athlete of the 20th century.

MIKE GASKI
Mike Gaski made his mark not only on college baseball but also on international baseball. He started the program at UNCG in 1991 and coached it for 22 seasons, compiling a record of 657-540-1. His teams won three conference championships, made three trips to the NCAA playoffs, and he was named coach of the year four times. Gaski is currently serving his fourth term as President of USA Baseball. He has worked on the International Baseball Federation’s technical committee overseeing all international competition, was involved in preparation for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and 2008 Olympics in Beijing and still serves in numerous state and local sports organizations.

HORNSBY HOWELL
Hornsby Howell just kept working his way up through the ranks. He played as a lineman for North Carolina A&T and began his post-graduate career as the Aggies’ football trainer. He was named head coach in 1969 and A&T promptly went 8-1, won the CIAA title and was named Black College national co-champions. Howell coached nine years, with a record of 55-34-4, and his 1975 team won the MEAC title. He ran tough conditioning drills and believed in practicing until his team got things right. He moved on to Georgia as an assistant coach, served as athletics director at Savannah State and returned to A&T as an interim athletics director.

BILL SLAYTON
There was no tradition and little success at Southeast Guilford in the sports of football and baseball until Bill Slayton arrived in 1964. Under his guidance, the Falcons became competitive and then champions. In football, Southeast won a conference championship in 1968 and reached the state 3-A semifinals in the playoffs. His best work was in baseball, a sport he played at Appalachian. The Falcons not only won a conference title in 1969 but went all the way and won the state 3-A championship. Two other baseball teams won conference titles. Slayton also coached golf at Eastern Guilford. In 2010, the Southeast football stadium was rededicated in his name.

KITTY STEELE
Kitty Steele has been a pioneer in women’s sports since the 1970s. While a Physical Education professor at Guilford College, she became the first coach of the field hockey, volleyball, basketball and tennis teams. Moving to High Point College in 1976, she taught and coached field hockey until 1991 and women’s tennis until 1996. Her tennis teams twice finished fourth in NAIA playoff competition and won 10 Carolinas Conference titles. She was named conference coach of the year 12 times and District 26 coach of the year five times. In 2007 High Point University dedicated the Jerry and Kitty Steele Sports Center, housing athletics offices, locker rooms and academic study areas.

ADRIAN WILSON
Adrian Wilson kept getting better at each level of football. A standout at High Point Andrews, he played three seasons as a strong safety at NC State, starting 23 games, intercepting six passes and getting in on 254 tackles. Drafted in the third round by the Arizona Cardinals in 2001, Wilson went on to a 12-year career in which he picked off 27 passes and recorded 25½ sacks. He registered 721 tackles and 172 assists, returned two interceptions for touchdowns (one for 99 yards) and made eight sacks in 2005 from his spot in the secondary. Wilson was first team All-Pro in 2006 and 2009 and played in five Pro Bowls and one Super Bowl.