CHAPEL HILL – The North Carolina High School Athletic
Association is proud to announce the eight-member Class of 2016 for the
organization’s prestigious Hall of Fame. The class will be the 30th honored by
the NCHSAA when they are inducted at a banquet ceremony on April 9, 2017 in
Chapel Hill.
The eight selected are chosen based on their long-term
contributions to high school interscholastic athletics in the NCHSAA or in the
parent organizations that gave rise to the NCHSAA. This year’s eight honorees
are Donnie Davis, Herb Goins, Leroy Holden, Robert “Bob” Murphrey, Mike Silver,
William “Bill” Steed, Ralph “Jug” Wilson and Marty (Pridgen) Woods.
This class brings the total number enshrined in the Hall of Fame
to 180 members.
Donnie Davis – Burlington – Hugh M. Cummings H.S.
Donnie Davis from Burlington has a long track record of
dedicated service to Cummings High School’s track team. Davis has served the City
of Burlington as Superintendent of Sanitation from 1980 until 2006 when he
retired. From 1987 until 2003 when he was named the Cummings Head Track and
Field Coach, Davis volunteered as Assistant Track and Field Coach for both the
indoor and outdoor teams. He has been a part of 26 team State Championships,
spanning from 1987 to 2016. His teams finished as state runners-up 11 times, he
coached 136 Individual Event State Champions and 30 State Meet MVP’s.
Remarkably, he has coached at least 1 state champion in the hurdles events for
22 consecutive years.
As a 12-time State Coach of the Year and 7-time winner of the
same honor in his conference, Davis has helped raise money to resurface the
track at Cummings and annually raises money to provide rings for championship
teams as well as travel funds for athletes who qualify for National High School
Championships. Davis’ love of track and field also has propelled him to work
30+ hours a week during the summer as an Associate Head Coach of the Durham
Striders Youth Organization since 1983. He was inducted into the Cummings High
School Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and was named the United States Olympic
Committee’s Developmental Track and Field Coach of the Year in 2012.
Herb Goins – High Point – T.W. Andrews H.S.
Herb Goins began his career as a head football and wrestling
coach at Northern Durham in 1969. His career took him to Guilford County
Schools where he was the head football coach at T.W. Andrews High School in
High Point from 1976-1991, winning two state championships while compiling a
record of 169-73-2. He was also the school’s athletic director for 16 years
before moving on to City/County Athletic Director positions in High Point
Public Schools, Durham Public Schools and Guilford County.
Goins has provided leadership in athletics that has given
hundreds of students the opportunity to advance their educational careers
beyond the high school level. Goins is a past president of the North Carolina
Athletic Directors Association and was named to that association’s Hall of Fame
in 2012. That same year the field house at A.J. Simeon Stadium in High Point
was named in his honor with overwhelming community support. Even in retirement,
Goins has maintained an active role in the NC Athletic Directors Association by
attending their annual meeting making himself available to others seeking
advice. He also continues to serve on the Board of Directors for the Greensboro
Sports Council and as the treasurer of the Corrigan-Faircloth Chapter of the
National Football Foundation which awards scholarships to high school football
players in Alamance, Guilford and Forsyth Counties.
Leroy Holden – Charlotte – North Mecklenburg H.S.
Leroy Holden spent 40 years working in the Charlotte Mecklenburg
Schools (CMS), with 38 of those years coming at North Mecklenburg High. He
spent 25 of those years as the school’s head basketball coach seeing his teams
win 464 games and make six regional appearances from 1984 to 1994 reaching one
4A state final in 1987. As an athletic director, Holden oversaw a
spectacular run for North Mecklenburg that saw the school reach two more state
basketball finals in 2005 and 2006 among very successful stretches for other
programs. In 2012 the school named the gymnasium in Holden’s honor.
Holden was awarded the NCHSAA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in
2008, the Region 6 Unsung Hero Award in 2007 and was Region 6 Athletic Director
of the Year in 2004. He was chosen as conference coach of the year on seven
different occasions. During the span from 1977 to 1999, Holden served as Head
Baseball Coach, Head Softball Coach, Head Tennis Coach, Assistant Football
Coach and Assistant Track and Field Coach at various stages. He was inducted
into the Western Carolina University Sports Hall of Fame in 2014 and named as
one of the NCHSAA’s Top 100 Coaches in North Carolina in 2013.
Robert “Bob” Murphrey – Ayden – Ayden H.S. & Ayden-Grifton
H.S.
Bob Murphrey enjoyed a stellar career in Eastern North Carolina,
where he served as a baseball and basketball coach at Ayden and then Ayden-Grifton
for 43 years. During his first year at Ayden he won a 1A baseball state
championship and compiled a 22-4 record in basketball as his team’s run in the
playoffs was stopped by Tommy Burleson. Murphrey went on to compile a stellar
682-327 record in basketball and was the winningest active basketball coach in
the state when he retired in 2008. His teams won three state basketball
championships (1974, 1991 & 1992) and finished second in the state in 1985.
Murphrey has the school gymnasium at Ayden-Grifton named in his
honor and was selected to the George Whitfield Hall of Fame. He has also
received the state’s highest citizen honor as he was given the “Order of the
Long Leaf Pine” award in 2006. He taught Health and Physical Education, History
and even Driver Education during his tenure as well as conducted many
basketball clinics and camps in the Pitt County area.
Mike Silver – Old Fort – McDowell H.S.
Kermit Michael Silver was born in the mountains of McDowell
County in 1953 and came to love basketball during his time at Old Fort High
School. After graduation he played four years at Presbyterian College where he
was a senior captain and was ranked among the top 10 in the nation in free
throw percentage his senior year. Upon graduation in 1975, he moved back to his
home town and McDowell High School where he took a job as biology and driver’s
education teacher as well as head women’s basketball coach.
As a women’s basketball coach, Silver’s teams compiled a 650-201
record in 32 seasons. He won a state championship in 1991, four regional
championships, 15 conference championships, 13 Christmas Tournament titles, 12
Conference Tournament Championships. Silver sent more than 80 students on to
play at the collegiate level and when he retired in 2007, he was first in wins
among active women’s basketball coaches in the state.
Not only a spectacular basketball coach, but an advocate for
women’s sports programs, Silver was responsible for beginning the women’s
softball program at McDowell in 1976, serving as the program’s head coach from
1976 until 1997. His softball teams won four conference championships and
finished second in the state in 1986-87. He also started the women’s volleyball
program at McDowell, coaching the program for three years from 1985-1987.
Dr. William “Bill” Steed – Mocksville – Davie Co. Schools
After graduating from East Carolina University, Bill Steed began
his career as a social studies teacher with Moore County Schools. Little did he
know that his decision to do so would lead to a 43-year career in public
education that would see him serve as an Assistant Principal, Principal,
Superintendent, an NCHSAA Board of Directors member, and as a Charter Member of
the North Carolina Association of School Administrators. He is one of a select
few individuals who have served as NCHSAA Board of Directors President on two
occasions.
Steed grew up in Robbins where he played 8-man football at Elise
High School and was selected to the Raleigh News and Observer’s annual All-East
8-Man Football Team in 1962. He spent 20 years as a Superintendent with Davie
County Schools, during which time he served on the NCHSAA Board of Directors as
well as the chairman of Visiting Committees for the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools on six occasions. He and his wife Marie are long-time
members of the First United Methodist Church in Mocksville and have three adult
daughters.
Ralph “Jug” Wilson – Glen Alpine – Glen Alpine H.S. &
Freedom H.S.
The late Ralph “Jug” Wilson began his coaching career as a
football coach at Glen Alpine High School in 1949. Between that time and 1973
when the school was consolidated into Freedom High School, Wilson’s teams won
four Regional State Championships (1961, 1962, 1964 & 1965) and finished as
regional runner up twice (1966 & 1967). His teams compiled an impressive
198-60-8 mark at Glen Alpine including 12 conference championships and a single
conference co-championship. He also served as Glen Alpine’s men’s basketball
coach for 15 years, the women’s basketball coach for 10 years, the school’s
baseball coach and men’s track coach winning four more conference championships
collectively. Wilson was integral in the creation of the Skyline Conference and
served many years in various administrative capacities.
When Glen Alpine was consolidated into Freedom in 1973, Wilson
coached the football team until 1983, winning three conference championships
while posting a 64-39-1 record. He was also the school’s track coach, winning
two conference titles, while serving as the school’s athletic director. Wilson
coached many football all-star games including the North/South Game on four
occasions, the 1966 NC Shrine Bowl team and the East/West All Star Game. He was
a longtime member of the Glen Alpine United Methodist Church and a charter
member of the Morganton Breakfast Optimist Club. In the summer, Wilson enjoyed
coaching T-Ball Summer Leagues and managing the Shuey Field baseball and
softball complex for Morganton Recreation Department. He was inducted into the
WNC Sports Hall of Fame and the Burke County Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
Marica “Marty” Woods – Stoneville – Dalton McMichael H.S.
Marty Woods began her coaching career in 1977 after graduating
from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro when she took a job as a
teacher and coach in Rockingham County. Her career brought her to the
volleyball court and the softball field where she built successful program
during her time at Madison-Mayodan High School and then at Dalton McMichael
High School beginning in 1989. She has coached volleyball for 36 years,
compiling a 599-254 record, her teams have posted a winning record in each of
the last 35 seasons. Remarkably in all those years of volleyball, she’s never
had a yellow or red card for unsportsmanlike conduct for herself or one of her
players. Woods coached softball for 24 years including a State Championship
victory in 1982.
Off the field, she has played an influential role in the NCHSAA
by serving on the NFHS Softball Rules committee for four years, helping to edit
the softball rules book for the nation. She won many Conference Coach of the
Year Awards and has been named the Regional Coach of the year as well as State
Coach of the Year in 2005. She was named to the prestigious Homer Thompson
Annual “Eight Who Make A Difference” list by the NCHSAA and was awarded
Rockingham County School’s Naismith Coach of the Year award in 2012. Active in
her community, she is a Sunday School Teacher, Bible School Worker, Special
Olympic Volleyball Coach and cancer survivor. When she retired from teaching in
2008, McMichael High named the gymnasium in her honor.
