VANCEBORO — West Craven High School has announced the 2011 class of the West Raven Athletics Hall of Fame, according to the New Bern Sun Journal.
Jesse Campbell may be one of the most well known, having played football at N.C. State before spending eight seasons in the NFL. The 1987 West Craven graduate headlines the induction class, which also includes Dr. Jonathan Taylor and Coach Gaye Hines.
Campbell is currently an assistant principal at New Bern High School after a great athletic career. He was a three-sport star at West Craven, playing football, basketball and running track. He helped the Eagles to the 1986 state championship in basketball and went on to become an all-American at N.C. State in football.
Taylor, now a urologist in Greenville, was a three-sport athlete in the 1980s. At West Craven, he lettered in football, baseball and basketball, earning all-conference honors his junior and senior seasons in football. In his sophomore season, the Eagles reached the 3-A state semifinals.
After graduating from West Craven, Taylor played football at Chowan College. He transferred to ECU, but instead of continuing his playing career, he focused on becoming a doctor. He attended medical school at ECU.
Hines coached volleyball and softball for more than 25 years at West Craven. A graduate of Northeastern High in Elizabeth City, Hines wind up graduating from East Carolina where she played volleyball and softball and then coached at West Craven from 1981 to 2007.
The school started its Hall of Fame in 2005. Now, in its seventh year, West Craven has already honored former NFL players George Koonce and Anthony Wright, along with longtime head football coach Clay Jordan.
At noon on Friday, they will be honored at a luncheon at The Flame Restaurant in New Bern. The new inductees will then be introduced at halftime of Friday’s football game against South Central.
