Gerald Austin, a native of Asheville, is a retired public school administrator who has served as a teacher, principal and associate superintendent, but he has really made a lasting impact as a game official. Austin was a three-sport athlete at Clyde Erwin High School and later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western Carolina. His…
Kathy Stefanou is the most successful volleyball coach in North Carolina history. A native of Jacksonville and a 1969 graduate of Campbell University, Stefanou came to Millbrook High School in Raleigh in 1970 and has spent her entire career there. She built Millbrook into a state volleyball power and posted a career coaching mark of…
Carroll Wright compiled an outstanding record as a head football coach at several different schools during a career spanning more than 30 years, developing a reputation for turning programs around. A Swain County High and Tennessee Tech graduate, Wright was head football coach, women’s basketball coach, and athletic director at Swain from 1960 to ’67….
Kathy Stefanou is the most successful volleyball coach in North Carolina history. A native of Jacksonville and a 1969 graduate of Campbell University, Stefanou came to Millbrook High School in Raleigh in 1970 and has spent her entire career there. She built Millbrook into a state volleyball power and posted a career coaching mark of…
Dave Smith put together some powerhouse teams during a stellar coaching career. A graduate of Tennessee State University, where he played football and baseball, Smith began his coaching career at P.S. Jones Senior High, the black school in the Washington area, from 1957 to ’68, where he coached football, basketball and tennis. He then coached…
Ned Sampson is considered one of the greatest native American athletes and coaches the state has ever produced. Ned was an outstanding all-around athlete at Pembroke High who later went on to a great career at UNC-Pembroke. He captained the football, basketball and baseball teams there before his graduation in 1953 and is a charter…
Ed Peeler has enjoyed a lengthy career has a highly successful coach and athletic director, primarily at Crest High School in Cleveland County. A graduate of Shelby High and Appalachian State University, Peeler posted a brilliant 562-362 mark as a head men’s basketball coach, including two years at Mooresboro, six at Crest at Boiling Springs…
James “Rabbit” Fulghum is one of the greatest baseball coaches the state has ever produced. His lengthy career included stops at North Edgecombe and Greene Central, and he has the remarkable distinction of winning a state championship in five different decades. He earned a state basketball title at North Edgecombe in 1963 and then captured…
John Clougherty has become one of the nation’s top basketball officials. Born in Pittsburgh, Clougherty is a graduate of Youngstown State and officiated several years at the high school level, including working a state championship, before heading into collegiate officiating. He has been working in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Southeastern, Big East, Conference USA and…
Mike Brown has an impressive coaching and administrative resume, but he has also made huge contributions to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association student services program. A graduate of Durham High and the University of North Carolina, Brown coached a number of sports at various schools, including High Point Central, Garinger, Durham, Sanford Central…
