HIGH POINT– T.W. Andrews High School has created an athletic hall of fame and recently inducted its charter class.
A number of outstanding athletes and coaches are in that initial class of the T.W. Andrews hall:
Bob Boswell
Bob Boswell became the first head football coach and athletic director at Andrews when the school opened in the fall of 1968. Boswell, a native of Burlington and graduate of Elon, previously coached at Graham High where his 1965 team won the NCHSAA state 3-A championship. In his six years at Andrews, Boswell’s teams were 52-11-2, winning three conference championships and the NCHSAA state 4-A championship in 1972. His last four teams at Andrews lost only one game each season. Boswell went on to serve as an assistant coach at NC State for three years before returning to the high school ranks at Kannapolis. Boswell was head coach of the West team in the 1979 North Carolina East-West All-Star game and coached in the Shrine Bowl in 1988. Bob’s overall coaching record of 183-66-4, including eightConference Championships and 2 State Championships, makes him one of the most successful high school football coaches in North Carolina.
Ted Brown
Ted Brown is a 1975 graduate of Andrews and was a superb three-sport athlete. Ted played football three years at Andrews and started his Junior and Senior years, making All-Conference both years. He was a two-year starter in varsity basketball and made All-Conference both years. He participated in the 1975 North Carolina East-West all-star game in basketball. He ran track three years at Andrews and went to the NCHSAA state meet his senior year in the triple jump and as a member of the 4 x 100 Relay. Brown was recruited to NC State to play football and what a career he enjoyed. He was a four-year starter and the first athlete to ever be named ACC All-Conference for four consecutive years. He still holds the ACC career rushing record of 4,602 yards and the N.C. State scoring record of 51 touchdowns. His senior year Brown was selected as a college All-American, the first athlete from Andrews to be so recognized. He was a first round draft choice of the Minnesota Vikings in 1979 and played eight years with the Vikings, making the All-Rookie Team in 1979. Brown is a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (1995), The N.C. State Hall of Fame (2012) and the College Football Hall of Fame (2013).
Brent David
Brent David is a 1989 Andrews graduate who excelled in both wrestling and football. In each of his three seasons on the varsity wrestling team, Andrews won the NCHSAA state 3-A championship. Brent was an individual state champion twice (195 lbs. in 1987 and 189 lbs. in 1989) and had a 3 year individual record of 91-3. He was the Most Outstanding Wrestler in the 1989 NCHAA tournament. In football, Brent played linebacker and fullback for 4 years on conference championship teams. In both his junior and senior seasons, Brent was first team All-Conference, All-Guilford County, All-Northwest and Honorable Mention All-State at linebacker. Brent went on to play for Appalachian State where he was a three-year starter at linebacker for the Mountaineers.
Johnny Evans
During his football career at TWA, Johnny Evans helped lead the Red Raiders to a 31-3-1 record and the 1972 NCHSAA state 4-A football championship. He was All-Conference three times and All-State and All American as both a junior and senior. He played in the 1973 Shrine Bowl and the 1974 East-West All-Star Football game. In basketball, Johnny was a three-year starter at point guard, making All-Conference his senior year. In track he was a three-year letterman in the high jump. long jump and high hurdles. Evans went on to play football at NC State from 1974-1977. He started at Quarterback his junior and senior seasons and was the MVP of the 1977 Peach Bowl. He was chosen the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ College Athlete of the Year in 1978. Johnny was N.C. State’s punter four years and still holds the NC State records for season and career punting. He was named to the ACC’s 25th Anniversary Team as its punter. He was drafted in the second round by the Cleveland Browns in 1978, where he played three years and then played in the Canadian Football League three years. Evans serves as the Eastern NC Director of the FCA and is entering his 30th season as the color commentator on N.C. State football radio broadcasts.
Melvin Fair
Melvin Fair graduated from Andrews in 1971- the first graduating class to attend all three years at Andrews. He played football three years and served as Team Captain and blocking back in Bob Boswell’s single wing offense. Melvin also wrestled and in his senior year enjoyed an undefeated 29-0 season that culminated in his winning the 1971 145-pound NCHSAA state championship– Andrews’ first ever state champion,individual or team. Melvin went on to attend North Carolina A&T State University, where he served as captain of the wrestling team and was a three- time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Champion, also being inducted into the A&T Hall of Fame in 1993. Fair went on to coach wrestling at Winston-Salem State University and was named the CIAA Coach of the Year four out of the five seasons he coached.
William Hayes
William Hayes is a 2003 Andrews graduate who excelled in both football and wrestling. In wrestling, he finished as NCHSAA runner-up in the 215-pound weight class twice, with a 37-1 record his senior year when Andrews won the state 3-A tournament championship. In football he was a two-way starter in the offensive and defensive lines. Hayes’ football career accelerated when he attended Winston-Salem State University. He was a three-year starter at Winston-Salem State at defensive end and was named to the Black College All-American first team as a senior in 2007. He was drafted in the fourth round by the Tennessee Titans in 2008 where he enjoyed great success. William signed with the St. Louis Rams in 2012 and has become a valuable member of that team. Hayes was the Rams’ team nominee for the NFL’s 2013 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award recognizing a player’s off-the-field community service as well as playing excellence.
Jahmal Pettiford
This 1989 graduate was an outstanding two-sport athlete at Andrews. This defensive line stalwart in football was All-Conference for three years and All-Guilford for two, earning Guilford County Defensive Player of the Year as a junior. He was named to the All-State Team his last two years and received the Bobby Dodd Award as the North Carolina Lineman of the Year as a senior. He was selected to the Shrine Bowl, recorded three sacks in the game and was named the Most Valuable Lineman in North Carolina’s win.
Jahmal was All-Conference in track twice, winning the NCHSAA 3-A state championship in the shot put and placing in the discus in 1988, helping lead Andrews to its first of 6 consecutive 3-A NCHSAA team titles. Pettiford played football for the University of South Carolina where in his senior year he started at defensive end.
Kenny Potts
Kenny Potts is best remembered for his prowess on the soccer pitch. A 1994 graduate, Kenny started and was All-Conference all four years for the Red Raiders. Andrews won its first and only NCHSAA soccer championship during Kenny’s freshman year, going 20-0-3 and defeating South Iredell for the 3-A title. During his senior season Kenny was captain of the team and played in the 1994 East-West All-Star game, the only male soccer player from Andrews to ever play in this game. He ran track for three years participating in the 800 meter run and 3200 meter relay and was All-Conference in each for three years.
In 1992 and 1993 he scored points in the State 3-A Meet in these events to help Andrews win State Championships in track. In 1997 Kenny tragically died in an automobile accident. In his memory, Appalachian State, where he attended college, gives its male recreational participant of the year the Kenny Potts Award and the Piedmont Soccer Alliance, where he played soccer in High Point, awards an annual scholarship in his memory.
Eddie Robertson
This 1991 graduate was an outstanding two-sport athlete at Andrews. Eddie started three years on the varsity football team and played both offense and defense. In both his junior and senior years Eddie was All-Conference and All-Guilford County. As a senior, Eddie was the Conference Player of the Year as well as the Guilford County Player of the Year, making the All-State team in the defensive line and was named to the Shrine Bowl where he was selected a defensive captain. During Eddie’s years on the track team, Andrews won four consecutive NCHSAA 3-A Championships. Robertson was Sectional, Regional and State 3-A Champion as both a junior and senior in the shot put, and as a junior he was the indoor shot put champion also. Eddie signed a football scholarship to the University of Virginia, where he lettered three times at defensive end.
Felix Setzer
This 1971 graduate, who was All-Conference in three sports, was the first Andrews’ athlete ever selected to participate in the East-West all-star football game. Felix played both ways in football – guard on offense and linebacker on defense. Setzer was a shot putter in track. In wrestling, Felix won the conference championship in his weight class all three years and was the most outstanding wrestler in the conference his sophomore year and a Sectional Champ as a junior and senior. After graduating from Andrews, he attended Western Carolina University and was a three-year starter at defensive tackle for the Catamounts. While at Western he also wrestled and participated in track.
Aprille Shaffer
Aprille Shaffer was best known for her basketball ability while at Andrews. Aprille, a 1977 graduate, was selected that year to be Andrews’ first-ever female athlete to participate in the East-West All-Star game. During her junior and senior seasons, Shaffer was chosen All-Conference and was the Conference Player of the Year as a senior. She was selected to Parade Magazine’s Women’s High School All-American team as a senior. This point guard took her talents to the University of North Carolina, where she started all four years. She was All-Conference three times and a team captain for the Tar Heels her junior and senior seasons. Aprille played in the first ever ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament. She scored over 1,000 points in her collegiate career and was at one time among Carolina’s top-ten assist leaders.
Billy Sorrell
Billy Sorrell was perhaps the best baseball player to ever play at Andrews. This 1973 graduate was All-Conference for three years and All-State his junior and senior seasons. When Billy was a junior he played on the only Red Raider baseball team to play in an NCHSAA state championship series, losing to Wilmington Hoggard two games to one. The team reached the state semi-finals during his senior year. As a pitcher he had a final two-year combined Earned Run Average (ERA) of an outstanding 0.70 and batted almost .450 his senior year. Almost overlooked was his outstanding football career at Andrews. He was a two-year starter in football, earning All-Conference honors and served as a team captain on the 1972 4-A State Champions. He was selected to play in the East-West All Star Football game in 1973. Billy went on to play baseball at High Point University. He was a starting pitcher four years, made All Carolinas Conference 3 years and NAIA All-District his sophomore and senior seasons. Billy still holds the High Point University all time career records for pitching wins in a career with 39 and innings pitched in a career with 407.
Brenda Jo Thomas
Brenda Jo Thomas was the first female coach at Andrews, joining the school faculty in 1968 when the school opened its doors. During Brenda Jo’s high school years she played for the Carolina Glass Rockets, a High Point slow-pitch softball team that won the 1960 national championship. After graduating from High Point University, Thomas taught for three years at Ferndale Junior High before coming to Andrews, where she remained until her retirement in 1995. Before the NCHSAA offered women’s championships in the early 1970’s, Brenda Jo organized Andrews’ female athletes for Play Days with other schools and in district competitions. During her years at Andrews Thomas coached basketball for 14 years, (coaching in the East-West All-Star game in 1981), volleyball, women’s track, softball and tennis. She was even the cheerleader sponsor for several years.
Adrian Wilson
While Adrian Wilson was an honorable mention McDonald’s High School All-American basketball player during his senior high school season of 1998, it is in football where he made his mark. Adrian was persuaded by his basketball coach to try football during his junior year and what a decision it was. Adrian played wide receiver and free safety and had 11 interceptions his junior year. As a senior he led his team to a state playoff berth, made the All-Guilford County team and played in the East-West All-Star Football Game where he was selected the Most Outstanding Player. He went on to attend N.C State, where he started at free safety his last two years. Wilson entered the NFL draft after his junior year and was chosen in the third round by the Arizona Cardinals, where he enjoyed a 12-year career. Adrian was selected All-Pro five times and played in the Pro Bowl 3three times. He holds the NFL record for the most sacks by a defensive back in a season with eight and the Cardinals record for the longest interception return – 99 yards. The Cardinals were the 2008 NFL Champions and lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl. Adrian is the only player from Andrews to ever play in a Super Bowl.
