Larry dempsey, Sr.

(1928-2005)

Although best known for his amateur golf career, Larry Dempsey was an outstanding all-around athlete. Dempsey played football, basketball, baseball and golf at Greensboro Senior High and was a two-time all-state player in football and played in the 1946 Shrine Bowl. Dempsey attended Guilford College and lettered in four sports there in 1948. Dempsey played baseball from 1949-1953 for New Bern and Greensboro and was named the youngest manager in league history at the age of 21. As a golfer, Dempsey was low amateur in the GGO twice and tied another time, and was a member of four straight Carolinas Golf Association teams in the 1950s. Dempsey won three city championships, 11 Club Championships and six Senior Club Championships at Starmount Forest Country Club, along with several other club championships in the city.

claude manzi

(1920-1994)

The first football coach at Smith High School in 1963, Claude Manzi built a program that turned out the likes of future NFL players Vince Evans, Joe Bostic and Jeff Bostic. Manzi’s teams ran the single wing offense well into the 1970s. Manzi coached 15 years compiling a record of 90-11-6 and advancing to the state playoffs four times and winning eight city championships. In 1973, Manzi’s Eagles played in the 4-A State Championship Game against Sanford. He served as Athletic Director from 1977-88. The football stadium at Smith was named in his honor in 1984. Manzi was a graduate of Elon, where he played football and named Little All-American, Most Valuable Player, and All-Conference Guard in 1946. Manzi was instrumental in the formation of the North Carolina Coaches Association and served as the Executive Secretary. Manzi was a decorated veteran of World War II and participated in the D-Day invasion at Normandy.

john morris

(1936-1984)

A native of Hertford, Morris made his mark in Guilford County from 1974-84. Morris was the Head Football Coach and Athletics Director at T.W. Andrews from 1974-76, winning a conference championship in 1975. Morris played football and baseball at Duke. During his coaching career, Morris compiled a record of 120-58-6 at Roxboro, Reidsville, and Andrews winning seven conference titles, and District Coach of the Year eight times and 1965 Coach of the East/West All-Star Game. Morris, a diabetic since the age of 12, had to give up coaching in 1976 when health complications forced him to have both legs amputated. Morris was named Athletic Director for the High Point City Schools from 1976 until his death at age 48 in 1984. Morris was recognized as an outstanding coach and an outstanding leader as an administrator receiving the National Federation Citation as one of six outstanding high school athletic administrators in the country in 1976.

eddie bridges

(1933-2021)

Eddie Bridges has worked tirelessly as an advocate for wildlife conservation and outdoor sports. A 1957 graduate of Elon, where he played football and ran track, Bridges made Greensboro his home in the late 1950s where he owned and operated Carolina Athletic Supply for over 25 years. In 1975, Bridges designed the world’s first camouflage chest waders for Converse Rubber Company. Bridges served on the State Wildlife Resources Commission from 1977-89, rewriting the state gaming laws among other accomplishments. Bridges proposed and founded the Wildlife Endowment Fund, which sells lifetime hunting and fishing licenses. He founded and currently serves as Executive Director of the N.C. Habitat Foundation, which acquires and preserves open spaces for wildlife. The contributions of Bridges to the wildlife and conservation community have earned him numerous national and state awards including being named the National Budweiser Conservationist of the Year in 2004.

joey cheek

Joey Cheek, a Dudley High School graduate, burst onto the speed skating scene in 2002, winning an Olympic bronze medal in the 1,000 meters at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. Cheek took his performance to a higher level at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy where he won the silver medal in the 1,000 and won the gold medal in the 500. Cheek’s Olympic peers chose him to carry the U.S. flag in the closing ceremonies and he was awarded the US Olympic Committee Spirit Award. Cheek is the winner of 20 international World Cup and World Championship medals. Cheek is the co-founder and president of Team Darfur, an international coalition of athletes committed to raising awareness of the crisis in Darfur, Sudan and for those efforts received the Inaugural Heisman Trophy Humanitarian Award and was named to the Time 100 Most Influential People in 2006. A 2011 graduate of Princeton University, Cheek is the founder of www.dailyhouse.com.

bradley faircloth

(1929-2012)

As a competitive athlete, Bradley Faircloth played football and basketball at Greensboro Senior High before going to Duke and playing freshman football in 1948. Faircloth is still regarded as one of the top officials and holds the distinction of working a state championship in football, basketball, and baseball and the 1965 Shrine Bowl. Faircloth worked as an official for 25 years, including 17 with the ACC, and called more than 200 games, including the 1983 Cotton Bowl and several other bowl games. In 1983, Faircloth became the ACC Supervisor of Football Officials and served in that capacity through 1998 while also handling Associate Commissioner duties. Faircloth was the 1964 General Chairman of the Greater Greensboro Open, 1970 Sports Council President, a founder of the Little Four Invitational and Chairman of the Host Committee for the 1974 NCAA Basketball Championship. Faircloth has won many civic and national awards and is a member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.

herb goins

Andrews High School in High Point enjoyed a tremendous run in football under the 16-year guidance of coach Herb Goins, winning the State 4-A Championship in 1976 and the 3-A title in 1991. In 21 years as head coach, Goins compiled an overall record of 169-73-4 between Andrews and Northern Durham, winning 15 conference championships. Goins was head coach of the North Carolina Shrine Bowl team in 1985. While coaching, Goins also served as the Athletic Director at both Andrews and Northern Durham. After leaving coaching, Goins served as a district-wide Athletic Director for 17 years, the last 12 as the Athletic Director for the Guilford County Schools, retiring in 2008. Goins was Most Valuable Player in football at Myers Park High School in Charlotte prior to becoming a three-time letterman and two-year starter at guard for the Duke Blue Devils.

chuck hartman

(1934-2020)

Chuck Hartman played baseball and soccer at the University of North Carolina from 1955-1957. Coach Hartman was instrumental in the success of the baseball program at High Point College where during his 19 seasons the Panthers won 10 Carolinas Conference championships, five NAIA district titles and made appearances in two NAIA national tournaments. On the way to a 483-225 record at High Point, Hartman was named conference and District 26 coach of the year numerous times and NAIA national coach of the year in 1976. In 1978, Hartman was named the Head Coach at Virginia Tech and coached the Hokies for 25 years with a record of 961-591-8. The Hokies won four conference championships and made four NCAA Regional appearances under Hartman. Hartman is fifth in all-time victories for NCAA Division I coaches and is a member of six different hall of fames.

freddy johnson

A graduate of Grimsley, Freddy Johnson played basketball at Greensboro College under Coach Milton Reece in 1974 and 1975 but always had his eye on coaching. Few high school coaches can match the success of Freddy Johnson of the Greensboro Day School. During his 33 years as boy’s basketball coach and athletics director, Johnson’s teams have won 802 games, 21 PACIS conference titles and appeared in 13 state championship games and won seven NCISAA State titles. Under Johnson’s leadership, Bengal teams have won nine Pizza Hut/Little Four Invitational tournament championships including a record four in a row from 2005-2008. In addition, Johnson has coached the AAU North Carolina Gaters, placing second in the 10-under national tournament in 1997 and fourth in the 12-under tournament in 1999. Johnson has coached in three All-Star games. Johnson was inducted into the Greensboro College Hall of Fame in 2009.

angie polk-jones

A three sport letter-winner in volleyball, softball, and basketball, Angie Polk-Jones led the Grimsley Whirlies to the 1985 NCHSAA State Softball Championship. Perhaps the top women’s basketball player in history at UNC Greensboro, Polk-Jones remains the Spartans’ all-time leading scorer with 1,585 points and led her teams to a 93-22 record in four years. An All-American, Polk-Jones was the school’s first athlete to have a jersey retired (1989) and was a member of the team which reached the NCAA Division III Final Four in 1988. Polk-Jones was head girls’ basketball coach at Grimsley for eight years and an assistant coach at UNCG for three seasons. Since 1990, Polk-Jones has had a distinguished career in Guilford County education. Polk-Jones currently is principal of the new Middle College High School at UNCG.

tommy langley

(1932-2021)

For nearly 60 years, Tommy Langley of High Point has been making his mark on amateur golf. Langley’s first title came in 1948 and the last one happened in 2006, when he won the Senior Pine Needles 4-Ball championship. In between, Langley racked up numerous championships, including the Southern Conference individual title in 1952 with North Carolina – before the ACC was ever formed. Langley received the first-ever golf scholarship to UNC and led the Tar Heels to the 1952 Southern Conference title. Langley participated in the USGA National Senior Amateur four times and was nationally ranked #3 in 1990 and #5 in 1991. Langley was High Point City champion four times in a span from 1949 to 1993.

eddie pope

Eddie Pope began his soccer career at Southwest Guilford while also playing football and baseball. Pope attended the University of North Carolina where he earned All-ACC and All-South Region honors. Pope played professionally in Major League Soccer (MLS) for eleven seasons, spending most of his career at DC United before a short stint with the New York Metro Stars, and eventually ending his career with Real Salt Lake. During his career, Pope was named to the MLS All-Star Team eleven straight years and scored the game-winning goal in the Inaugural MLS Cup (giving DC United it’s first of three titles.) Pope earned 1997 MLS Defender of the Year honors and was honored as MLS Humanitarian of the Year in 2000. Pope competed internationally as a member of the 1996 US Men’s Olympic team, and was a key anchor for the defense during the 1998, 2002, and 2006 World Cups. Eddie retired with 82 caps, 8 goals, and being tied for the most World Cup qualifying matches in US History.

maurice spencer

A football, basketball and track star at Page High School, Maurice Spencer continued his football career at North Carolina Central and in the NFL. Spencer played on three MEAC championship teams at NCCU and played in the Senior Bowl and East-West games. Spencer was the first defensive back taken in the 1974 draft, by New Orleans, and played there four years, starting 30 games. While with the Saints, Spencer won the Most Valuable Defensive Player Award and distinguished himself as a Guinness Book World Record Holder for the most fumbles recovered in a game. After a career-ending spinal injury with the Saints, Spencer successfully received an operation with a cervical spinal fusion and rehabilitation at Duke Medical Center, which became the impetus for the The Spencer Foundation for Spinal Cord Research and Rehabilitation at Duke. Spencer has been a successful television commentator and producer and has coached on the professional level in the NFL’s European League with the London Monarchs.

tripp welborne

Tripp Welborne was a four-sport athlete at Page where he played football, basketball, baseball and ran track. On the football field, the Pirates went 40-1-1 and won two state championships in Welborne’s career which earned him the honor of NC Player of the Year in 1986. Recruited to Michigan as a wide receiver, Welborne switched to the secondary as a sophomore and played on three Big Ten championship teams and became a two-time All-American and All Big Ten and the 1990 University of Michigan MVP. While at Michigan, Welborne intercepted nine passes and returned 70 punts for 803 yards and was named the National College Defensive Player of the Year in 1990. Welborne was selected in the seventh round of the 1991 NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings and was a member of the NFC Central Division Championship team in 1992.