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The Salisbury Rowan Sports Hall of Fame’s first group of inductees will be made official today.
Seventeen former athletes and coaches plus one sportswriter are on the Hall of Fame committee’s final ballot. Voting will take place today.
Nominees, listed alphabetically, are Jerry Barger, Billy Ray Barnes, Vernon Benson,Horace Billings, Joe Ferebee, Gordon Kirkland, Clyde Kluttz, Spencer Lancaster, Bill Ludwig, Charles Lynn, Christy Earnhardt McKinney, Sam Moir, Barry Moore, Bob Pharr, Robert Pulliam, Pete Stout and Harry Welch.
Nominees must receive 70 percent of the vote from the committee in order to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The inaugural nominees will be announced next month, then formally inducted in the spring of 2001 at the Salisbury Community Park and Athletic Complex.
“The committee really appreciates the involvement and support of this community,” said Wilson Cherry, committee co-chairman. “We have a great committee, a diverse group of individuals, who have a real sense of our rich sports history, but also of the community spirit. The Salisbury Rowan Sports Hall of Fame is finally a reality, after so many years. I feel a special honor and joy to be part of it.”
The initial list of 76 candidates was presented to the committee in August. Members narrowed the field to 37, then voted again to cut the list to 17. Candidates had to receive three or more committee votes to make the final list.
The nominees:
Jerry Barger: Starred in football at Boyden High, where he won all-state and all-Southern honors. He also played baseball and basketball. He went on to star at quarterback for Duke University, where he was 1954 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year. He led the Blue Devils to the 1955 Orange Bowl championship over Nebraska. Barger has been voted to Duke’s all-time team.
Billy Ray Barnes: Starred in three sports — football, basketball and baseball, at Landis High. He went on to play football and baseball at Wake Forest University, where he became the first ACC back to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season. He also played on the Demon Deacons’ NCAA championship baseball team in 1955. Barnes had an all-pro career in the National FootballLeague with the Eagles, Redskins and Vikings.
Vernon Benson: Started his professional baseball career in the St.Louis Cardinals’ organization in 1943. He won a starting job at third base for the Cards before a broken leg halted his playing career. Benson had a five-year career with the Philadelphia Athletics and Cardinals and has been a minor league manager, major league coach and still works as a scout.
Horace Billings: Dean of North Carolina sports editors when he stepped down in 1989. He was with the Salisbury Post for 52 years as a sports editor and writer, covering local and national events. Billings has won many sports writing awards.
Cristy Earnhardt (McKinney): Led East Rowan girls to the old WNCHSAA basketball championship in 1974. She scored more than 1,000 points and grabbed better than 1,000 rebounds in a three-year prep career. Made all-state as a freshman after earning a scholarship to N.C. State. Now head women’s coach at Rice University, her team made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history last season.
Joe Ferebee: Famed BoydenHigh, Salisbury and Rowan County American Legion and Pfeiffer University baseball coach. Ferebee is already in a number of Hall of Fames — Catawba, Pfeiffer, N.C.
AmericanLegion, NAIA, American Coaches Association, and NCAA Division II. He coached Salisbury to the 1955 Legion state title and No. 3 finish nationally, and the sport has been big-time in Rowan County since then.
Gordon Kirkland: Coached Catawba in three sports, but was best known as a football coach. His team won more than 100 games and lost only 31. Kirkland is credited with putting Catawba on the football map. He was also successful at Boyden before going to Catawba. Kirkland is already in the Catawba and N.C. Hall of Fames.
Clyde Kluttz: Was a major league baseball catcher for 12 years with five different clubs, compiling a .268 lifetime batting average. Kluttz went on to become a minor league manager, then a major league scout and director of player personnel. He signed Jim “Catfish” Hunter to a big free agent contract with the Yankees.
Spencer Lancaster: Led Price High Red Devils to state championships in 1940 and 1951. His 1940 team went 11-0, outscoring the opposition 330-0. Salisbury High now gives an annual award in his memory to a student who shows exemplary sportsmanship.
Bill Ludwig: Outstanding football coach at Boyden, leading the Yellow Jackets to state championships in 1955 and 1957. He was one of the first to coach in both the Shrine Bowl and the East-West All-Star Game. Salisbury’s football stadium is named after him.
Charles Lynn: Led Salisbury High to two straight undefeated basketball seasons in 1968 and 1969. Lynn went on to become a three-year starter at Catawba, twice earning honorable mention All-America honors. He was also an academic All-American. Lynn is in the Catawba Hall of Fame.
Sam Moir: One of nation’s winningest college basketball coaches. He ranked among the top all-time college winners when he retired at Catawba. Moir has been inducted into the Catawba, NAIA and N.C. Hall of Fames.
BarryMoore: Outstanding West Rowan High, Rowan Legion, Pfeiffer and major league left-handed pitcher. Moore once struck out 21 batters in a Legion game. He compiled a 26-37 record in 140 major league games with the Senators, Indians and White Sox.
Bob Pharr: Compiled an amazing basketball coaching record at SalisburyHigh, where his teams once went 100-5 in a stretch of four seasons. Pharr’s career record was 252-100 over 14 seasons for a percentage of .716. No other coach has had that high a percentage while coaching that many years. His teams won three straight WNCHSAA titles.
Robert Pulliam: Starred in football and track at Salisbury High. Pulliam earned 1971 All-American and all-state honors and played in the Shrine Bowl. He ranks as one of the best linemen ever to come out of Rowan County. Pulliam went on to star for Tennessee in college football.
Pete Stout: Turned Salisbury High’s football program around in 1966 and made it one of the best programs in the state through 1975. His teams won or shared three WNCHSAA titles in a stretch of four years. He compiled an 83-20-10 record at Salisbury, then went on to coach at Burlington Williams, where he won a state 3A title, Catawba College and Morganton Freedom. He won 234 prep games.
Harry Welch: Great amateur golfer who qualified and played in the U.S. Amateur, British Amateur and
U.S.Open. Welch was runner-up in the U.S. Senior Amateur and won the Carolinas Amateur. He played on Duke’s 1938 Rose Bowl football team.
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