FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Julie Lawhon-Marks, Deputy Director
[email protected]
December 19, 2024
THE NORTH CAROLINA SPORTS HALL OF FAME
REVEALS CLASS OF 2025
The 61st Induction Celebration will be held in May in Greensboro
RALEIGH, N.C.—The North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame is proud to announce its 2025 induction class. The new members, listed alphabetically are Greg Ellis, Nora Lynn Finch, Rollie Geiger, David Gentry, Dale Inman, Bobby Isaac, Cullen Jones, Chester McGlockton, Wendy Palmer, Jimmy Raye and Miles Wolff.
The group of 11 will be enshrined during the 61st annual induction celebration on the evening of Friday, May 2, at the Sheraton Greensboro Hotel Joseph S. Koury Convention Center, starting at 5 p.m. Their induction will bring the total number of Hall of Fame members to 421.
“The Class of 2025 of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame is wonderfully diverse, just like the sports landscape of this great state,” said Rick Webb, president of the hall’s Board of Directors. “Trailblazers, icons, and luminaries, from the high school ranks to the professional circuits, there is so much history encapsulated within these eleven inductees, all of whom contributed to the sports culture of North Carolina.”
A brief biography of each 2025 inductee follows. (Isaac and McGlockton are being inducted posthumously.)
Greg Ellis
Ellis was a consensus first-team All-America in 1997 as a senior at the University of North Carolina. The Tar Heels’ all-time sack leader (32.5), the Wendell, N.C., native was selected in the first round of the NFL draft (No. 8 overall by Dallas). Ellis played 11 seasons for the Cowboys and one for the Oakland Raiders, making 84 sacks. He played in the 2007 Pro Bowl when he was named the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year after an Achilles injury had ended his previous season prematurely. Ellis, who is one of only four Tar Heels to earn first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors three times, was an All-State football player at East Wake High School and the 1993 North Carolina High School Athletic Association Male Athlete of the Year.
Nora Lynn Finch
Finch was a coach for 13 years and a trailblazing administrator for 47. A native of Henderson, N.C. she worked at Wake Forest, Peace College and NC State, along with the ACC where she was the league’s first female associate commissioner. Finch’s awards and accolades reflect her impact on college athletics and how she championed opportunities for women in sports. She received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in1987 as well as the 2007 Billie Jean King Lifetime Achievement Award given by the Women’s Sports Foundation. Finch was the inaugural chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee, serving from 1981-88. The NCAA acknowledged her leadership in women’s basketball by naming her to its 10th Anniversary Women’s Basketball Team.
Rollie Geiger
Geiger has been NC State’s men’s cross country coach since 1982 and coached the women’s team from 1981 to 2004. In addition, he was the head coach of the men’s track team from 1984-2023 while coaching the women from 1984-2018. He currently serves as Senior Associate Director of Track & Field and Cross Country, as well as the head coach of the men’s cross country team. Geiger was inducted into the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame in 2019. His teams have won 40 ACC titles and he’s coached 24 NCAA individual, relay and team champions, as well as 250 individual ACC champs and 400 All-ACC performers. Geiger is a 34-time ACC Coach of the Year.
David Gentry
Gentry is North Carolina’s all-time winningest high school football coach. He has 426 victories overall with 366 of those coming at Murphy, more than any other coach at a single school in N.C. He won nine state championships at Murphy with a playoff record of 82-25 (.766). Gentry is a member of the NCHSAA Hall of Fame. He was a four-sport standout at Edneyville High and played college football at Elon, where he later joined Red Wilson’s staff as an undergraduate assistant.
Dale Inman
A native of Level Cross, Inman revolutionized NASCAR’s crew chief position. He is largely credited for developing the driver-pit communication system. He was part of eight NASCAR Cup Series championships, seven of those as crew chief for Richard Petty (1964, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1979). Inman was part of 193 wins, including seven Daytona 500 victories. In 1967, he and Petty won a NASCAR-record 27 races, including 10 in a row. He is a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame (2012) and International Motor Sports Hall of Fame (2013). Inman also helped develop the Victory Junction Gang Camp.
Bobby Isaac
Isaac was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers and was inducted into the circuit’s Hall of Fame in 2016. He dominated NASCAR in 1969-70, winning 28 races and earning 61 top five finishes (and 32 poles over the two seasons). Isaac captured 19 poles in 1969, which still stands as the record in a single season (by comparison, only 37 drivers have 19 or more poles in their entire career). Isaac was NASCAR’s Grand National Series champion in 1970. For his career, Isaac had 37 wins, 48 poles, and 134 top-five and 160 top-10 finishes in 308 Cup Series starts. He died in 1977 at the age of 45.
Cullen Jones
Jones nearly drowned as a 5-year-old at a water park but later became an Olympic champion swimmer. He is a four-time Olympic medalist, competing in 2008 (Beijng) and 2012 (London). His first medal was gold in 2008 and came in world record time in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak and Garrett Weber-Gale. Jones won three medals in London – silvers in the 50-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter freestyle relay, as well as a gold in the 4×100 meter medley relay after swimming the freestyle leg in the preliminaries. He is a 2006 NCAA champion in the 50 free and a five-time ACC champion (three times in the 50 free). He is the first Black swimmer to hold a world record and second to win an ACC title.
Chester McGlockton
McGlockton was a second-team USA Today All-America at Whiteville (N.C.) High where he returned nine interceptions for touchdowns during his career. He played three seasons at Clemson and was a first-team All-ACC selection in 1991. McGlockton was the 16th pick overall by the Oakland Raiders in the 1992 NFL draft and went on to play 12 seasons with four different teams. While with the Raiders, he appeared in four straight Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro selection in 1995. He finished his NFL career with 555 tackles, 51 sacks, 14 forces fumbles and four interceptions in 179 games. McGlockton died in 2011 at the age of 42.
Wendy Palmer
The 1992 NCHSAA Female Athlete of the Year, Palmer attended Person High School in Roxboro, N.C., where she was named a High School All-America by the WBCA. She’s the University of Virginia’s career rebound leader (1,221), first in double-doubles (58), second in field goal percentage (.614) and fourth in scoring (1,918). Palmer was the first Cavalier to total at least 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds during her career. She was the ACC Player of the Year 1995 and 1996, while earning first-team USBWA and Kodak All-America honors during the same seasons. Palmer played 11 years in the WNBA (1997-2007) averaging 10.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in her career. She was a WNBA All-Star in 2000, second-team All-WNBA in 1997 and the WNBA’s Most Improved Player in 2004.
Jimmy Raye
Raye, who had a standout career at E.E. Smith High School in Fayetteville, NC., became one of the first Black quarterbacks to start at the NCAA Division 1-A level. He was a star on the powerful Michigan State teams of the mid-1960s. In three years with the Spartans, Raye threw for 1,733 yards, 15 TDs and 18 Interceptions. He rushed for 926 yards and nine touchdowns. He played on Big Ten and national championship teams in 1965 and 1966. Raye played two seasons in the NFL before moving to the coaching ranks. He coached in the NFL for 37 years with 10 different teams, serving as offensive coordinator for 13 seasons.
Miles Wolff
Wolff was integral to the resurgence of minor league baseball in North Carolina in the 1980s. He bought the Durham Bulls in 1980 for just over $2,400 and revived baseball in the Bull City after it had shuttered nine years earlier. Wolff later befriended a Hollywood producer who developed the movie “Bull Durham.” Wolff also brought life back into the sport in both Asheville and Burlington, all of this following a stint as General Manager in Savannah. He was the president and publisher of Baseball America (Durham) for 18 years. He also purchased the Raleigh Ice Caps of the ECHL in 1990.
Tickets are on sale now for the Induction Celebration. Visit www.ncshof.org.
About the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame
The North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 1963. The NCSHOF’s permanent exhibit has been located on the third floor of the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh since 1994. The exhibition, along with the entire museum is closed for renovation. To learn more about the Hall, listen to podcasts, and to watch some incredible videos, log onto ncshof.org.
About the North Carolina Museum of History
The North Carolina Museum of History, a Smithsonian Affiliate, fosters a passion for North Carolina history. This museum collects and preserves artifacts of state history and educates the public on the history of the state and the nation through exhibits and educational programs. Please refer to the museum’s website to learn about the renovation. https://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/nc-museum-history-announces-start-exciting-transformation.
Official Induction Celebration Logo for 2025
For a PNG or JPG file of the logo, please email a request to [email protected]
