CHAPEL HILL — The North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame is excited to announce the inductees in the Class of 2025. This year’s inductees are a tremendous group of leaders that have left their mark on their communities and the state of North Carolina.
The Class of 2025 includes:
Brad Allen, Lumberton
Brad Allen has been a member of the Southeast Athletic Officials Association since 1991 and has served two terms as the president. He has officiated NCHSAA, NCAA and NFL contests, including multiple NCHSAA state championships, Bowl Games and NFL Playoff games. He is involved with multiple charities and presents regularly at officials’ conferences and events.
Thomas “Tommy” Cole, Burlington
Tommy Cole was a basketball and golf coach at Graham and Williams High Schools. He won two basketball State Championships, one at each school, and was State Runner-up twice, in 2012 with the women’s team and in 2019 with the men. He won the 1995, 2000 and 2011 NCHSAA golf championships and was NFHS National Golf Coach of the Year in 1995.
Jerry Hunter, Beulaville
Jerry Hunter, who enters the Hall of Fame posthumously, was a teacher, coach and athletic director at East Duplin High School from 1975 to 2011. He won 249 games as a softball coach and 509 as the coach of the women’s basketball team. His teams won 10 Sectional Championships, two Regional Championships and one State Championship. The Athletic Facilities at East Duplin are named in his honor and he was an inaugural member of the East Duplin Hall of Fame.
Tim Kelly, Trinity
Tim Kelly began coaching in 1981 and started coaching basketball at Trinity High School in 1989. He won nearly 600 games, 11 conference titles, four Sectional Championships, two Regional Championships and one State Championship. He also coached football and cross country for different stretches. He was the NC Associated Press Coach of the Year in 2004 and coach of the East-West All Star Game in 2005.
Richard Prince, Monroe
Richard Prince was a teacher and coach at Western Carolina University, Independence, Myers Park, Piedmont and East Mecklenburg from 1970-2009. Prince’s teams won two NCHSAA Track and Field Championships at Myers Park. He officiated 15 high school track nationals and multiple state, college and regional meets. Prince was instrumental in the growth of track and cross country in North Carolina as a meet director and as a member of several state and national committees.
Steve Spivey, Raleigh
Steve Spivey began his tennis coaching career in 1977 and compiled more than 1000 wins. He led teams at Cary, Broughton, Myrtle Beach, Apex and Enloe over his 50-plus-year career. Spivey won an incredible 22 NCHSAA State Championships and more than 40 conference titles. He was selected for the Professional Tennis Registry Century Coach Honor Roll and was National High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2001.
Doyle Whitfield, Dudley
Doyle Whitfield was a baseball coach, teacher and athletic director at Southern Wayne High School. His career record as a coach was 407-256 and he won the 4A NCHSAA State Championship in 1985. He was Teacher of the Year at Southern Wayne in 1982-83, NC Baseball Coaches Association Region II Coach of the Year in 1992 and received the Award of Merit from the NCHSAA in 1995. As a high school athlete at Mt. Olive HS, he threw five no-hitters.
Russell Woodward, Greensboro
Russell Woodward was a coach, athletic director and principal in his 45-year career. His track teams at Grimsley won five State Championships between 1981-1988. He served as Athletic Director at Ben L. Smith from 1988-1996 and then as an Assistant Principal from 1997-2007 at Smith, Northwest Guilford and Ragsdale. He was a Principal in the Guilford County School System from 2007 until his retirement in 2022.
The Class of 2025 will be invited to a small reception on April 23 at the NCHSAA Office in Chapel Hill and will be officially inducted in a public ceremony on August 16 at the Embassy Suites in Cary. Ticket information for the Hall of Fame Banquet will be made available later this year.
