Clarence Edward "Big House" Gaines Sr. was an American college men's basketball coach with a 47-year coaching career at Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Among his numerous honors for his achievements, he is one of the few African Americans to be inducted as a coach into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Clarence McKay "Ace" Parker was an American football and baseball player and coach. He played professional football as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1937–1941) and Boston Yanks (1945) and in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) for the New York Yankees. He was an All-American halfback at Duke University in 1936. Parker also played Major League Baseball during 1936 and 1937 with the Philadelphia Athletics. He served as the head baseball coach at Duke from 1953 to 1966. Parker was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972.
Woody Lombardi Durham was an American play-by-play radio announcer for the North Carolina Tar Heels football and men's basketball programs from 1971 to 2011.
The National Sports Media Association (NSMA), formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, is an organization of sports media members in the United States, and constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS).
The Duke Blue Devils football team represents Duke University in the sport of American football. The Blue Devils compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The program has 17 conference championships, 53 All-Americans, 10 ACC Players of the Year, and have had three Pro Football Hall of Famers come through the program. The team is coached by Mike Elko and play their home games at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
Gerald Hundley Moore is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at North Texas State University—now the University of North Texas—from 1979 to 1980, at Texas Tech University from 1981 to 1985, and at Appalachian State University from 1989 to 2012, compiling a career college football coaching record of 242–134–2. In his 24 years at Appalachian State, Moore posted a losing season only once. He led his 2005 Mountaineers team to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship. This was the first national championship for any college football team in the state of North Carolina. Moore and the Mountaineers repeated as champions in 2006 and 2007, achieving the first "three-peat" in NCAA Division I FCS/I-AA history. Moore was forced out as head coach at the conclusion of the 2012 season. He was selected for inclusion into the Southern Conference Hall of Fame, and College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
Athletes and sports teams from North Carolina compete across an array of professional and amateur levels of competition, along with athletes who compete at the World and Olympic levels in their respective sport. Major league professional teams based in North Carolina include teams that compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), and National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The state is also home to NASCAR Cup Series races. At the collegiate and university level, there are several North Carolina schools in various conferences across an array of divisions. North Carolina also has many minor league baseball teams. There are also a number of indoor football, indoor soccer, minor league basketball, and minor league ice hockey teams based throughout the state.
Charles Bunn "Bunny" Hearn was a Major League Baseball pitcher, Major League scout, and minor league, semi-pro and college-level manager.
Douglas Clyde "Peahead" Walker was an American football and baseball player, and coach of American football, Canadian football, basketball, and baseball. Walker served as the head football coach at Atlantic Christian College—now Barton College—in 1926, at Elon University from 1927 to 1936, and at Wake Forest University from 1937 to 1950, compiling a career college football record of 127–93–10. At Elon, Walker was also the head basketball coach (1927–1937) and the head baseball coach (1928–1937). In 1952 Walker moved to the Canadian Football League (CFL) to become the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes. He remained with the team until 1959, tallying a mark of 59–48–1 in eight seasons. Walker also played minor league baseball with a number of clubs between 1921 and 1932. He managed the Snow Hill Billies of the Coastal Plain League from 1937 to 1939.
Herbert Macauley "Mac" McEver was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (VPI)—now known as Virginia Tech—from 1942 to 1945, compiling a record of 9–8–1. He was co-head coach with Sumner D. Tilson in 1942. McEver was also the head basketball coach at VPI from 1937 to 1944, amassing a record of 49–71, and the school's head baseball coach From 1933 to 1939, tallying a mark of 41–72–1.
The North Carolina A&T Aggies football program represents North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in college football. The Aggies play in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision as a member of CAA Football, the technically separate football league operated by the Aggies' full-time home of the Coastal Athletic Association.
James Livingston White Jr. was an American college baseball, basketball and football head coach for three different Southern universities, the University of Virginia, Wake Forest College and the University of Florida, in the 1910s and 1920s. He also served as the athletic director for Wake Forest and Florida.
Greene Flake "Red" Laird was an American college basketball and baseball coach. He is best known for being Virginia Tech's head baseball coach for 30 seasons and compiling the second most wins in program history through the 2013 season (343). He was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1971, and into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1983. The home dugout at Virginia Tech's home baseball venue, English Field, is named in his honor. Laird also coached the men's basketball and baseball teams at Virginia Tech, Catawba College, and Davidson College as well as the freshman football team at Davidson. Laird attended Davidson between 1922–23 and 1925–26. While there he earned 12 varsity letters – four each in football, basketball and baseball.
Clyde Carney "Jack" Johnson was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. Johnson served as the head football coach at Elon College—now known as Elon University—in Elon, North Carolina, for one season, in 1919 season, compiling a record of 1–2. He also coached baseball for five seasons at Elon and for two at the University of Colorado.
Lonnie Mack "Macky" Carden is a former American football coach. He serve as head football at Elon University from 1984 to 1988, compiling a record of 34–17 Carden also served as the wrestling coach at Elon. He was inducted into the Elon Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
George M. Tucker was an American football coach. He served as the head football at Elon University from 1960 until 1964, compiling a record of 29–20–1. Later working as a stockbroker after his retirement from coaching, Tucker was a member of the Elon Sports Hall of Fame.
Howard K. "Brutus" Wilson was an American college football and college basketball coach. He served as the head football coach at Winston-Salem Teachers College—now known as Winston-Salem State University—in Winston-Salem, North Carolina from 1941 to 1945 and Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina from 1946 to 1953. Wilson was also the head basketball coach at Morgan State College—now known as Morgan State University—in Baltimore, from 1960 to 1971, tallying a mark of 109–141. Wilson's 1947 Shaw Bears football team was undefeated, won the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) title, and was recognized as a black college football national champion.
The 2023 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team will represent Wake Forest University as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Demon Deacons are led by Dave Clawson in his tenth year as head coach. They play their home games at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
