HIGH POINT uNIVERSITY
BY GREER SMITH ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
Fopened at High Point
ATHLETICS
rom the time the doors
University in 1924, athletics have been a part of the school’s fabric. The cloth featured football and basketball in the beginning. Today, the school fields seven men’s sports (baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, golf, lacrosse and track and field) and seven women’s sports (basketball, volleyball, soccer, cross country, golf, lacrosse and track and field). The fabric was woven early. HPU was an early pacesetter in 1930 when it played at North Carolina State in the first night football game in the state of North Carolina and participated in the first
PANTHERS OF NOTE -Dick Culler – Little AllAmerican in basketball, All-conference in baseball, player-coach in soccer. Only player in HPU history to go on to play in Major Leagues Gene Littles – All-time leading scorer in basketball with 2,398 points. Played six seasons in the ABA. Coached four seasons in the NBA. Tubby Smith – Sixth all-time scorer in basketball. Won NCAA national championship as coach at Kentucky. Currently head coach at Minnesota. Otis Foster – Two-time All-American in baseball in the 1970s. Still holds records for batting average in a season, RBIs in a season and career and home runs in second and career. Reached AAA level in minor leagues.
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Jerry Steele – Winnigest coach in basketball, going 456-411 over 31 seasons. Karen Curtis – Holds record for scoring (2,612 points) and assists (645) in women’s basketball Roger Watson – AllAmerican golfer, member of NAIA Hall of Fame, went on to win two PGA National Club Professional Championships Nancy Isenhour – Became first woman to play on a men’s varsity basketball team, in 1944 George Nostrand – Played basketball for HPU from 1941-44, played in the first NBA game ever in 1946 and is the only player in school history to reach the NBA. Virgil Yow – Best winning percentage as basketball coach (323-197 over 21 seasons). Also coached baseball for 12 seasons.
intercollegiate soccer match south of the Mason-Dixon Line, a 1-0 victory over Catawba. That was also the year HPU became a charter member of what is now Conference Carolinas, which was originally an NAIA league that eventually moved to Division II. The Panthers remained loyal, staying the league until leaving in 1997 to move up from the to their current status as a NCAA Division I member. Basketball became the most visible sport when football was discontinued after the 1950 season. HPU a traditional power in the league first known as the North State Conference and then the Carolina Conference, winning a record 12 conference tournament. The best of the glory days for the Panthers came in the 1960s when they went to the NAIA national tournament three times, losing in the third round in 1964, the second round in 1965 and the third round in 1969 behind all-time
leading scorer and Little AllAmerican Gene Littles. They also made it in 1939, 1942, 1946 and 1951. The men’s basketball runs weren’t the deepest on a national level. Behind the play of Ethel White and Marie Riley, the Panthers won the AIAW Division II National Championship. In baseball, HPU went all the way to the NAIA championship game in 1979, losing to Lipscomb by a run. HPU has also made its mark since moving to the Big South, winning regular season conference championships in women’s basketball plus men’s and women’s soccer and tournament championships in women’s soccer, men’s cross country, men’s tennis, volleyball and women’s lacrosse. The lacrosse title was the most recent after 15 regular season wins that set a NCAA Division I record. The fabric continues to be well meshed. gsmith@hpe.com | 888-3556
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