WS Chronicle

Saturday, Nov. 9, was a night that was long overdue for Carver High School. The school ushered in their inaugural Hall of Fame class, which included some of the most memorable names not only in school history, but also the city.

It’s hard to imagine that it took this long for the storied high school to have a hall of fame. With all the stellar athletes that have walked the halls of Carver, there was a tremendous need for a hall of fame. Daniel Piggott, Crystal Harvey, Shanta Reddick, Robert Wynn, Eric Puryear and Wilbert Rice worked tirelessly as the Hall of Fame founding committee to make this dream a reality.

“This is my third year being the athletic director and I know when I took this job, one of the things that were mentioned were starting a booster club and establishing a hall of fame,” said Piggott. “These young ladies here (Harvey and Reddick), they head up the booster club and they kind of took it upon themselves to make sure we have this hall of fame thing going.”

Harvey, Reddick and Piggott are all Carver alums. They said it was a natural process for them to come together and create a hall of fame for the school.  

“Me personally, I witnessed other schools having a hall of fame and I’ll admit that I was kind of jealous in thinking no school in Forsyth County has a greater history than Carver, so if anybody should be honoring their past, it should be Carver High School,” Piggott said.  

Harvey added, “We just researched what other programs had done and just kind of ran from there. We pulled different people in and wanted to make sure we had representatives from every era to make sure we covered all the bases.”

The inaugural class included Richard Daniels, Porsche Jones, Antonio Stevenson, Bryce Sherman, Christian Hairston, David Lash, Edward Coe, Alfred Poe and the 1972 Men’s basketball team.

Daniels was a multi-sport athlete for the Yellowjackets in the mid 1980s. He was recently inducted into the Winston-Salem State University Hall of Fame as well, so this has been an eventful few weeks for Daniels.

“I lost my dad back in January and my dad meant everything to me and he was a diehard Yellowjacket fan and he never missed a game, so being on that field last night brought back so many memories,” said Daniels. “I’ve always been a team player, so I’m a little surprised, because I’ve never been about individual accolades.

“I preach to young kids today that it’s a process and you have to go through that process to get the product and sometimes it takes a long time for that product to come to fruition. Sometimes they get it twisted and want the product before the process.”

Stevenson was a standout wrester and football player for Carver during his years at the school. He said it felt good to be mentioned with some of the greats that have come from Carver High School.  

“This is something that I have dreamed about all my life,” he said. “I am in two halls of fame, but this is the best. When home recognizes you as one of their best, it just means more.”

Jones was the lone female to be inducted Saturday night. Her play on the basketball court will never be forgotten, especially since she led the Yellowjackets to a state title in 2001, before heading off to play her collegiate ball at Wake Forest University.

“We have a rich history here at Carver High School and to be in this first class is definitely one of those top honors that I can hold high,” she said. “A lot of my foundation and what has made me what I am is from my experiences from high school.

“I am very honored to be in this first class and hopefully this opens the door for more opportunities for more women players to be in the next class and I am happy to be the first person to open that door.”

Willard Coker was one of the members of the 1972 team coached by Poe. He credits Poe for having a “big impact” on his life and the way he coaches to this day. He said it was a big honor to be included in the inaugural Hall of Fame class for Carver.  

The 1972 team was the first for Poe and it included Coker, Ronald Hollingsworth, Reginald Blaylock, Clarence Hairston, Kelvin Springs, Ben Piggott and Rodney Young.

Hairston was a stud for the Yellowjackets on the football field and led to him obtaining a full scholarship to Clemson University. He later went on to play professional football in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers.

“This is special man, because it’s Carver,” said Hairston. “There are a lot of people that deserve to be in here and it’s an honor to be in the first class. It’s a big deal to say they decided to choose me as a representative of the Hall of Fame amongst a lot of great names.”

Sherman may have been the fastest man to ever attend Carver by all accounts and starred on the football team and the track. He was a state champion in multiple events on the track, as well as an All-American in the 60-meter dash.  

“I’m honored and thankful for everyone that believed in me,” said Sherman. “I haven’t been back out there on field in a long time, so it was a blessing to be back out there. Carver is first class and to be honored in the inaugural class is amazing and, in the future, there will be a lot of great athletes that will go in after us.”

Poe coached at Carver for 25 years and was the athletic director for 12. He coached several sports, but his legacy was cemented as the boys’ basketball coach. He said he was fortunate to spend 28 years at Carver.  

“When I worked at Carver, it was like a family,” he said. “I hope that I was able to help my players and when they say nice things about me, it makes me feel that I have done my job. The Hall of Fame should be great moving forward, because there are so many outstanding people that should be in here.”

The star-studded event was held at the Hawthorne Inn. With so many athletes to honor in the future, the booster club will be busy with applications moving forward. 

The question is, can any future class top this one?