Dave Robbins: NC Hall of Fame
"Big Mo": A Trailblazer
Dave Robbins made his coaching debut in 1978 when he was tabbed by legendary Virginia Uion basketball coach Tom Harris.
Robbins went on to carve out a legendary career fimself after leading the men’s program to 14 CIAA league titles, seven regional championships and three NCAA Division II national titles.
Nicknamed “The White Shadow,” he finished with a 713-194 record over the course of a 30-year career.
Robbins was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and now the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. He was honored with the Virginia Union Lifetime Coaching Award.
Other NC Hall of Fame inductees include:
Missouri Arledge, Philander Smith College, the first African-American woman to play in an AAU tournament. Graduated from Tuskegee University in 1958. and first female to join the Harlem Globetrotters
Timmy Newsome, Winston-Salem State, NFL
Luke Appling, Oglethorpe College, Chicago White Sox, Baseball Hall of Fame
Ronnie Barnes, East Carolina, legendary athletic trainer
Henry Bibby, UCLA, basketball lifer
Dan Brooks, Oregon State, longtime Duke women’s golf coach
Torry Holt, NC State, retired NFL receiver and Super Bowl XXXIV champion
Sam Mills, Montclair State, 12 year NFL veteran
Tom Suiter, Erskine College, renowned sports journalist.
Missouri “Big Mo” Arledge was a two-sport outstanding athlete at Hilldside High School in Durham, North Carolina where she became the
African American girl to win All-American honors in basketball in 1955.
She attended Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas where she became the first African American Woman to play in an Amateur Athletic Union (A.A.U.).
Arledge Tournament.
She graduated from Tuskegee University in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education and pursued further study at the University of California at Berkley in 1959.
She was the first Black Women to play for USA in International Competition.
Arledge became a decorated educator.
From 1959 to 1968, Missouri taught Physical Education, Biology and English as a certified secondary education teacher before pursuing a Master of Arts degree in exceptional education in 1979 and a Master of Education and Supervision from North Carolina Central University in 1985.
She was the first African American teacher at Moses Lake High and the first Exceptional Education teacher at Hillside High School.
Arledge was honored as the Durham City Schools ”Teacher of the Year” and the “Terry Sanford” award as an Outstanding Educator.
Mrs. Arledge-Morris was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Damon Wilson: AFCA National Coach of the Year for the NCAA Division II
For 12 years, Damon WIlson has been the guiding force behind the Bowie State Bulldogs rise to the top of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
The Bulldogs captured the last three conference titles, and the past season was culminated with a 12-2 record (7-0 CIAA), and the team’s fourth consecutive NCAA appearance, and their first-ever NCAA quarterfinal appearance.
His post season accolades included the CIAA Coach of the Year and AFCA Super Region II Coach of the Year. Wilson has an 89-45 overall record with a total of four NCAA playoff appearances, a total of seven CIAA Northern Division titles and three CIAA championships.
The AFCA National Coach of the Year award is a historic honor as Wilson as he is the first CIAA coach to win the prestigious award.
HBCU Legacy Bowl
The HBCU Legacy Bowl is established to offer NFL draft eligible players from historically black colleges and universities (HBCU).
The game was founded by the Black College Football Hall of Fame, National Football League, Pro Football Hall of Fame and Tulane University.
THe first annual game is scheduled for the Saturday, February 19 following Super Bowl LVI. The bowl will be contested at Yulman Stadium on the campus of Tulane University in New Orleans and broadcast on NFL Network.