Keith Richardson
2017
Keith Richardson was the head football coach at Clinton High School for 24 seasons. He coached Clinton to 239 victories, 57 defeats and two ties. The Red Devils won state championships in 1972, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1985 and 1987. From 1972 through 1978, a span of seven seasons, Clinton won four state championships and six upstate titles. Richardson stepped aside in 1992 and became executive secretary of the South Carolina High School Coaches Association.
Cally Gault
2017
Cally Gault coached the Presbyterian College Blue Hose football team for 22 years, spanning the seasons 1963 through 1984. As head coach at Presbyterian, Cally’s record was 127-101-7. After retiring, he led the athletic program as Presbyterian moved from the NAIA into the NCAA. As head coach of North Augusta High School, Gault won 42 games in a row from 1953-1957.
Barry Atkinson
2017
Barry Atkinson has been keeping the Laurens District 55 High School Raiders healthy for 36 years. The head of the South Carolina Athletic Trainers Association called Atkinson "the dean of athletic trainers in our state." Atkinson was the first trainer in the history of the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association to be inducted into their Hall of Fame.
King Dixon
2017
King Dixon lettered four years each in football, basketball, baseball and track at Laurens High School. He was a first-team high school All-America in 1954, MVP of the Shrine Bowl, and won the 100-yard dash in the state track meet. At the University of South Carolina, Dixon was All-ACC, second team All-America, team MVP for three years, played in the North-South Shrine Game in Miami and was selected as USC’s outstanding male graduate. He served his alma mater as Director of Athletics from 1988 to 1992, leading the Gamecocks’ entry into the Southeastern Conference.
Kevin Long
2017
Kevin Long was a standout running back at Clinton High School. Long went on the University of South Carolina and became the first player ever to rush for more than 1,000 yards. For his career in Columbia, Long rushed for 2,372 yards. He started 33 games for the New York Jets in the NFL, rushing for 2,190 yards and 25 touchdowns. Long also played in the USFL for the Chicago Blitz and the Arizona Wranglers.
Chick Galloway
2017
C.E. “Chick” Galloway played shortstop for Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics from 1919 through 1927 and finished his career with the Detroit Tigers in 1928. For three years’ running, 1922-24, Galloway was on the American League MVP ballot, then chosen from a list of players nominated by each team. In his best season, 1922, Galloway batted .324 with 83 runs scored, 185 hits and nine triples. He led the league in games played with 155.
J.D. Fuller
2017
J.D. Fuller started for three years on the football team at Clinton High School and anchored the defense of the 1977 and 1978 Class 3A state champions. Fuller came out of Cross Hill and Clinton High School to become one of the USC Gamecocks’ all-time greats. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011. At the conclusion of his career at Carolina, Fuller had made 405 tackles, the most in school history. He is one of only two Gamecock players ever to make more than 100 tackles in three different seasons.
Chrissy Floyd
2017
Chrissy Floyd led Laurens District High School to Class 4A basketball state championships in 1998 and 1999 and a perfect 58-0 record. Floyd played at Clemson from 1999-2000 through 2002-03 and was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball team four times. She led the team in scoring every year. In her career, Floyd scored 1,937 points, second only in Clemson history to Barbara Kennedy-Dixon, the ACC’s all-time leader. She is 15th in ACC history and was named to the conference’s 50-Year Anniversary team.
Rickey Foggie
2018
Rickey Foggie led the Laurens Raiders to their first state championship in 1983 and went on to the University of Minnesota, where he started at quarterback for four years under head coaches Lou Holtz and John Gutekunst. Still regarded as one of the Golden Gophers' all-time greats, Foggie took Minnesota to two bowl games, including a 20-13 Independence Bowl victory over Clemson in 1985. He became a star in the Canadian Football League, quarterbacking championship teams in Toronto and Edmonton.
Bobby Ivey
2018
Bobby Ivey won 206 games as a high school football coach, with 12 region championships and a 1991 state championship with Laurens District High School. A Woodruff native, Ivey's greatest influence is his high school coach, W.L. Varner. He spent 10 seasons with the Raiders and also led winning programs at Manning, Lake City and Northwestern (Rock Hill). Ivey, who now lives on Lake Greenwood, was inducted into the South Carolina Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2016.
Kinard Littleton
2018
Considered by many to be Clinton High School's greatest all-around athletes, Kinard Littleton led the Red Devils to two state championships in baseball and led a football team to the state finals. He played in the minor leagues in the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox organizations, but service in Vietnam hindered a shot at the big leagues. At CHS, he starred in baseball, football, basketball and track. He played in the Shrine Bowl and was named All-South in football.
Sam Owens (deceased)
2018
Along with brother -- and fellow inductee -- Truman, Sam Owens formed half of the most distinguished officiating siblings in the history of the South Carolina High School League and, quite possibly, the country. Sam officiated basketball for 49 years, football for 43, baseball for 40 and softball for 19. He wrote a book on the history of Clinton and, as a boy, starred at Clinton High in baseball, basketball and track. At various times, Sam was president of state officials' associations in football and basketball.
Truman Owens
2018
Like his younger brother Sam, Truman Owens made a full-time job of officiating high school sports while dedicated a similar amount of time to the Clinton community. He has been honored in dozens of ways for both public service and dedication to the South Carolina High School League and tens of thousands of young athletes whose exploits he monitored and regulated. Truman served on Clinton City Council for 41 years while officiating for 57 years in basketball, 50 in football, 46 in baseball and 26 in softball.
William Hill
2019
William Hill roared into the Presbyterian College athletic program from McKeesport, Pa., after a year at the University of Pittsburgh and two in the Marine Corps. He competed with distinction in football, track and basketball. Hill was a two-way starter for the Blue Hose and still holds the school record of 11 interceptions in a season. Hill played in the 1959 Tangerine Bowl for Presbyterian and two years in the Canadian Football League with the Edmonton Eskimos, returning to Clinton after his professional career.
Bill Hogan
2019
Bill Hogan is a broadcasting pioneer who took sports on the airwaves to places it had never been during his time as owner of WLBG AM/FM in Laurens. A native of Minnesota and graduate of the University of Iowa, Hogan was the football and basketball play-by-play voice of Presbyterian College and Furman University. At one time, WLBG originated regular broadcasts of high school sports, small-college basketball and minor-league baseball. He was the first in South Carolina to originate a statewide scoreboard of high school football.
Lonnie Pulley
2019
Lonnie Pulley was a state champion at Laurens District High School, South Carolina Back of the Year, Shrine Bowl Co-MVP, All-American and a CIAA champion at Winston-Salem State. Pulley also played basketball and ran track for the Raiders. As an athlete, Pulley was feared for his prodigious ability but respected for his sportsmanship. His life has been dedicated to athletics and community service ever since he settled near Winston-Salem in Kernersville, N.C.
Phil Rogers
2019
Phil Rogers Jr. was a great young man who never got a chance to grow old. When the Clinton native graduated from Clemson in 1968, he was considered the finest receiver in the Tigers’ history. He once caught 11 passes in a game against North Carolina. Rogers was a leader in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes who played football on Saturday at Death Valley and piano on Sunday in church. He was only 27 when he died of a brain tumor in 1974.
Clovis Simmons
2019
Before Clovis Simmons took over the Clinton High School tennis program in 1992, not many women coached boys at any level. For Simmons, there was never any obstacle involved. She began coaching both Red Devil boys and girls in 1991. Thanks to coaching two teams, she has won over 30 region and three state Coach of the Year awards, and Clinton success has been divided almost equally between boys and girls. Her 2000 boys’ team won the Class 3A state championship. She is a native of Blackshear, Ga., and a graduate of Georgia Southern University.
Buddy Jennings
2022
A native of Laurens, Buddy Jennings holds the distinction of being 1 of only 2 football head coaches to win a state title at Laurens District High School. Jennings’ teams earned 4 region titles at LDHS, and 2 4A Division State Championships at Laurens – 1983 & 1984.
Shell Dula
2022
A product of Laurens District High School and Presbyterian College, Shell Dula serves as the executive director of the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association. Dula won six state championships and amassed 253 victories in his career. He is 1 of 2 coaches to win state championships at three different levels, including titles at Ninety Six, Union and Greenwood.
Ed Pitts
2022
Ed Pitts played football for the Clinton Red Devils from 1952 to 1955. Pitts was a two-way starter in the 1955 Shrine Bowl, and SC Co-captain and two-way starter in the 1956 North-South Game. Pitts played tackle for the Gamecocks during the 1957-1959 seasons, earning All-ACC honors in 1958 and 1959. Pitts became director of the Gamecock Club at the University of South Carolina in 1962 and served in that capacity for 22 years.
Ann Simmons Dean Parks
2022
Ann Parks led Ware Shoals basketball to back-to-back perfect seasons in 1968-69 and 1969-70 amassing 42 wins and 0 losses and two state championships. In her final season, she averaged 24 points, 20 rebounds and 7 assists per game. Parks scored 485 points in 1970, while her opponents managed a total of 484 points that same season. Parks coached at Clinton High School from 1974 to 1980. She was the South Carolina High School Basketball Coach of the Year in 1978-79.
Roy Walker
2022
Roy Walker played offensive and defensive tackle as part of the Clinton High School Football State Championship Team of 1975. The Red Devils were Upper-State champions the year before in 1974. Walker received All-State and All-Region honors at CHS. He was an NAIA All-American at Presbyterian College, winning the Jacobs Blocking Trophy for the State of South Carolina. Walker is widely considered one of the greatest players in PC history.
Robert Wilder
2024
Wilder was a resident of Clinton from 1935-1993. He was a football All-American in 1930 at Furman University and is a member of their Athletic Hall of Fame. Wilder coached Clinton High School’s first upperstate championship team in 1938 and their first state championship team in 1939. He was later the principal at Clinton High School and the football stadium is named in his honor.
Jean Hammond Whitfield
2024
A graduate of Hickory Tavern High School and a current resident of Laurens, Whitfield was inducted into the SC Women’s Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 1984. She won four international titles, including overall champion and doubles champion in the Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela in 1983. She was a member of the US Team in 1982 and 1983. Whitfield was also the top amateur in the WIBC championship in 1982.
Charles Peterson
2024
Peterson led the Laurens Raiders to a baseball state championship in 1990 and a football state championship in 1991. During his high school career, Peterson was named state player of the year in baseball and football and played in the Shrine Bowl. Peterson was drafted in 1993 by the Pittsburgh Pirates as the 22nd overall pick in the first round of MLB’s amateur draft. He played six years in the minor leagues, making it to AAA in 1998.
Anthony Downs
2024
Downs was a member of the Laurens Raiders football state championship team in 1983 and played in the Shrine Bowl that year. At Appalachian State University, Downs was a consensus first-team All-American as a senior in 1987. He was named 1987 Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year after amassing 138 tackles. Downs was a three-time first-team all-Southern Conference performer and was inducted into Appalachian's Hall of Fame in 2012.
Walter Todd
2024
A graduate of LDHS and Presbyterian College, Todd was inducted into the SC Golf Hall of Fame in 2024. Todd has competed at the local, state, national and international levels for nearly four decades. In SC, he won the SCGA Mid-Amateur Champion title in 2005, CGA Mid-Amateur title in 2007, seven SCGA Four-Ball titles, three SCGA Father-Son titles with both of his sons and nine Musgrove Mill Club Champion titles. He is three-time SCGA Senior Player of the Year and 2019 Senior Azalea Champion. Todd won the 2017 Senior Jones Cup Champion title, competed in the 2012 US Mid-Amateur, 2016, ’19 & ‘22 British Senior Amateurs and the 2018, ’19, ’21 & ‘23 US Senior Amateurs advancing to the quarterfinals in 2019.
Hall King
2025
King played football at Clinton High School from 1935-1938. In 1938, King was the first player from Clinton to be named to the Shrine Bowl but didn’t play in the game because Clinton played in the state championship on the same day. King was revered as the best high school running back in SC in 1938. He played in college at both Clemson (1939) and PC (1943).
Travis Langford
2025
Langford led the Laurens girls basketball team to AAAA state championships in 1998, 1999 and 2001 and four region titles. During his tenure at LDHS, the Lady Raiders won 58 consecutive games over the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons. He was also an assistant football coach on the Raiders 1991 state championship team.
Ed Prescott
2025
Prescott coached baseball at Laurens for 24 years, winning eight straight region titles and state championships in 1983 and 1990. He was named SC Baseball Coach of the Year in 1990. As an assistant football coach at Laurens, Prescott was a part of nine region titles and three state championships.
Stan Whitlock
2025
Whitlock kicked the winning extra point to give the Laurens Raiders a state title in 1991. Known as the most accomplished kicker/punter to come out of Laurens, Whitlock kicked in the North-South game and at the time of his graduation held the record for most points by a kicker in SC. Whitlock played collegiately at Wingate University and was a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys (1996 & 1998) and Chicago Bears (1997). He played arena football in 2000-2002.
Andy B. Young
2025
Young was the head coach for two state titles at Clinton High School, including AAA tennis in 1974 and AAA football in 2009. As a football assistant at Clinton, Young won state titles in football in 1975, 1977, 1978, 1985 and 1987. He was head football coach and athletic director at Clinton for 17 years. As head football coach, Young made the state playoffs in 15 of 17 years, played in three state championship games, won 155 games and had a win percentage of 72 percent.
William 'D.D.' Boyd
2026
Boyd is a member of the Laurens District 55 Athletic Hall of Fame, Newberry College Hall of Fame and the South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame. At LDHS, Boyd played basketball, baseball and football and participated in the North-South All-Star football game. Boyd went to Newberry College on a baseball scholarship but decided to join the football team. He recorded 10 interceptions during his freshman season, which still stands as the Newberry record. He was named first-team All-Conference in 1975, 1976 and 1977. He finished his career with more than 200 tackles, 20 interceptions and 400 interception return yards.
Gregg Nibert
2026
Nibert was the head men’s basketball coach at Presbyterian College from 1989-2017 and is the winningest coach in program history. In their NCAA Division II era, Nibert was 335-216 and finished with an overall record of 419-409, including 10 years in NCAA Division I. Nibert compiled six 20-win seasons and finished in the top four in the South Atlantic Conference regular season standings 14 times. He was also named SAC Coach-of-the-Year in 1993 and 1997.
Robert Scott
2026
Scott is revered as one of the greatest Clinton Red Devil football players of all time. He helped integrate Clinton High School as a sophomore, having started on the Bell Street High School varsity as a freshman. He earned All-Conference, All-State and All-American honors and was the SC Lineman of the Year in 1972. His senior year, a state championship year for the Red Devils, he was named to the Shrine Bowl and the North-South All-Star game, kicking the winning field goal in the Shrine Bowl.
Reggie Williams
2026
Williams, a former Laurens Raider baseball player, was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 25th round of the 1988 MLB amateur draft. Williams played professional baseball from 1988-1999. He played eight seasons in AAA and played in 88 MLB games in parts of four seasons in 1992, 1995, 1996 and 1999. In MLB, he played for the California Angels, Anaheim Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Members of the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame
Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame
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