North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Athletic Hall of Fame Officially Welcomes Class of 2016
9/16/2016 11:36:00 AM | Pack Athletics
September 16, 2016
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Watch the Replay of the Ceremony on the ACC Network Extra!Â
RALEIGH – The NC State Athletic Hall of Fame officially welcomed the class of 2016 to its ranks Friday evening in a grand reopening ceremony of Reynolds Coliseum in front of a sold-out crowd.
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This year's class—the fourth overall and the first limited to six inductees after three consecutive 10-member classes—features an iconic national championship basketball team, a multisport athlete who was born the year NC State opened its doors in 1889, and a football player who single-handedly scored all the points in the game that secured Wolfpack football its first ACC championship. The six-member class also includes a coach who won 17 ACC championships while producing multiple NCAA and Olympic champions, arguably the greatest men's lacrosse player in NCAA history, and one of the highest scoring women's basketball players in program history. Â
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Dave Robertson—a baseball slugger who played four sports at the North Carolina School of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts from 1909-12—became the school's first prominent professional athlete. In school, he once struck out 23 Guilford batters in a nine-inning baseball game, but gave up pitching after breaking both shoulders while playing football and became one of the top sluggers of his generation as an outfielder. He was a champion sprinter in track and a reserve on NC State's first basketball team in 1911. As a pro, Robertson twice led the National League in home runs, helped the New York Giants win three pennants and the 1922 World Series. The Norfolk, Virginia, native played parts of nine seasons in the majors with the Giants, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. After his professional baseball career was over, he became a game warden in Virginia. He died at the age of 81 in 1970.
All-America football halfback Dick Christy famously scored all 29 of the Wolfpack's points in a championship-deciding game at South Carolina in 1957, giving head coach Earle Edwards the first of his five ACC titles. Christy was named first-team All-American by AP and UPI, first-team All-ACC, the ACC Player of the Year and the ACC Athlete of the Year. Christy, also an accomplished diver, was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 1958 NFL Draft and played for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers and the AFL's Boston Patriots and New York Titans. He died in a one-car accident near his hometown of Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1966.
Stan Cockerton, college lacrosse's top scorer from 1977-80, scored 193 goals and 280 points in just 44 career games and led NC State to its only appearance in the NCAA Championships in 1979. The wiry 5-foot-7 native of Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, was a four-time All-American, a four-time All-ACC pick and the two-time ACC Player of the Year. He remains second in NCAA history in points per game (6.36) and third in goals scored. He helped the Canadian national team win its only world lacrosse championship and has been inducted into both the Canadian and U.S. Lacrosse halls of fame. He currently serves as an executive for the Ontario Lacrosse Association and the International Lacrosse Foundation.
The late Linda Page was a two-time All-American for legendary coach Kay Yow and helped lead the Wolfpack to four consecutive NCAA Championship appearances, two regular-season ACC titles and the 1985 ACC Tournament title. As a sophomore in 1983, she was the Most Valuable Player of the ACC Tournament and a first-team All-ACC selection as a junior and senior. She still ranks as the program's second-leading all-time scorer with 2,307 career points. She died in her hometown of Philadelphia in 2011.
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Don Easterling fielded dominating men's swimming teams in the 1970s and began the women's program in 1976. He won 15 men's ACC titles and two women's and was twice named ACC Coach of the Year. In one of the most remarkable streaks in conference history, the Wolfpack men's team won 12 consecutive titles from 1971-82. He coached 24 men's and 16 women's All-Americans, two men's national champion, four men's USA Swimming champions and seven Olympians. He also led the Wolfpack to the ultimate team championship: the 1973 men's squad won every single event at the ACC Championships. They went on to finish eighth at the NCAA Championships.
Led by David Thompson, Tommy Burleson and head coach Norm Sloan—all of whom previously have been inducted into the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame—the 1974 men's basketball team is still remembered as one of the greatest in college basketball history. A year after compiling a perfect 27-0 record, the Wolfpack posted a 30-1 mark in 1974 to win the school's first National Championship in any sport. It beat Maryland in the ACC Championship in what is remembered as the greatest game in league history, ended UCLA's seven-year reign as NCAA champions by beating the Bruins in the semifinals and downed Marquette in the title game to bring home NC State's first team national title. Over a two-year span, the Wolfpack was 57-1 under Sloan's direction, with a pair of ACC titles and the national championship. Burleson and Thompson both earned All-American honors in a lineup that also relied heavily on guards Monte Towe and Mo Rivers and frontcourt players Phil Spence and Tim Stoddard.
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Earlier in the afternoon, the completed Coaches Corner project was unveiled outside Reynolds Coliseum. A project driven by NC State students, this project features statues of legendary NC State coaches throughout history.Â
#GoPack
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Watch the Replay of the Ceremony on the ACC Network Extra!Â
RALEIGH – The NC State Athletic Hall of Fame officially welcomed the class of 2016 to its ranks Friday evening in a grand reopening ceremony of Reynolds Coliseum in front of a sold-out crowd.
Â
This year's class—the fourth overall and the first limited to six inductees after three consecutive 10-member classes—features an iconic national championship basketball team, a multisport athlete who was born the year NC State opened its doors in 1889, and a football player who single-handedly scored all the points in the game that secured Wolfpack football its first ACC championship. The six-member class also includes a coach who won 17 ACC championships while producing multiple NCAA and Olympic champions, arguably the greatest men's lacrosse player in NCAA history, and one of the highest scoring women's basketball players in program history. Â
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Some shots of the @PackAthletics set up for the Hall of Fame induction and #Reynolds grand opening pic.twitter.com/xfnag9NiOB
— The Wolfpacker (@TheWolfpacker) September 16, 2016
Dave Robertson—a baseball slugger who played four sports at the North Carolina School of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts from 1909-12—became the school's first prominent professional athlete. In school, he once struck out 23 Guilford batters in a nine-inning baseball game, but gave up pitching after breaking both shoulders while playing football and became one of the top sluggers of his generation as an outfielder. He was a champion sprinter in track and a reserve on NC State's first basketball team in 1911. As a pro, Robertson twice led the National League in home runs, helped the New York Giants win three pennants and the 1922 World Series. The Norfolk, Virginia, native played parts of nine seasons in the majors with the Giants, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. After his professional baseball career was over, he became a game warden in Virginia. He died at the age of 81 in 1970.
All-America football halfback Dick Christy famously scored all 29 of the Wolfpack's points in a championship-deciding game at South Carolina in 1957, giving head coach Earle Edwards the first of his five ACC titles. Christy was named first-team All-American by AP and UPI, first-team All-ACC, the ACC Player of the Year and the ACC Athlete of the Year. Christy, also an accomplished diver, was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 1958 NFL Draft and played for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers and the AFL's Boston Patriots and New York Titans. He died in a one-car accident near his hometown of Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1966.
Stan Cockerton, college lacrosse's top scorer from 1977-80, scored 193 goals and 280 points in just 44 career games and led NC State to its only appearance in the NCAA Championships in 1979. The wiry 5-foot-7 native of Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, was a four-time All-American, a four-time All-ACC pick and the two-time ACC Player of the Year. He remains second in NCAA history in points per game (6.36) and third in goals scored. He helped the Canadian national team win its only world lacrosse championship and has been inducted into both the Canadian and U.S. Lacrosse halls of fame. He currently serves as an executive for the Ontario Lacrosse Association and the International Lacrosse Foundation.
The late Linda Page was a two-time All-American for legendary coach Kay Yow and helped lead the Wolfpack to four consecutive NCAA Championship appearances, two regular-season ACC titles and the 1985 ACC Tournament title. As a sophomore in 1983, she was the Most Valuable Player of the ACC Tournament and a first-team All-ACC selection as a junior and senior. She still ranks as the program's second-leading all-time scorer with 2,307 career points. She died in her hometown of Philadelphia in 2011.
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Don Easterling fielded dominating men's swimming teams in the 1970s and began the women's program in 1976. He won 15 men's ACC titles and two women's and was twice named ACC Coach of the Year. In one of the most remarkable streaks in conference history, the Wolfpack men's team won 12 consecutive titles from 1971-82. He coached 24 men's and 16 women's All-Americans, two men's national champion, four men's USA Swimming champions and seven Olympians. He also led the Wolfpack to the ultimate team championship: the 1973 men's squad won every single event at the ACC Championships. They went on to finish eighth at the NCAA Championships.
Led by David Thompson, Tommy Burleson and head coach Norm Sloan—all of whom previously have been inducted into the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame—the 1974 men's basketball team is still remembered as one of the greatest in college basketball history. A year after compiling a perfect 27-0 record, the Wolfpack posted a 30-1 mark in 1974 to win the school's first National Championship in any sport. It beat Maryland in the ACC Championship in what is remembered as the greatest game in league history, ended UCLA's seven-year reign as NCAA champions by beating the Bruins in the semifinals and downed Marquette in the title game to bring home NC State's first team national title. Over a two-year span, the Wolfpack was 57-1 under Sloan's direction, with a pair of ACC titles and the national championship. Burleson and Thompson both earned All-American honors in a lineup that also relied heavily on guards Monte Towe and Mo Rivers and frontcourt players Phil Spence and Tim Stoddard.
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| Inductee | Sport | Years |
| 1974 Men's Basketball Team | Men's Basketball | 1973-74 |
| Dick Christy | Football/Swimming & Diving | 1955-58 |
| Stan Cockerton | Lacrosse | 1977-80 |
| Don Easterling | Men's & Women's Swimming & Diving | 1970-92 |
| Linda Page | Women's Basketball | 1982-85 |
| Dave Robertson | Baseball, Football, Men's Basketball, Track & Field | 1909-12 |
Earlier in the afternoon, the completed Coaches Corner project was unveiled outside Reynolds Coliseum. A project driven by NC State students, this project features statues of legendary NC State coaches throughout history.Â
#GoPack
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