University of North Carolina Athletics
Hatchell, Swofford To Enter NC Sports Hall
May 14, 2009 | Women's Basketball
May 14, 2009
RALEIGH, N.C. --- North Carolina women's basketball head coach Sylvia Hatchell and Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford are among six honorees who will be inducted into the 2009 North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame Thursday night at the North Raleigh Hilton.
"This year's inductees into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame represent an array of athletic talent that would make any state proud," said Nat Walker, president of the Hall. "Their achievements enrich an already outstanding sports heritage represented by the 260 Hall of Fame members previously enshrined."
The six new members are Hatchell, Swofford, Willie Burden of Statesboro, Ga., Jerry Moore of Boone, Dave Odom of Columbia, S.C., and Roger Watson of Myrtle Beach, S.C.
They will be enshrined at the 46th annual induction banquet on the evening of May 14 in the main ballroom of the North Raleigh Hilton Hotel. The six inductees will be introduced at an afternoon news conference at the North Carolina Museum of History, home of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Banquet ticket information is available from www.ncshof.org or by dialing (919) 845-3455.
Hatchell, a native of Gastonia, N.C., has coached the University of North Carolina Women's basketball team since 1986, leading her charges to the 1994 NCAA championship. She also won NAIA and AIAW national championships as coach of the Francis Marion College women's team. Hatchell's Tar Heels have won eight ACC titles and she recently became the fourth coach in NCAA history to win 800 career games. She was named national coach of the year in 1994 and inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.
Swofford, a native of North Wilkesboro, is only the fourth commissioner of the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference, a post he has held for 13 years. Previously he was athletic director of the University of North Carolina, his alma mater, where he was a Morehead Scholar and played quarterback and defensive back for the Tar Heels from 1969 to 1971. During his stint as athletic director, Swofford presided over a remarkable growth in the school's athletic department, including the financing and construction of the Smith Center. As ACC commissioner, he is one of college athletics most influential people, ranking fifth in power according to The Sporting News. Under his leadership the ACC has grown and Swofford has participated in negotiating lucrative radio and television packages for conference schools.
The state's sports Hall of Fame was established in 1963 and its exhibits are located on the third floor of the history museum on Jones Street in downtown Raleigh. The permanent exhibits feature significant artifacts donated by all of the inductees. The museum is open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
