Celebrating 90 Years of Success – Collaborating to Build Something Special
The 90th anniversary of the formation of Conference Carolinas is on Dec. 6, 2020.
GREENVILLE, S.C. - When school officials from Appalachian State, Atlantic Christian (now Barton College), Catawba, Guilford, Elon, High Point and Lenoir-Rhyne gathered at the Washington Duke Hotel in Durham, N.C. on Dec. 6, 1930, little did they know that the new athletic association they would form would grow into one of the premier NCAA Division II conferences in the United States today.
Back then, their goal was relatively modest. Initially named the North State Intercollegiate Conference-a forerunner to today’s Conference Carolinas-the seven-member league was established “for the greater advantage of the small colleges of North Carolina.”
Now, 90 years later, Conference Carolinas boasts 11 members and a gilded history that rivals any Division II circuit in the country. That membership will expand further to 13 next year when Francis Marion and UNC Pembroke join the conference.
Several current and former coaches, athletes and staff from member schools were interviewed to find proper perspective on how far the conference has grown during their tenures, as Conference Carolinas celebrates its 90th Anniversary this year.
Appropriately, we started with Mount Olive alumnus Dianne Riley Gray and former Erskine Public Relations Director Dick Haldeman, whose combined involvement in their respective colleges spans 114 years.
Gray, who arrived on the Mount Olive campus as a freshman in 1965, has held several positions on campus, including Admissions Director and Director of Alumni Relations. Her long-time association with the Trojans’ athletic department has been primarily as a donor.
“I bleed green and love Mount Olive!” she recently said with much gusto.
The Gray family legacy at UMO, which now includes three generations, is well known throughout the university. It all started when Mount Olive athletics was in its infancy.
“If I remember correctly, this was our first year of conference sports and I think men’s basketball and baseball were the only two sports,” Gray recalled. “There were no sports for women at that time, so I put together an intramural basketball team which worked just fine. I remember as if it was yesterday being in the student body as we voted on the colors of green and white and chose Trojans as our mascot.”
After graduation, she returned to her alma mater in 1973 as an Admissions Counselor. Part of her job was to recruit elite student-athletes for the sports’ teams.
“By then, other sports had been added and over the next 25-plus years I enjoyed recruiting promising athletes for many different sports,” she recalled. “However, it was not easy recruiting in those early years. We didn’t have a gym (until the early 80’s) or tennis courts on campus, yet we had teams and good student-athletes came!”
Gray witnessed the transition from a junior college to a four-year institution, with intercollegiate athletics always a big source of pride.
“I remember our golf team going to the (Junior College) Nationals in Florida. I remember our basketball team going to the Elite Eight and when the baseball team won the National Championship. All of these were huge for Mount Olive, the town and the community.“
Looking back on her life’s work, Gray is intertwined with hundreds-if not thousands-of Mount Olive graduates, teachers and staff.
“I never could have imagined that I would be a part of so many lives. But, I believed in the dream, what it was and what it could be. As the Alumni Director for over 10 years, I had the opportunity to visit the homes and workplaces of many former student-athletes. Some of the most fulfilling moments were to write recommendation letters for some of these athletes who had such work ethic, such honesty and such care for the other person. What a joy to see what our alumni athletes are doing today.”
Haldeman, who was first named Public Relations Director at Erskine in 1961, immediately began publicizing a top-notch men’s basketball team. He said the 1960’s and 1970’s was a golden era for small college basketball played in North and South Carolina.
Interestingly, Conference Carolinas and NAIA District 26 also played an important role in the integration of college sports in the region.
“District 26 included all primarily white NAIA colleges in both Carolinas,” said Haldeman, who served 34 years (1961-95) as Erskine’s PR man. “District 26 and the Carolinas Conference (as the league was informally known then) were pioneers in integrating Carolinas sports when the great Henry Logan (the first African American collegiate athlete in North Carolina) entered Western Carolina in 1965
.”
While Erskine was not a member of the conference yet, it often had to play Conference Carolinas teams to advance to NAIA National Tournament in the 1960’s. Haldeman fondly remembers the long road trips in caravans.
“These trips featured active conversation going up, but sometimes also silence on the trip home (after losses). The one exception was a New Year’s Eve victory over East Carolina when Erskine’s players stopped to shoot firecrackers in celebration!”
Basketball games were played in mostly small gymnasiums during Haldeman’s time at Erskine and sportsmanship carried over to after the game.
“Though teams like Western Carolina and Elon featured modern basketball arenas for the time, most games in the 1960's were played in intimate arenas like Erskine’s McGee Gymnasium, where spectators overflowed on the floor. Entire student bodies seemed to attend, with noise levels luckily drowning out epithets hurled at opposing coaches and officials. Amazingly, after games the teams would often eat postgame meals together, where coaches rehashed the games, joined in conversations and formed lasting friendships. Erskine’s Coach Red Myers had lifelong friendships with many Carolinas Conference coaches.”
Haldeman said that the level of small college play in the 1960’s almost was Division I’s equal in that era. In fact, Erskine claimed a victory over Davidson and forced South Carolina into overtime. Also, many small college players were drafted and played in the National Basketball Association.
As one can imagine, the Erskine PR Director enjoyed hundreds of memories over his four decades with the school. Yet, there is one moment that clearly stands out in his mind. It involved basketball coach Robbie Hicklin.
“The most uplifting experience I ever had was watching the courage displayed by Erskine basketball coach Robbie Hicklin,” he said. “Coach Hicklin, who played Conference Carolinas basketball at Elon, coached Erskine to a 27-7 record in 1991-92 while dying of liver cancer. He died in July 1992, three months after coaching Erskine to the final eight of the NAIA National Tournament and 15 months after being given only three months to live.”
Blaine Brown, who has served as head baseball coach at King since 2012 and was previously an assistant for the Tornado from 2009-11, can offer a more recent take on the conference. He still marvels at the transformation of his sport into one of the elite baseball conferences in America. As the longest tenured baseball coach in Conference Carolinas, he’s guided King through the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II status and seen the league’s competition stiffen as top baseball programs have been added to the mix.
“The progress I have seen since being in the league has been unbelievable,” said Brown, who registered his 200th career coaching victory in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season. “When I came into the league it was very top heavy. Since then schools have invested so much into their baseball programs that now it is truly a dogfight every weekend. I compare our league to the SEC of Division II baseball. There are no easy wins.”
And Brown expects the sport to become even more competitive next year, when perennial baseball juggernauts Francis Marion and UNC Pembroke join the conference. He also points to schools investing more and more money into baseball in recent years as an impetus to the conference landscape.
“I have seen such a change in monetary commitments,” Brown said. “Schools are investing large amounts of money into fields, stadiums and scholarships. Conference Carolinas should be very proud of their baseball programs as they are definitely recognized on a national level.”
Ryan Booher, who has worked hard as King’s men’s volleyball coach for the past 10 years and added women’s head coach to his responsibilities last season, says that his conference sports have grown tremendously in both in size and stature.
“Conference Carolinas has helped in the growth of men’s volleyball, from the start with only five teams, and growing to now having nine teams in our league (including Converse men's volleyball in the future). Our Conference is one of five DI-DII conferences that sponsor men’s volleyball and we have an automatic berth into the Men’s Volleyball Division I tournament.”
That automatic bid became up close and personal when King qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2018.
“One of my most treasured memories that the conference provided was winning the conference tournament and getting to compete against Ohio State in the national tournament,” Booher said. “Conference Carolinas has provided great opportunities for student-athletes to compete at the highest level in a growing sport. I congratulate Conference Carolinas on 90 years of supporting our student-athletes.”
Jenn Testa, former head softball coach at King from 2009-2018, was involved with the school for 18 years and observed the remarkable evolution of Conference Carolinas dating back to 2000. Initially, she was a four-year starter on the Tornado basketball team (2000-04). In 2005, Testa served as the school’s Sports Information Director and assistant softball coach while earning a MBA graduate degree. She then became assistant women’s basketball coach at King from 2006-08.
With experience in two conference sports and as an SID, Testa can offer a unique perspective of women’s athletics played in Conference Carolinas.
“In 2012, when we officially joined the conference, you could see the history and pride the softball teams had in their programs and their schools,” Testa said. “But we struggled to compete with the top teams in our region. Through the years, as we continued to build our programs and develop rivalries, you could also see our teams push to compete and challenge the other top teams in our region. We quickly went from having one team (our conference champion) represented in the NCAA region tournaments each year, to two to three teams and multiple represented in the top-25 rankings.”
She said there have been many factors that can be attributed to the league’s increased success, which has led to enriching their student-athletes’ experience.
“Each school has made great strides to improve on facilities, hire outstanding coaches and recruit talented players and we are seeing the results of those efforts played out on the fields each year. Conference Carolinas is not only an outstanding academic conference, they also have proven they can compete athletically with the best of the best, giving their students a great balance to their overall college experience.”
Rita Smith, one of the real treasures of Conference Carolinas during her 36-year tenure at Lees-McRae, wears many hats as the Bobcats’ top healthcare administrator. She serves as an Associate Athletic Director, Assistant Professor and Senior Woman Administrator for athletics, and also is a key member of the Senior Woman Administrators Committee of Conference Carolinas.
Smith lists many changes and improvements during her four decades in the conference.
“Lees-McRae had never had a staff athletic trainer when I started,” she said. “Most schools didn’t. We usually had a table to use or bleachers for prep, and that was it.”
Smith cites a continual trend of new opportunities for women’s sports and administrative roles for women over the years.
“I’ve also seen much-improved athletic facilities,” she added. “Lees-McRae first soccer field (women’s practice field) was converted from an overflow parking lot for football, which meant it was filled with rocks that meant many people had to clear them by hand. There was a real commitment and we did it.”
Among the other improvements she’s witnessed included the transition of game statistics being done by hand to now computerized, student-athletes’ wardrobes expanding from only game uniforms to additional practice and travel gear and increased event staff for men’s and women’s contests.
Smith also remembers the time she and the women’s soccer team escaped a harrowing situation-a memory that still haunts her.
“It was the NJCAA Tournament for women’s soccer. The field was located in a residential area with no building associated with the site. Tornado warning sirens went off and we had to get on the bus for shelter. The tornado passed by us less than a mile away!”
Covering so many highlights over a long career, Smith found it difficult to pinpoint only one or two top memories from her time at Lees-McRae.
“I’ve had so many memories over my 36 years, so it is hard for me to choose,” she admitted. “Going to the many conference and national championship events (NJCAA, NAIA, NCAA) and experiencing both wins and losses has to rank right up there. I also have taken great pride in seeing my athletic training students succeed and reflecting on the times we shared together.”
One of those who worked closely with Smith at Lees-McRae, but also left their own indelible mark in Conference Carolinas is Reid Estus.
Estus originally founded the women’s soccer program at Lees-McRae in 1987. He led the program to 199 wins in 13 seasons before eventually also taking on roles at Lees-McRae as the women’s tennis coach, softball coach and as a physical education instructor.
Estus was also the Director of Athletics from 1994-2009 where he helped lead Lees-McRae from NAIA to NCAA Division II.
“It’s all about relationships,” Estus said recently. “We worked well as Athletic Directors in Conference Carolinas. All were fiercely loyal to their teams, but we also worked together to make the best decisions for our student-athletes.”
For the thousands of student-athletes, coaches and administrators who have shared time together in Conference Carolinas during the past 90 years, a collective pride in building something special should be shared by all.
Bob Rose is a longtime sports public relations executive who has worked for the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, the NFL Cardinals, Cal, Stanford and other organizations. Conference Carolinas’ official storyteller, Rose will incorporate unique features through his “Body, Mind, and Soul” series into the 90th anniversary celebration.
(King’s Travis Chell, Lees-McRae’s Patrick Smith, Erskine’s Andrew Preston and Mount Olive’s Ryan Smith contributed to this article)