GWSHOF Did You Know?

Coaching icon Leon Brogden was the first individual to be inducted into the GWSHOF on May 21, 2006.

A total of 79 individuals have been inducted into the GWSHOF since the first class in 2006.

Twelve women have been inducted into the GWSHOF, including Althea Gibson, who has been inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Members of the GWSHOF hail from 18 diƯerent categories, with football topping the list at 18 honorees.

Bill Dooley is considered the founding father of the GWSHOF after laying the foundation for the group in 2005 and spearheading the first induction in 2006.

Four individuals – Bill Dooley, George Rountree III, Jon Rosborough and Louise McColl – have served as chairmen of the GWSHOF.

Jon Rosborough served as chairman of the GWSHOF for 10 years from 2008-2017.

Media personality David Glenn has served as Master of Ceremonies for four GWSHOF inductions in 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2025.

The GWSHOF induction ceremony has taken place at three diƯerent venues – the Wilmington Hilton, UNCW’s Burney Center and the Wilmington Convention Center.

The last six induction ceremonies of the GWSHOF have been staged at the Wilmington Convention Center.

The GWSHOF did not hold inductions during the Covid-19 years of 2021 and 2022.

AAU champion and boxing instructor Sherriedale Morgan is the only boxer inducted into the GWSHOF.

Youth baseball coach Ed Wilson becomes the 16th person inducted posthumously into the GWSHOF during the 2026 induction weekend in May.

Phyllis Mason, inducted in 2020, completed 244 triathlons of all distances during her remarkable career.

Meadowlark Lemon, the charismatic “Clown Prince” of the touring Harlem Globetrotters who was inducted into the GWSHOF in 2006, was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Willie Stargell, GWSHOF Class of 2011, played all 21 of his Major League Baseball seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988 in his first year of eligibility.