W.N. Gressette
The St. Matthews native Bill Gressette lettered four years in football and baseball at Furman University (1913-18).
In 1916, he ran for 318 yards against Erskine College to set a single-game school record that still stands. He also rushed that season for 217 yards against Presbyterian College and 173 against Georgia Tech, with a season total of 865 yards. He held five other records into the 1980s.
Gressette earned All-South Carolina honors in 1915 and 1916. He served as captain of the 1915-16 football team. He was also an outstanding outfielder on the baseball team.
Cliff Morgan
A three-sport athlete at Newberry College (1934-37) who earned 12 letters. In 1937, he was co-captain of the football team, alternate captain of the basketball team, All-State baseball, Honorable All-State football, and best male athlete at Newberry. He then was a three-sport coach at Summerville High, Marion High and Orangeburg High schools, and the Gold Hill, N.C., product also played semiprofessional baseball and served in World War II.
James E. "Big Daddy" Neal
Wofford College’s 6-foot-11 center from Silverstreet simply dominated his era. As a senior in 1952-53, he averaged 32.6 points a game and led the NAIA in rebounding (28 per game) before playing briefly in the NBA with the Syracuse Nationals. At Wofford, he scored 2,078 career points and held the school record for points in a game (57), and season (750), scoring average in a season (32.6) and career (23.3), while also holding rebounding marks for a game (40), season (609) and career (1,521). He also converted 22 of 24 free throws in a 1953 game.
F.W. "Gunner" Ohlandt
Ohlandt captained The Citadel in football, starting both ways at end on the 1947-50 teams, and for its boxing teams. He captured the Southern Conference heavyweight title in 1947 and held it until 1949, and then won the league light-heavyweight crown in 1950. He had a spectacular 114-3 college record and is considered to be among the best-ever athletes to attend The Citadel and was a member of the Hall of Fame’s inaugural class.
Harry Olszewski
Olszewski, from Baltimore, Md., was a first-team consensus All-American guard at Clemson in 1967 and won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy. He played professionally with the Las Vegas Cowboys (1968), Alabama Hawks (1968) and the Montreal Alouettes (1969-70).
Grady Ray
As a baseball and football standout at Newberry College (1952-56), Ray led the Indians in rushing and receiving, and made the All-Little Four first team. He led the state of South Carolina in rushing in 1953. As a second baseman, he paced Newberry in stolen bases twice. The Camden native became a college football referee for 31 years, calling several major bowls.
Jim Rice
The Anderson product became an All-Star with the Boston Red Sox (1974-89), winning the American League MVP Award in 1978. He batted .298 for his career, hit 382 home runs and led the AL in homers three times. Rice was an eight-time All-Star, twice captured the Silver Slugger Award and twice led the league in RBI. He earned induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009.