COLUMBIA, S.C. (Feb. 17, 2026) – In addition to enshrining 10 more legends, the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame also will honor five individuals with special awards, according to President Randy Warrick.
NFL official Rick Patterson of Gaffney will be recognized with the prestigious Felix “Doc” Blanchard Citizen for Sports Award and executive Beth Bass of Hartsville will be honored with the Willie Jeffries Ambassador for Sports Award as part of the 64th Annual South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Banquet on May 18 at the Columbia Convention Center.
The Bobby Richardson Sportsmanship Award will be presented to Sumter’s Wallie Jones while Columbia sports radio personality Teddy Heffner will be bestowed the Herman Helms Excellence in Media Award. Tony Ciuffo, originally from Charleston, will be honored with the Dom Fusci Leadership in Action Award.
“These five individuals have risen to the top of their respective professions and have made and continue to make positive impacts on countless people around the state and recognition is due,” said Warrick.
Being enshrined in the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame this year are Brian Barnes (Clemson baseball, MLB), Tim Bourret (Clemson administrator-broadcaster), Amber Campbell Moore (Coastal Carolina T&F, Olympian), Jim Davis (Clemson women’s basketball coach), Armanti Edwards (Greenwood, Appalachian State football, NFL), Dwayne Harper (Orangeburg, S.C. State football; NFL), Andrew Provence (USC football, NFL), Saudia Roundtree (Anderson, Georgia basketball, ABL), and Steve Spurrier (USC football coach). Bob Jenkins (Rock Hill, cross-country advocate) will be enshrined posthumously.
Rick Patterson
The Felix ‘Doc’ Blanchard Citizen For Sports Award
A product of Cherokee County, Rick Patterson was a quarterback at Blacksburg High School and later a wide receiver at Wofford College. After graduating in 1980, he began a 38-year career in banking just two days after commencement, having declined an opportunity to enter coaching.
Unbeknownst to Patterson at the time, his bank president was also a football official and invited him to an officiating meeting that ultimately launched a remarkable 46-year career in football officiating. That calling culminated in Patterson becoming the first official from South Carolina to reach the National Football League, where he spent 30 years working on professional fields.
Before joining the NFL, Patterson officiated South Carolina high school games and worked collegiate contests in the South Atlantic Conference, the Southern Conference, and the Atlantic Coast Conference. He later officiated in both the NFL and NFL World League, calling games throughout Europe and Mexico.
During his distinguished NFL career, Patterson worked three Super Bowls, three conference championship games, and 26 postseason contests. Among his many career highlights was his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Officials 30-Year Club, having officiated the second-most games in league history with 473.
Beth Bass
The Willie Jeffries Ambassador For Sports Award
An influential leader in the promotion of women’s basketball for several decades, Hartsville native Beth Bass played collegiate basketball at East Tennessee State University. She began her professional career as a sports marketing executive with Converse and Nike before rising to serve as chief executive officer of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).
Bass played a key role in the development of the WBCA High School All-America Game, the inaugural Nike Girls All-America Camp, and the widely successful WBCA So You Want To Be A Coach program. She served as executive director of the WBCA from 1997–2000 and as chief executive officer from 2001–2014.
Her leadership extended nationally through service on the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Trustees, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Board of Directors, The Atlanta Tip-Off Club Board of Directors, and the board of USA Basketball.
Bass was also instrumental in launching one of the most successful grassroots breast cancer awareness initiatives in sports history as a member of the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund Board of Directors. The WBCA’s Think Pink campaign—now known as the Kay Yow Cancer Fund PLAY4KAY—has raised more than $9.5 million to support scientific research and programs dedicated to fighting cancers affecting women.
Wallie Jones
The Bobby Richardson Sportsmanship Award
A native of Sumter who starred on Furman High’s two state baseball championship teams (1963-65), Wallie Jones also stood out as the second baseman at age 14 on the state American Legion State Championship team. He started at second base for USC where he earned All-ACC honors in 1968 and ’69, and served as USC’s team captain in ‘69.
After graduation, he began a 40-year career as a general dentist in Sumter and retired in 2015. From 1987-11, he guided the Sumter American Legion (P-15’s) baseball team and had a 651-191 record, nine state titles, two Southeast Regional championships, finished third and fourth in the World Series, had 89 former players participate in college baseball and 16 play professional ball.
Jones has been enshrined in the USC Athletic Hall of Fame and serves as a volunteer assistant coach at USC-Sumter. He is the founder and director of “Safe at Home Foundation,” a non-profit Christian performance school in Sumter while continuing to make his mark with his private baseball and life instruction program at his own complex.
Teddy Heffner
Herman Helms Excellence In Media Award
Teddy Heffner is a 1969 graduate of Dreher High School, where he was active in athletics before beginning a career that would make him one of the most trusted voices in South Carolina sports media. A former sportswriter at The State working under longtime Sports Editor and South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Herman Helms, Heffner went on to host daily sports talk shows on several Columbia-area radio stations for more than 40 years.
After a lengthy run with what is now iHeartMedia, Heffner returned in 2020 to WCOS-AM (Fox Sports 1400) with a weekday program centered on sports discussion and local insight. A past president of the Carolinas Golf Reporters Association, he has been widely respected throughout his career for his vast sports knowledge, strong connection with listeners, and deep roots in the Columbia sports community.
A product of the University of South Carolina School of Journalism, Heffner served two years as sports editor of The Gamecock. Recognized with numerous writing and broadcasting honors, he is now in his 57th year covering sports in the Palmetto State.
Tony Ciuffo
Dom Fusci Leadership In Action Award
Shortly after joining the Board of Directors eight years ago, Tony Ciuffo began ably and professionally handling all media relations for the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame. A Charleston native, Ciuffo worked in the athletic media relations office at the University of South Carolina as a student before embarking on a distinguished career in sports communications.
Ciuffo spent 20 years as assistant athletics director for media relations at the College of Charleston and an additional 12 years in public relations at the Medical University of South Carolina. While at the College of Charleston, he also served as the Cougars’ basketball play-by-play announcer for 14 years and was twice named South Carolina Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association (2003 and 2009).
Now residing in Clemson, Ciuffo continues to assist Clemson University Athletics in a variety of part-time roles, including broadcasting baseball, softball, and men’s and women’s basketball games.
For table information and to attend the event, please refer to https://SCAHOF.org/Banquet
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