Five new members in Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) – Congratulations are in order to Connor Barth, Joe Browning, James Faison, Alley Hart, and Sherri Tynes.

On Friday, the weekend celebrating those five individuals commenced at the Wilmington Convention Center downtown. Saturday will be the annual golf round, followed by Sunday’s Hall of Fame Banquet. It’s the first year the banquet is sold out.

“What a tremendous honor to be included in a group that has such elite individuals,” said former UNCW head of athletic communications Joe Browning. He worked at the university for nearly four decades. “I never dreamed I’d be a part of this group. It’s just an unbelievable honor and not one I’ll soon forget.”

“Just super honored to be one of the five getting inducted,” said Connor Barth, a former NFL kicker who played at Hoggard High School. “Getting the call is something I’ll remember forever. It’s a crazy achievement. I just can’t put into words how honored I am – this is amazing.”

All write ups of the five inductees are also posted on the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame site here.

Connor Barth

The 2004 Hoggard High School graduate kicked his way all the way to the NFL.

Barth grew up playing soccer, basketball and baseball before focusing on kicking in high school. In 2004 as a senior at Hoggard Barth was named to the Parade and USA Today All-American teams and played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl then was a four-year letterman for the North Carolina Tar Heels.
He has the UNC record for consecutive field goals made (19) and earned All-ACC recognition but is perhaps best known for kicking as a true freshman the most famous field goal in school history as time expired to beat the #3 nationally ranked University of Miami Hurricanes, which remains the highest ranked team ever defeated by the Tar Heels.

He was drafted as a free agent by the Kansas City Chiefs, then played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears. Playing in 109 NFL games, he is best known for his five-year stint with the Bucs, where he tied an NFL record with three 50+ yard fields goals in a game and became the third player in NFL history with four field goals of 40+ yards in a half season. Another highlight of his career with the Bucs was kicking the game-winning field goal in overtime to defeat the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome in 2009, the year the Saints went on to win the Super Bowl.

Joe Browning

The Topeka, Kansas native spent four decades at UNCW as a collegiate athletic administrator before retiring.

Browning started his career in athletic communications in 1981 as the Director of Sports Information and Promotions at Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, West Virginia before joining the Seahawks in the fall of 1986.

Over the next 38 years Browning was involved in nearly every facet of the UNCW program.

• Founder of the UNCW Sports Hall of Fame
• First President of the NC College Sports Information Association
• Recipient of 11 national publication Awards
• First UNCW Student Athlete/Staff Member to serve with the U.S. Olympic Team

Browning earned his B.S. Degree in Mass Communications from Virginia Commonwealth University and completed his M.S. Degree in Mass Communications from Shippensburg University.

He and his wife, Mary, have two children; Hayley, and Ivan, who are both UNCW graduates.

James Faison III

Faison, who was raised in Rocky Point, and is a 1980 graduate of Pender High School where he played football and earned a full football scholarship to North Carolina Central University.

• Pender High School All Conference in Football (Quarterback)
• Captain of the Football Team
• All Conference in Track and Field: School Records in High Hurdles, Low Hurdles and Discus 1979
• North Carolina Central University CIAA Conference Championship in Football
• Co-Captain of Football Team
• Herman H. Riddick Athletic Award for Academic Excellence

After graduating in 1984 Faison attended North Carolina Central law school and earned his law degree in 1987.

Faison worked his way from being a staff attorney to Assistant District Attorney for the Fifth Judicial District, which includes Pender and New Hanover Counties from 1992 – 2000.

In 2000 he was appointed by Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., to serve as a District Court Judge for the Fifth Judicial District becoming the first African American male to sit on the bench in the Fifth District.

Born in New Hanover County, Faison was raised in Pender County. He and his wife, Angela, have one daughter.

Alley Hart

The Kinston native participated in football, baseball, and basketball at Grainger High School but basketball is what he excelled in and became his passion.  He graduated from Grainger High School in 1957 before attending Wake Forest University.  On April 14, 1961, the city of Kinston proclaimed it “Alley Hart Day.”

At Wake Forest, Hart averaged 20.5 points per game as a freshman and in his Junior year he helped lead Wake to the school’s first and only Dixie Classic Championship, and first ACC regular season title.

• Guard on the 1956 Grainger High School State Championship Basketball Team
• He Played in the North Carolina East/West All Star Game
• 2009 George Whitfield Hall of Fame
• 2010 Kinston-Lenoir County Sports Hall of Fame

As a senior he co-captained Wake’s first ACC Championship team averaging 13.7 points a game alongside broadcaster Bill Packer and All-American Lenny Chappell.

The medals now dangle on a shelf in the den of Hart’s Wilmington home:  Five state Senior Olympic gold medals, and two national golds.

In two trophy cases on either side of the medals sit his Dixie Classic and ACC championship trophies. On the walls hang pictures from his playing days at Wake Forest, each paired with a yarn Hart can spin for hours.

Sherri Tynes

The West Columbia, South Carolina native coached at Laney High School for 30 years, coaching women’s basketball, softball, as well as men’s and women’s golf.

After graduating from East Tennessee State University in 1983 where she earned four varsity letters in basketball, she earned her M.S. ED from James Madison University in 1985 before starting her coaching career.

Prior to her time at Laney, Tynes served as a graduate assistant coach at James Madison, UNC Charlotte before getting her first head coaching job at Francis Marion College, where she spent two seasons. In 1990 she was hired to take over the UNCW women’s basketball program before leaving for Laney in 1993.

• 4 Time Mid-Eastern Coach of the Year
• Head Coach of the North Carolina East/West All Star Game
• Won the first ever North Carolina High School State Championship in fast pitch softball
• Airport High School Sports Hall of Fame
• Laney High School Sports Hall of Fame

Coaching at Laney High School Tynes compiled a 423-189 record. She never had a losing season and finished with four conference championships and seven tournament championships.