WU Sports Hall of Fame

Wingate, N.C.----Five new members will be added to the Wingate University Sports Hall of Fame during the induction ceremonies Friday evening, Oct. 19. The induction will be part of a Blue Carpet Gala which will include Wingate University Alumni Awards in addition to the Sports Hall of Fame recognitions. This year's Hall of Fame ceremony will also take place on Homecoming weekend at Wingate.

The Wingate Sports Hall of Fame class of 2018 includes basketball forward Sean Barnette ('08), volleyball setter Melissa DeLuca Schuett ('08), baseball outfielder Jason Foster ('99), basketball forward/center Bryan Grier ('08) and Wingate University Vice President and Director of Athletics Steve Poston.  

"Once again, the committee has enjoyed reliving some of the best moments of Wingate history," WU Athletic Foundation and Bulldog Club director Bill Nash says. "We had a chance to research and recall tremendous individuals and their accomplishments as Bulldog student-athletes, coaches and administrators. The great work of this group now presents this incredible Class of 2018 for the Wingate Sports Hall of Fame inductees."

Sean Barnette
Men's Basketball (Class of 2008)

Barnette is one of the most decorated athletes in South Atlantic Conference history. The first men's basketball player in league history to score over 2,000 career points, Barnette left Wingate as the conference's all-time leader with 2,324 points and was second with 919 rebounds. He currently ranks second in points and third in rebounds. Barnette averaged 19.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in his illustrious career. He led the Bulldogs to a regular season SAC title, two SAC Tournament championships and the only NCAA Southeast Region title in program history.

Barnette jumped onto the scene by taking home SAC Freshman of the Year honors and earning second team All-SAC accolades. He averaged 18.8 points per game as a sophomore to earn first team all-conference recognition while adding SAC Tournament MVP honors to lead the 'Dogs to the title. Barnette was the SAC Player of the Year as a junior, piling up 21.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, repeating as the SAC Tourney MVP. The SAC Male Athlete of the Year took home Daktronics third team All-American honors as a junior, leading Wingate to its first-ever Elite Eight. Barnette repeated as the league Player of the Year as a senior with 21.2 points and 9.8 boards per game, guiding the 'Dogs to the regular season title. He was once again named the SAC Male Athlete of the Year and earned first team All-American accolades from Daktronics and Basketball Times Magazine. Barnette scored in double figures in each of the final 70 games of his career, piling up 35 career double-doubles.  

Melissa DeLuca
Volleyball (Class of 2008)
 
DeLuca was at the beginning of the Wingate volleyball dynasty that has seen the Bulldogs pile up 11 SAC regular season titles and 10 tournament championships since 2006. The first player in program history to earn AVCA honorable mention All-American honors, DeLuca is the school's all-time leader with 4,869 career assists, handing out a school-record 10.99 assists per set. She also ranks fourth in Wingate history with 182 career aces while adding 1,013 digs and 347 kills in her career.

DeLuca earned a spot on the All-SAC Freshman Team in 2004, while collecting second team All-SAC honors in 2005. She handed out a league-best and Wingate record 12.36 assists per set in her junior season, leading the 'Dogs to the SAC regular season and tournament title while earning first team All-SAC honors. The SAC Tournament MVP in 2006, DeLuca led Wingate to its second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. She saved her best for last, breaking her own school record with 12.90 assists per set as a senior, leading Wingate to a 33-2 overall record and 14-0 SAC record. The Bulldogs led the nation in winning percentage, cruising to the SAC regular season and tournament championships. In addition to earning honorable mention All-American honors, DeLuca was named a first team Academic All-America honoree.

Jason Foster
Baseball (Class of 1999)

Foster was a four-time All-SAC selection for the Bulldogs, earning first team honors three times while notching second team All-American honors as a senior. A career .377 hitter in 198 games, Foster ranks seventh in SAC history with 65 doubles and ninth with 273 hits. He drove in 171 runs while scoring 183 times, adding 29 homers and 39 stolen bases. Foster started his career by earning SAC Freshman of the Year accolades and first team all-conference honors in 1996, helping Wingate win the SAC regular season and tournament title and earn the second NCAA Tournament bid in program history. Foster hit .365 as a freshman with 16 doubles and 44 RBI.

A second team All-SAC selection as a sophomore, Foster hit .337 with 26 RBI and 40 runs scored. He followed by hitting .379 during his junior season with eight homers, 17 doubles and 37 RBI, scoring 53 times while stealing 11 bases. Foster had an incredible senior season to earn All-American accolades, hitting .422 with 20 doubles, 15 homers and 64 RBI. He piled up 78 hits on the year, scoring 65 runs for the Bulldogs.

Bryan Grier
Men's Basketball (Class of 2008)

Grier goes down as one of the all-time great shot blockers in college basketball history. He piled up 455 blocks in his four years at Wingate, 32 more than any other player in NCAA Division II basketball history. In all of college basketball, Division I, II and III, Grier ranks seventh all-time, with only six players in all of NCAA men's basketball history collecting more blocks. On the SAC charts, Grier has 220 more blocks than any other player in league history. In fact, Grier has more blocked shots than the league's second and third-ranked shot blockers combined. Grier's 61.9 percent career field goal percentage is also a SAC record, while he ranks fifth all-time with 889 rebounds and third with 301 offensive boards. Grier also scored 1,395 points during his career. He is the only player in SAC history to collect over 100 blocks in a season, doing so each of his final three years at Wingate.

Grier earned All-SAC Freshman team honors in the 2003-04 season, blocking 65 shots while adding 7.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. He piled up a league-record 151 blocked shots in his sophomore season, adding 12.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game to help lead the 'Dogs to the SAC Tournament title while earning second team All-SAC honors. Grier blocked 119 shots as a junior, adding 11.6 points and 7.9 rebounds on 67 percent shooting to earn second team all-conference honors again as the 'Dogs went on to another SAC Tournament title. Wingate won its first-ever NCAA Region title that season, with Grier blocking 20 shots in the three regional tournament victories, piling up eight blocks in the region title game. He was a first team All-SAC selection as a senior, blocking 120 shots to go along with 14.1 points and 8.8 boards per game, shooting 66 percent from the field.

Steve Poston
Director of Athletics since 2001

Poston has given 46 years of service to Wingate University, while serving as the Director of Athletics since 2001 and as a Vice President for over 20 years. He began as the head baseball coach at Wingate in 1972, leading the squad for seven years while earning league Coach of the Year honors twice while also picking up a Region Coach of the Year nod. Poston led the Bulldogs to a pair of conference championships. A huge figure in the community, Poston has held leadership positions in several different areas including the Union County Community Arts Council and United Way, while also serving in the Monroe Rotary Club, Union County Habitat for Humanity and on the Lake Park Christian Academy board of trustees. Poston won HeART of the Arts lifetime achievement award in 2013. He also served four years on the NCAA Division II Management Council, starting in 2011.

During his time as the Director of Athletics, Wingate has won the SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Cup 12 times, more than any other school in league history. Wingate has added six sports in his time (men's swimming, women's lacrosse, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field). The Bulldogs rank first in NCAA Division II Academic All-America producing colleges since Poston became the AD, with 105 selections this century. Under Poston's direction, Wingate is the SAC leader in conference titles, SAC Scholar-Athletes, SAC Presidents' Award winners, conference Players of the Year and Academic All-America honorees. The Bulldogs picked up the first NCAA team title in a SAC-sanctioned sport in 2016 when the men's soccer team took home the title. Wingate became the first NCAA Division II school in the country to sign an agreement with ESPN3 in the summer of 2015. The Bulldogs have two top-10 finishes in the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup in the past four years, finishing a school-record sixth in 2015.
 
Part of the Wingate University Blue Carpet Gala, the WU Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will begin on Friday evening, Oct. 19 at 6 p.m. in the LaVerne Banquet Hall. Tickets for the induction ceremonies banquet are $25 per person. For more information about the Wingate University Sports Hall of Fame, contact committee chairman Bill Nash at 704-233-8121 or via E-mail at bilnash@wingate.edu. More information on tickets will be available in August at wingatebulldogs.com.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
A comprehensive, independent and growing university, Wingate serves more than 3,600 students in North Carolina. Founded in 1896, the University offers 37 undergraduate majors as well as graduate and professional programs. Wingate is home to the Cannon College of Arts and Sciences, the Levine College of Health Sciences, the Byrum School of Business, the Thayer School of Education and the School of Sport Sciences. Wingate blends in-class exploration with out-of-class application to deliver an uncommon and life-changing educational experience.
 
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past 12 years. Wingate is first in the 2000s among NCAA Division II and North Carolina's colleges and universities with 105 CoSIDA Academic All-America® selections. Wingate is tops among all SAC schools with 114 lifetime Academic All-America® honorees. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com. Current news and videos can be found at www.wingate.edu.