App State sending pair to Hall
From staff reports

The Southern Conference will induct its first Hall of Fame Class Monday in Spartanburg, S.C.
Included in that class are former Appalachian State standouts Melissa Morrison-Howard and Valorie Whiteside.

Morrison, a hurdler who captured two Olympic bronze medals in 2000 and 2004, was a two-time All-American at Appalachian State from 1989-93. Morrison helped the Mountaineers win eight indoor and outdoor Southern Conference championships during her college career.

She was a three-time NCAA qualifier and won 17 individual conference championships. Morrison was named the Most Outstanding Performer during the the 1992 and ’93 in both the indoor and outdoor finals.

Morrison won her Olympic medals in the 100-meter hurdles in the 2000 Sydney Games and again in the 2004 Athens games.

Whiteside, who played women’s basketball at ASU from 1984-88, still holds the SoCon records for single-season scoring (776 points) and career scoring (2,944 points). Her career scoring average of 25.4 points per game is also a league record.

Whiteside was named first-team all-conference four times and was named the Player of the Year in 1988. She also had her number retired at ASU and was inducted into the ASU Hall of Fame in 2003.

Eight other former SoCon athletes will be inducted into the Hall. Included are:
Sam Huff (West Virginia), Arnold Palmer (Wake Forest), Jerry West (West Virginia). Megan Dunigan (Furman), Dick Groat (Duke), Charlie Justice (North Carolina), Adrian Peterson (Georgia Southern) and Frank Selvy (Furman).

Huff was an All-American linebacker in 1955 and helped West Virginia post a 31-7 mark during his four years. He also led the Mountaineers to a berth into the 1954 Sugar Bowl. Huff, who was also an Academic All-American, played 14 years in the NFL for the New York Giants and Washington Redskins and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Palmer was the NCAA medalist for stroke play in 1949 and 1950. He was the 1948 and 1949 Southern Conference individual champion and was the runner-up in 1950. Palmer went on to win 62 PGA Tour events, including seven majors, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

West was a three-time All-American at West Virginia from 1956-60 and a two-time SoCon Male Athlete of the Year. He set 17 records at West Virginia and led the Mountaineers to three NCAA Tournament berths. He spent 14 years in the NBA and led the Los Angeles Lakers to the 1972 NBA championship.

Dunigan, a women’s tennis standout, is one of just two Southern Conference athletes to be named the Player of the Year four times. She earned first-team all-Confernece honors six times for singles and doubles play.

She was a 2002 Post Graduate Scholarship winner and was named to the Furman Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007.

Groat was a standout basketball and baseball player at Duke from 1949-52. He was named the SoCon’s Most Outstanding Player in the SoCon basketball tournament and Male Athlete of the Year in 1951 and 1952.

Groat also was all-SoCon in baseball during those to years and went on to play 14 years in the Major Leagues.

His Pittsburgh Pirates won the 1960 World Series as did his St. Louis Cardinals in 1964.

Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice was a two-time All-American football player at North Carolina from 1946-49.

He was the 1948 national player of the year and helped the Tar Heels reach three bowl games during his years in Chapel Hill. Justice was the SoCon’s Player of the Year and also the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1948 and 1949.

Peterson was a four-time All-American at Georgia Southern from 1998-2001. He holds 25 game, single season and career SoCon records and also owns 16 Football Championship Subdivision records for rushing.

He is sixth on the all-time Division I career rushing list with 6,550 yards and just completed his seventh season in the NFL with the Chicago Bears.

Selvy, who played basketball at Furman from 1951-54, was the 1954 UPI National Player of the Year. He was a three-time All-American and was named the SoCon’s Player of the Year twice.

He was the NCAA Division I scoring leader for two seasons and still ranks fourth all-time with 2,538 points.

Selvy scored a record 100 points in a win over Newberry on Deb. 13, 1954 and was the overall No. 1 draft pick by the Baltimore Bullets in 1954. He spent nine seasons in the NBA.