Class of 2013 - Inaugural Class

Pictured (L-R): Tony Chapman (2012 Coach), Mike Apple (2012 Coach), Jim Reid, Rick Jones, Pete Garner, Curtis Frye, Ruth Bondurant, Miranda Love, Don Garner, Trevor Cole (2012 Team), Erick Ewing (2012 Team)

Ruth Bondurant

Ruth Bondurant started and coached various women’s and coed sports at Sandhills over her 25-year career as a physical education professor, serving as department chair seven of those years. She continued volunteering coaching club teams who competed successfully all over North Carolina after the Spartans stopped competing in the NJCAA. Bondurant’s tennis teams won two conference championships in the 1990’s after SCC departed from the NJCAA. Her coed volleyball teams also won four conference championships competing against community colleges from all over the state of NC. In addition to her service at Sandhills Bondurant served 20 years as head of the NC Tennis League where she oversaw 600+ players. An original SCC Pathfinder, Bondurant will join another group of firsts in the inaugural athletics Hall of Fame.

Curstis Frye

Curtis Frye, head Track and Field coach at the University of South Carolina earned the school’s first NCAA DI National Championship with the women’s track & field outdoor title in 2002. He mentored more than 60 NCAA Champions, 115 SEC champions and 435 NCAA All-Americans. At the Olympic level Frye has coached 25 Olympians who have garnered 13 medals. While Frye’s list of accomplishments is much longer, his efforts are focused on fighting and preventing diabetes with The Frye Foundation. Part of the foundation’s work includes providing scholarship support for nursing at Sandhills.

Don Garner

Don Garner led the most successful of any Spartans program as the men’s golf coach. He enjoyed the longest tenure of any male sport coach, leading his teams to six NJCAA DI National Tournaments with the teams’ best finish a fourth place in the NJCAA tournament. He mentored two SCC athletes to All-American honors, Dick Von Tacky and Jim Parkin. Many players enjoyed successful careers at four-year schools and in the golf industry after Sandhills. Von Tacky captained the University of Tennessee golf team, finished in the final four of the US Amateur, played in the Walker Cup and 1981 Masters. Bobby Bridges and local golf executive Danny Barrett won the national two man Spirit of America tournament. Garner retired from SCC as an English professor.

Pete Garner

Pete Garner captained some of the first basketball teams for the Spartans in the 1960’s and became one of the first Sandhills students to earn a scholarship to a four-year school. After SCC Garner played basketball at both nearby St. Andrews and then Appalachian State. He later returned to Sandhills as a successful hoops coach and athletic director.

Rick Jones

Rick Jones pitched for the Sandhills Spartans baseball team in 1972-73 before moving on to finish his collegiate career at UNCW. He began coaching in 1979 at EE Smith High School in Fayetteville and climbed the coaching ladder until in 1994 when he was named head baseball coach at Tulane.  Other successful head coaching stops included Ferrum and Elon. He was also an assistant at Georgia Tech. His accomplishments for the Tulane Green Wave are too numerable to list. Highlights include two trips to the College World Series (2001, 2005), three Super Regional trips and 12 NCAA Regional visits. Jones’ teams earned an impressive 21 conference titles in his career. He has mentored 24 All-Americans and six Academic All-Americans. In April 2011, Jones won his 1,000^th career game.

Miranda Love

Miranda Love became the first Sandhills Flyers’ First Team NJCAA All-American in 2010 when the volleyball player earned the honor. She led the Flyers to a best ever 22-8 record on the way to a top ten national ranking, Region X and District H titles as well as a seventh place NJCAA finish. Love also garnered Region X player of the year honors.  She ranked in the top five in the NJCAA in both digs and kills – a rare feat.

Jim Reid

Jim Reid served as the founding father of Sandhills athletics.  In addition to his athletic director duties Reid coached several sports, most prominently basketball. As SCC’s first hoops coach he laid the foundation for all sports programs. Spurred by students’ interest in athletics, Reid proposed the program to Dr. Stone and worked tirelessly to borrow athletic facilities – even practicing outside with some of his first teams. Because of his continued efforts and the administration and community’s willingness to support athletics – the programs became a successful reality. Reid remained motivated by the students desire to participate while in school with many working jobs. He took the program from an office in the Southern Pines Armory to a successful multisport program.

2012 Men's Basketball National Champions

2012 Men’s Basketball National Championship Team earned the school’s first national title with a 101-86 victory over Cedar Valley March 17, 2012. The high flying hoops squad led the country in scoring on the way to a 30-6 record with nine team members moving on to play at four-year institutions. Coach Mike Apple earned various national coach of the year honors for his efforts. Daquain Towns heroic efforts in New York awarded him with the tournament MVP trophy while Markell Lotharp grabbed All-American and NJCAA All-Star game laurels. Team members: Trevor Cole, Michael Collins, Montrell Covington, Louis Craft, Mike Dorsey, Erick Ewing, TJ Gill, Kermeriaz Harrington, Devonta Herring, Dre Huntley, Raheem Jolliffe, Demontre Jones, TJ Jones, Markell Lotharp, Chris Morrison, Tramaine Pride, Michael Robinson, Daquain Towns, Chris Vinson, Raheem Washington, Head Coach Mike Apple, Assistant Coaches Tony Chapman & Bryon Gaddy.