By Elizabeth Sanders

Staff Writer

    On Jan. 9th, the varsity basketball team not only celebrated a victory against Bishop McGuiness, but they also celebrated the accomplishments of past R.J. Reynolds High School alumni. During halftime, five former RJR athletes and a former basketball coach were inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame, alongside two others. Each athlete achieved great things in their respective sports, from baseball to basketball, from swimming to track and field, and made great strides outside of their athletic endeavours, all of which caused the Hall of Fame committee to deem them worthy of induction. 

    “[When making our decision, we consider] their feats and accomplishments while they were here at RJR and then there’s consideration about what they did after Reynolds as well, like where they land in terms of college athletics or as it relates to their professional endeavors,” Calvin Freeman, RJR’s principal and a member of the hall of fame committee said. “And so we look at all these things as it relates to the contributions they’re making to our society.” 

    Being chosen to join the Hall of Fame is an honor to be proud of, but it can be bittersweet when a family must receive the award on their loved one’s behalf. 

    Jeff Shore graduated from Reynolds in 1984 with all-conference honors in Football and Baseball. He received a baseball scholarship to UNC-Charlotte and earned the title of team MVP in 1988. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers out of college, but after an injury to his left eye, he could no longer play. He turned his sights to coaching travel teams and starting a batting center while working as a mortgage broker. Shore passed away in August of 2015, at the young age of 49, and his daughter and son-in-law accepted the award in his place. 

    “I was a pallbearer in his funeral alongside eight other Reynolds players,” Hampden Kenan, an RJR social studies teacher and fellow 1984 graduate, said. “We all wore Reynolds jerseys when we carried him to his final resting place.” 

    Don Hill graduated from Reynolds in 1977, leaving his alma mater with well-earned All-American status in football and All-Conference in Baseball. He attended Wake Forest University with a baseball and football scholarship and went on to work as a pilot for 35 years after getting his license in 1985. Hill passed away in August of 2025, and his sister accepted the award in his stead.

    While these two sadly were unable to accept the honors themselves, the other three athletes—Will White, Terron Eldridge, and Hunter Fleming—had the privilege of shaking hands with Mr. Freeman on the court. 

    Will White graduated in 1984, the same year as Shore. White, as part of the 1984 RJR Boys’ Swim and Dive Team, carried home the state championship trophy with his teammates and won five events—the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 400 free, and two relays. White was an all-American swimmer, and he would go on to swim at UNC-Chapel Hill until he eventually stopped due to a shoulder injury. He is now retired.

    “His career here was legendary,”  Kenan said. “We were a two-year high school in ‘84, only 11th and 12th, and Will was in Florida, training his junior year, so he was only here his senior year.”

    White was not the only inductee who made his mark in an individual sport. Terron Eldridge, RJR’s track and field coach, graduated from Reynolds in 2010 and to this day, holds records in Outdoor Long Jump, 4×400 relay, and Indoor Triple Jump. In his senior year, Eldridge earned All-American honors in the Long Jump and won the state championship in the Triple Jump. 

    Four years later, in 2014, Hunter Fleming would graduate. Fleming played varsity girls basketball all four years at Reynolds, and her hard work earned her the opportunity to play another four years at High Point University. 

    “[At the dinner for inductees before the game], one of the things that Hunter uplifted was the amount of time that she played injured at RJR and really had to focus and work around the injuries,” Freeman said. 

    RJR athletes alone can’t be credited for RJR’s athletic prowess; the men and women who coached them to their victories deserve just as much credit. Billy Martin coached the Men’s Basketball team for nineteen years, leading the boys to 260 victories, three conference tournament championships, three regular season conference titles in the Central Piedmont 4-A, and 15 appearances in the state playoffs over the course of his career.

    In addition, the team earned two Frank Holiday Classic titles during his reign, a Winston-Salem-based tournament made up of 16 teams across 3 counties. Outside of coaching, Martin was an athlete in his own right, with a 35-17 two-year record while he was on UNCW’s Men’s Basketball team. Martin retired from coaching after the 2023-2024 basketball season and clearly earned his place in the Sports Hall of Fame. 

    “[At the dinner], he primarily spoke about the relationships he’s been able to form and maintain over the course of his time at Reynolds and how those relationships have greater impact than any wins and losses,” Freeman said. 

    Each inductee, whether living or gone from this earth, is a lesson in dedication, diligence, and perseverance. Their accomplishments are not owed to talent, but the skill they carefully worked to develop, motivated by the passion they have for their sport(s). 

    Find what fulfills you, on or off the field, and cultivate it. There will be fumbles and incomplete passes, rejections after rejections, but you’ll never score a touchdown if you stop trying. Who knows, maybe one day, your name will be in a Hall of Fame.