2023 Inductees

Josh Bush

Bush has the distinction of being the only West Davidson athlete to play in the NFL. And his career path to get there started from the moment he put on a Green Dragon uniform. Bush was a four-year starter and played both sides of the ball, on defense as a cornerback/safety and on offense as a skill-position performer. He was twice named all conference and twice selected to The Dispatch All Davidson County Team, winning defensive player of the year in 2006. Bush finished his prep career with 13 interceptions. Bush was also an all conference baseball player while at West and was a major contributor for the Lexington-Davidson American Legion baseball team that finished as state runner-up in the summer of 2005. He went on to star in the Atlantic Coast Conference as a safety at Wake Forest. His senior season in 2011 was his best as he earned first-team All-ACC honors and was named third team All American by the Associated Press. Bush was drafted in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. He played parts of four seasons in the pros and was a member of the Denver Broncos Super Bowl winning team in the 2015 season. Bush currently serves as a pit crew member for NASCAR driver Daniel Suarez and the #99 Trackhouse Racing team.

Jody Westmoreland Fleming

One of East Davidson’s first female multi-sport stars, Fleming shined on the basketball and tennis courts with the Golden Eagles in the mid 1970s . She was a 1,000-point scorer in basketball (the second female in school history behind Wanda Wilson Cline, Class of 2002) and was a three-time all conference selection. Fleming helped East win two conference championships and a pair of conference tournament titles. While in high school, Fleming won tennis titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles through the Thomasville Tennis Association because the Eagles didn’t have a tennis team. She went on to play basketball at High Point College and was a key figure on the Panthers’ AIAW Division II National Championship team in 1978. That entire team has since been inducted into the High Point University Athletics Hall of Fame. Fleming also earned the Tobias Scholar Athlete Award her senior season. Fleming has continued playing tennis and won the combo doubles championship in the senior division of the 2009 Southern Sectionals in Mobile, Ala.

Brian Hege

Davidson County’s all-time leading male basketball scorer, Hege turned in a phenomenal career at Ledford High School. He was a starter from his first game his freshman season through the state championship game his senior year and was the Panthers’ leading scorer all four years. His achievements are staggering – four-time all conference pick and Central Carolina Conference Player of the Year in 1991; four-time Dispatch All-Davidson County selection; two-time choice for the Winston-Salem Journal’s All Northwest Team in his junior and senior seasons and two-time second-team Associated Press All State his junior and senior seasons. Ledford’s win total improved each season and the Panthers’ put together a magical campaign in Hege’s senior season of 1991-92, winning a conference championship, finishing with 25 victories and advancing all the way to the 2-A title game where they lost to Ayden-Grifton. Hege finished his prep career with 2,203 points. He was also a standout baseball and football player at Ledford and earned all conference honors in each of those sports. Hege continued his hoops career at Appalachian State where he made the All Southern Conference Freshman Team and was a four-year starter. Hege has stayed in the game and came back to coach in Davidson County. He served as Central Davidson’s boys’ coach for 15 years and is the program’s all-time leader in coaching wins (187). He was named conference coach of the year two times and led the Spartans to two conference championships in 2008-09 and 2012-13. He has also served as an assistant with the North Davidson girls’ program and is currently the boys’ coach for the Black Knights, having surpassed the 200 career-win total last season.

Danny Huneycutt

Huneycutt was a solid football player at North Davidson in the mid 1970s and had a stellar senior season as a receiver and defensive back in 1975. He made all conference and Dispatch All-Davidson County while helping the Black Knights finish as co-champions in the Western North Carolina High School Activities Association. But Huneycutt’s sports career skyrocketed later in life when he took up croquet. He was the rookie of the year in the United States Croquet Association in 2002. He won 12 national championships in three versions of croquet – singles titles in 2011, 2015 and 2018 in the USCA 6-wicket and doubles titles in 2015 and 2016 also in the USCA; two singles titles (2005, 2010) and a doubles title (2017) in the Association Croquet, which is played internationally; and a doubles crown in 2011 in Golf Croquet, which is also played internationally. Huneycutt was also a captain and top player on 10 North Carolina Club Team Championships. And he also led the US Team to a win in the Solomon Cup vs. Great Britain in 2010 and 2011. Those were the only two years the US team beat Great Britain. He coached the first US ladies team (Danny’s Dames) to play Ireland in 2019. Huneycutt was inducted into the US Croquet Association Hall of Fame in 2019.

Dr. Catherine Koontz Rogers

In a program that produced such greats as Camey Timberlake Dillon (Class of 2002) and Anna Coleman Hayes (Class of 2013), Rogers’ achievements and talent are right at the top for Lexington Senior High girls’ tennis. In an extremely rare feat, Rogers was the Central Carolina Conference singles player of the year all four years and didn’t lose a single league match along the way. She won the 2-A state singles title in 2000 and was runner-up in 2001 and 1999. During her high school career, Rogers posted a record of 90-5. During that same time period, Rogers captured the women’s championship in Lexington’s City Open Tournament four years in a row. She also held a No.3 ranking in North Carolina for girls 18-under. She went on to play at West Virginia University and was selected All District II First Team in her junior and senior seasons. Rogers was also an ESPN Academic All American selection. She currently lives in Gulfport, Ms and works as a psychiatrist.

Darrius Little

One of Thomasville High School’s more underrated athletes, Little had an exceptional career in multiple sports. He was a member of Thomasville’s state championship football team in 2006 and was also a standout track performer, winning a state title in the 300-meter hurdles in 2007 and finishing runner-up in the event in 2006. But wrestling is where Little really excelled. In the 135-pound weight class, Little finished as state runner-up in 2006 and then was named conference wrestler of the year while winning the state championship in the same weight class in 2007. That’s three state championships in his senior year. Little went on to star on the mat at N.C. State, earning All Atlantic Coast Conference honors three times as well as being a three-time NCAA qualifier. He was named All American his senior year in 2012. He is sixth in career individual wins for the Wolfpack with 102. Little later coached wrestling on the collegiate level, leading Lehigh University to a conference championship. He is currently pursuing his MBA at Boston College.

Dan Tricarico

Perhaps no name is more synonamous with East Davidson baseball than ‘Coach T’. The New Jersey native ventured south to attend and play baseball at UNC-Wilmington and he never left the state. Although his collegiate baseball career was cut short by an injury, Tricarico eventually landed at East in 1983. After initially coaching boys’ basketball, Tricarico took over the baseball program in 1985. Over the next 31 years, he became one of the most respected coaches in the county and beyond. Tricarico coached East to 407 wins, seven conference championships and 17 state-playoff appearances. He was also named coach of the year seven times. His 1996 team lost in the 2-A state finals, but his 1999 squad captured the state championship by defeating Reidsville.

Justin Strickland

The most dynamic basketball player in East Davidson history, Strickland is the second-leading male scorer in county history behind fellow inductee Brian Hege. From 2003 through 2006, Strickland scored 2,122 points. He earned all conference and Dispatch All-Davidson County honors all four years and was named Central Carolina Conference Player of the Year his senior season. Strickland was also a part of the first East boys’ team in program history to win a state-playoff game and that team in 2006 also won the CCC championship. He holds an East record that may never be broken: 53 points in a single game. Strickland played in the annual East-West All Star Game and continued his career at Guilford College, where he helped the Quakers to an Elite 8 berth in the NCAA Division III tournament. After transferring to Davidson County Community College, when the Storm revived their basketball program in the 2007-08 season, he led the entire junior college ranks in scoring at 34.1 points per game. Strickland is currently the owner and CEO of Strickland Brothers 10-minute Oil Change, which has more than 300 locations in numerous states across the country.

Henry Walls

One of the top football players ever to wear the scarlet and black, Walls left his mark at Central Davidson as a star linebacker. He was a two-time all conference performer and two-time selection to The Dispatch All Davidson Team during the Spartans heyday of gridiron success in the late 1970s. Walls was a part of two conference championship teams in 1978 and ’79. He was named to the all-state team his senior season and was chosen to play in the annual Shrine Bowl as well as East-West All-Star game. Walls was also a top-notch basketball player at Central, earning all conference and Dispatch All-Davidson County honors while being chosen for the Winston-Salem Journal’s All Northwest Team. Walls flourished on the gridiron at Clemson. He was second team freshman All American and was named an All ACC linebacker in 1983. He had 159 tackles his senior season, which is still in the top 10 in Clemson history for single-season tackles. Walls played part of a season with the New York Jets in 1987.

Don Osborne
Unsung Hero

For more than 50 years, Osborne was a volunteer football coach, making a difference for players throughout Davidson County and the southeast. He has coached kickers, punters and snappers from around the Triad, spending countless Sunday afternoons at Cushwa Stadium, helping any players who came to become the best they could be and make valuable contributions to their team. Osborne grew up in Fort Mill, SC, where he played football at Fort Mill High School for two years, receiving honorable mention all-state honors. After serving in the Air Force, he settled in Thomasville where he coached little league football for 20 years and was on the coaching staff of the state championship team from Thomasville in the early 1970’s. During this time, he began the Sunday afternoon tradition of meeting any kickers, punters and snappers from the surrounding area at Cushwa Stadium. Several of his players went on to play collegiately at schools such as N.C. State, East Carolina, Navy and Elon. Osborne was also an instructor at N.C. State’s kicking camp for 14 years. He was on staff at Greensboro College in 2000 when its football program was beginning and his first kicker there made second team All-American. The goal posts at Thomasville High School’s practice field were dedicated in Osborne’s honor in 2011.