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The guest speaker for our next meeting will be Dr. Frank Bonner, President of Gardner-Webb University located in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. Bonner also serves as President of the “Big South” Conference, which includes schools like Campbell University, High Point University, UNC-Asheville, Coastal Carolina University, Gardner-Webb, and others.

Bonner was born in Durham, and grew up in Greenville, South Carolina. He earned a BA degree from Furman, then a MA degree from the University of Georgia, and then a Ph.D. from UNC-Chapel Hill. He has been President of Gardner-Webb since 2005, following service in many capacities at the University since 1987.

Bonner and his wife, Flossie, have two children and six great-grandchildren.

Mark Your Calendar

12/16/15 – Christmas Party with Jeff Gravely, WRAL
1/4/16 – NO MEETING!!!!
1/18/16 – Special Guest Speaker

The guest speaker for our next meeting will be Brick Oettinger, College Basketball Recruiting Expert. Oettinger has been the basketball recruiting analyst/columnist and talent evaluator for the ACC Sports Journal since its inception in 1977, and nationally for the Prep Stars Recruiter’s Handbook from 1990 to 2012. Since 1995 he has been a member of the prestigious McDonald’s High School All-American Game Selection Committee. As a community volunteer, Oettinger coached the basketball team at Orange Correctional Center in Hillsborough (NC) for 13 years, winning seven state championships in the North Carolina Prison League (which was discontinued after 1991) and earning seven North Central Area Coach of the Year awards.

Mark Your Calendar

12/2/15 – Dr. Frank Bonner,President,Gardner-Webb University and Board of Director Elections
12/16/15 – Christmas Party with Jeff Gravely, WRAL
1/4/16 – NO MEETING!!!!

The guest speaker for our next meeting will be Scott Riggs, NASCAR driver from Bahama. Riggs began his racing career at the age of fourteen in the American Motorcycle Association, where he won the State Championship in North Carolina two years in a row. He moved to the NASCAR mini-stock division at age 17, and won 12 races in 3 seasons.

In 1999, Riggs made his major-league NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series at Indianapolis Raceway Park, driving the #84 for Long Brothers Racing. He started seventh and finished nineteenth.

In 2002, Riggs moved to the Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) to drive the #10 Nestlé Nesquik Ford Taurus for ppc Racing. He won his first race at Nashville Superspeedway, then won again two weeks later at California. He finished tenth in points at the end of the season, earning him Rookie of the Year honors.

In 2004, he joined the Sprint Cup Series, to drive the Valvoline Chevrolet Monte Carlo for MB2 Motorsports. Qualifying for all but one race that season, he had a fifth-place finish at Dover International Speedway and finished 29th in points, fifth in the Rookie of the Year standings. In 2005, he won his first pole at Martinsville, and went on to have a second-place finish at Michigan International Speedway.

Mark Your Calendar

11/18/15 – Brick Oettinger, ACC Basketball Recruiting Expert
12/2/15 – Dr. Frank Bonner, President, Gardner-Webb University
12/16/15 – Durham Sports Club Holiday Meeting (for members and their guests only).

The guest speaker for our next meeting will be Mike Krzyzewski, Head Basketball Coach of Duke and Team USA. Krzyzewski led his 2015 Duke team to the NCAA National Championship.   On the court, Coach K has averaged more than 25 wins a season during his career at Duke and posted 14 30-win seasons (the most by any coach in college basketball history), including 30 or more victories in 11 of the past 18 years.

He has directed his teams to 12 Final Fours, tied for the most in NCAA History. Since 1985, Krzyzewski has an NCAA-record 88 Tournament victories, 23 more than the next closest active coach. From 1986 to 2015, every Duke class except four has played in at least one Final Four. 70 of 80 players who have completed four years of eligibility at Duke since 1986 have played in the Final Four, with 65 having played in at least one NCAA Championship game.

Since 1979, Krzysewski has been a member of 20 USA Basketball coaching staffs, and teams with Coach K on the coaching staff have compiled a 129-7 overall mark for an 94.9 winning percentage. In the 14 international competitions Krzyzewski has been involved in as a USA coach, those teams have captured 10 gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze medals.

Mark Your Calendar

11/4/15 – Scott Riggs, NASCAR Driver
11/18/15 – Brick Oettinger, ACC Basketball Recruiting Expert
12/2/15 – Special Guest Speaker
12/16/15 – Durham Sports Club Holiday Meeting (for members and their guests only).

The guest speaker for our upcoming meeting will be Howie Freiling, Special Assignment Scout for the Philadelphia Phillies. Following a college career at UNC, where he set UNC’s single-season record for runs batted in (RBIs) as a junior in 1987, Freiling was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the eighth round. He spent 4 years as a player in the minor leagues with the Dodgers’ and New York Mets’ organizations, then turned to Managing in the Mets’ system for eight years.

His minor league career began with just two games in Great Falls, Montana before being bumped up to Vero Beach, where he held down the first base job for the Dodgers’ Single A team. After a solid start in 1988, he fell into a slump and later broke his arm when he was hit by a pitch. He caught on with the Mets organization, and played two years as the AA level. The next year, he went to spring training as a Triple-A player and left it as a coach, as the Mets needed a minor league coach in Columbia, S.C. Freiling jumped at the opportunity to stay in baseball. Soon, he was climbing through the minors again, this time as a managerial prospect.

After a number of years, he took a job in the Mets’ scouting department. Freiling left the Mets to join the Phillies, where childhood friend Ruben Amaro was the general manager. Amaro added some scouting duties with the Durham Bulls and Carolina Mudcats, so Freiling could spend more time at home with his wife and three children. He can often be seen at Durham Bulls’ games.

Mark Your Calendar

10/21/15 – Mike Krzyzewski, Head Basketball Coach, Duke & Team USA
11/4/15 – Scott Riggs, NASCAR Driver
11/18/15 – Brick Oettinger, ACC Basketball Recruiting Expert

Our meeting this week will feature Marissa Young, Head Women’s Softball Coach at Duke University. Young will lead Duke’s softball program when it begins play in 2017-18. In taking over Duke’s newest athletic program, Young will be tasked with making the Blue Devils competitive in the ACC, which already has 11 softball teams.

A three-time All-American during her playing days at Michigan, Young was named Big Ten Player of the Year in 2003. Young tied the single-season record for home runs and is Michigan’s all-time leader in strikeouts. She played professionally for two years before beginning her coaching career.

At the top of the list for Young is recruiting, and she took her first recruiting trip to California for the Premiere Girls Fastpitch national championships. It will be her first chance to build a list of potential recruits. Duke plans on using all 12 scholarships the NCAA allots for softball, and Young will have some flexibility in how she initially distributes them.

Young previously held coaching positions at Concordia—where she was head coach—and Eastern Michigan before joining the Tar Heel coaching staff for two years. Young coached the pitchers and catchers during the 2015 campaign, in which North Carolina went 37-16 and its pitching staff posted a 3.35 earned run average and 234 strikeouts.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
10/7/15 – Special Guest Speaker
10/21/15 – Special Guest Speaker
11/4/15 – Special Guest Speaker

Our meeting this week will feature Eric Montross, former UNC Basketball great, NBA star, and now Color Commentator for UNC Basketball broadcasts. Montross was part of the UNC team that won the NCAA Championship against Michigan in 1993 and was named an All-American as a junior and senior. In 4 seasons at UNC, Montross appeared in 139 games, averaging 11.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Montross was selected by the Boston Celtics with the ninth overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft. During his first year in the NBA, he averaged 10 points per game, and was selected to the 1995 Rookie All-Star Game and named to the NBA All-Rookie 2nd Team. During his career in the NBA, Montross played with the Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons, and the Toronto Raptors.

Montross is now color commentator on UNC’s basketball broadcasts, working alongside play-by-play man Jones Angell. With the Pan-American Health Organization, Montross co-founded an organization called Vaccine Ambassadors, which aims to distribute vaccines all over the world, especially to developing countries, and help children.

In 1994, he started the Eric Montross Fathers Day Basketball Camp. The camp helped raise thousands of dollars for UNC hospitals and still does.

A native of Indianapolis, Indiana, Eric and his wife Laura currently reside in Chapel Hill.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
9/16/15 – Marissa Young, Head Softball Coach, Duke
10/7/15 – Special Guest Speaker
10/21/15 – Special Guest Speaker

Our meeting this week will feature Jerry Mack, Head Football Coach at North Carolina Central University. In his first season as a head coach, Mack led the 2014 NCCU Eagles to the most victories in the program’s Division I-FCS tenure with a 7-5 overall record and a share of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship. The team also earned the program’s first win over a nationally-ranked FCS opponent by defeating No. 24 North Carolina A&T in the final game of the season on Nov. 22, 2014, broke the school record for pass completions in a season with 227, and ranked third in the nation (FCS) in turnover margin at +12.0.

Mack joined NCCU after spending two seasons (2012-13) with the University of South Alabama as wide receivers coach. During that time, three of his receivers finished among the top five on South Alabama’s single-season record lists for receptions and receiving yards.

He spent the 2011 campaign in his hometown with the University of Memphis, also as wide receivers coach, where he tutored the receiver with the second-highest single-season receptions in school history.

Mack began his collegiate playing career at Jackson State before transferring after one season (1999) to Arkansas State University.  He lettered three years at Arkansas State (2001-03) before earning his bachelor’s degree in management information systems in 2003.Mack completed his master’s degree in physical education from Delta State in 2006 after serving on the Statesmen coaching staff as a graduate assistant.

He has been selected for three internships in the NFL with the New York Jets (2009, 2010) and Buffalo Bills (2008), and participated in the NCAA Coaches Academy program.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
9/2/15 – Eric Montross, Color Commentator, UNC Basketball
9/16/15 – Special Guest Speaker
10/7/15 – Special Guest Speaker

Our meeting this week will feature Kevin Guskiewicz, Co-Director of the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center and Director of the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at UNC.

Over the past 18 years, Dr. Guskiewicz’s research has focused on sport-related concussion. He’s investigated it’s effect and neuropsychological function in high school and collegiate athletes, and the long-term neurological issues related to playing sport. Dr. Guskiewicz has been the recipient of 23 funded research grants, and has published over 90 journal articles and six textbook chapters related to concussion in sport. He was awarded Fellowship in the American College of Sports Medicine in 2003, the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education in 2006, and the National Athletic Trainers’ Association in 2008. In 2010 he was named to NCAA’s Concussion Committee, the NFLPA’s Mackey-White Committee, and the NFL’s Head, Neck, and Spine Committee. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Sports Medicine from the University of Virginia in 1995, after receiving a Master of Science in Exercise Physiology from The University of Pittsburgh in 1992 and a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from West Chester University in 1989.

Kevin resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with his wife, Amy, and four children, Jacob, Nathan, Adam, and Tessa.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
8/19/15 – Jerry Mack, Head Football Coach, North Carolina Central University
9/2/15 – Special Guest Speaker
9/16/15 – Special Guest Speaker

Our meeting this week will feature the presentation of the “Hugo Germino Sports Ambassador Award”. The “Hugo Germino Sports Ambassador Award” was established to honor deserving citizens who have spent an exceptional amount of time promoting, coaching, and working with young people in various sporting activities in the Durham community, without recognition. We feel these individuals deserve credit for taking their time and interest to promote athletics, fun, and happiness for so many people without expecting any pay or personal accolades. This year’s presentation promises to be a great event, as we will honor two recipients. In addition, we have a very special surprise guest! You won’t want to miss this program!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
8/5/15 – Kevin Guskiewicz, Co-Director, the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center
8/19/15 – Jerry Mack, Head Football Coach, North Carolina Central University
9/2/15 – Special Guest Speaker