Charlie Baggett
Charlie Baggett is best remembered as one of the best scrambling high school quarterbacks in Fayetteville history.A star at E.E. Smith High School, he was originally recruited by the University of North Carolina, but he transferred to Michigan State where he followed in the footsteps of another E.E. Smith star, Jimmy Raye. He played three years for the Spartans, enjoying his best season in 1974 when he accounted for 1,713 yards and 21 touchdowns. Michigan State was 7-3-1 and finished the year with five straight wins. The Chicago Tribune named him the Spartans’ MVP that year. After graduating from Michigan State in 1976, Baggett played briefly for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League and then returned to football as an assistant coach. He worked at Bowling Green and Minnesota before returning to his alma mater in 1983 and staying there until 1992. He spent a year with the Houston Oilers and then returned to Michigan State for three years. He followed that with three tours in the NFL, one at Green Bay, one at Minnesota and one at Miami. He left Miami in 2006 and joined the staff of Tyrone Willingham at the University of Washington, where he remains today.

Luther "Nick" Jeralds
Luther “Nick’’ Jeralds was a star football player at E.E. Smith High School in the mid-1950s. He went on to play at N.C. Central in Durham from 1957-60 and was elected to the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 1987. He played briefly in the NFL with Minnesota and the Dallas Texans before a knee injury in a preseason game ended his career. He spent some time in the Canadian Football League with Edmonton before returning to Fayetteville and entering business. Jeralds became involved in local politics and won a seat in the North Carolina legislature in 1982. He became an effective and respected legislator until his death in 1992. Both the football stadium at Fayetteville State University and a middle school on Ramsey Street are named in his honor 

Terry Luck
Luck was a star athlete at Massey Hill High School. He was recruited to play for the legendary Bob Devaney at the University of Nebraska at a time when the Cornhuskers were one of the best college football teams in the country. His career at Nebraska was slowed early by a knee injury. He recovered to come off the bench and lead Nebraska past Florida 13-10 in the 1974 Sugar Bowl. The following season, he shared quarterbacking duties and played in the Fiesta Bowl, which Nebraska lost to Arizona State, 17-14. In that game, Luck completed 12 of 22 passes for 90 yards. In the game’s waning minutes, Luck threw a pass to fullback Tony Davis that put the ball on the Arizona State 21, but Davis was hit hard by two Sun Devil defenders and fumbled. Arizona State recovered and ran out the clock. Luck was not drafted but managed to land an NFL contract with the Cleveland Browns, playing with them for a couple of seasons before leaving pro football and entering the advertising business.

Dwight Miller
A World War II veteran and a prisoner of war, Dwight Miller Jr. spent his entire 36-year career in teaching and coaching at Seventy-First High School. Over the years, he coached nearly every sport the school had to offer. He was best remembered for his years as the school’s tennis coach, a program he headed almost the entire time he was at the school. His final year in coaching, he was honored as conference coach of the year by his peers. Miller continued to stay active in tennis in the community after his retirement. He and his wife of 53 years, Margaret, were regulars in local tennis leagues. Miller became involved in the Fayetteville Area Tennis Association, and was recognized by that organization with its media award for his efforts to promote news about tennis. He also continued to give private lessons. Miller died in January.

Shea Ralph

Shea Ralph didn’t win a state championship while at Terry Sanford High School, but that was one of the few things she didn’t accomplish in her high school career.She led her team to two second-place finishes in the state tournament. When she graduated from Terry Sanford in 1996, she held or shared 17 N.C. High School Athletic Association records. USA Today named her its national high school player of the year. She went to the University of Connecticut, overcoming a knee injury her freshman year to eventually lead the Huskies to the NCAA title in 2000, beating Tennessee in the championship game. That year she was named the Big East’s Player of the Year, MVP in the Final Four as well as Kodak All-American. She was drafted by Utah of the WNBA, but continued problems with her knees prevented her from ever playing pro basketball. She briefly served as an assistant coach with the Springfield Spirit of the National Women’s Basketball League and then joined the University of Pittsburgh staff in 2003 as an assistant coach. She continues to work there today.

Chris Cammack
Cammack was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s baseball Player of the Year in 1969. He is among a small number of players to make the All-ACC baseball team all four years. He lead the conference in batting as a sophomore with a .429 average. He was selected to represent the United States in the World Amateur Baseball Championships in the Dominican Republic. In addition to baseball, Cammack was a basketball standout during his high school days at Fayetteville High. He was a member of the state championship teams coached by Len Maness in 1965 and 1966.

Junior Edge
Edge was a three-sport star at old Massey Hill High School. He played baseball when the school won back-to-back state titles in 1958 and 1959. But he is best remembered for his football skills, going on to play quarterback and defensive back at the University of North Carolina. He led the Tar Heels to a Gator Bowl win over Air Force in 1963 and was named first team All-ACC at quarterback.  He later became a proprietor of a local bowling lanes. He is a former member of the Cumberland County Board of Education and recently has been doing radio color commentary for Terry Sanford High School football games as part of the DK Sports, Inc., announcing crew.

Dr. Franklin Clark
Clark was a member of the 1965 state championship basketball team at Fayetteville High. He played college basketball at North Carolina and has been referred to by former Tar Heel coach Dean Smith as the first true big man in Smith’s program. The Tar Heels made the NCAA Final Four all three years Clark played there, losing the 1968 title game to UCLA and Lew Alcindor. Following his college days, Clark became a successful surgeon before retiring from the medical profession to help found Dark Branch Racquet and Swim Club.

Vann Williford
Another member of the Fayetteville High state basketball championship teams of 1965-66, Williford went on to play for Norm Sloan at N.C. State. In fact, he was the first player Sloan recruited after being named Wolfpack head coach. In 1969 the Wolfpack upset heavily favored South Carolina to win the 1970 ACC tournament with Williford playing guard. He is the only Fayetteville native to be named MVP of the ACC tournament. Following college, he became one of only a handful of former Fayetteville players to reach the professional ranks, playing with the Carolina Cougars of the old ABA.

Tom Jackson
Jackson retired as girls’ basketball coach at Pine Forest in 2004 after 44 years in the sport. He spent his entire coaching career at the school, starting there in 1957.  At the time of his retirement, his record of 650-391 made him the winningest active girls’ basketball coach in North Carolina. He won 14 conference championships, qualified for the state playoffs 30 times and had a winning record in 36 of his 44 seasons. He was twice named The Associated Press Coach of the Year in North Carolina. He also won three conference titles in girls’ softball and 11 conference titles in junior varsity football.