SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Former Wofford College student-athletes Lee Basinger ’05, Eric Deutsch ’05, William McGirt ’01, and Ed Wile ‘73 have been selected by the Hall of Fame Committee of the Wofford College Terrier Club Board of Directors as the 2010 inductees into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
In addition, the Hall of Fame will honor Ann Johnson as the Distinguished Service Award winner and Mike Brown and Joe E. Taylor as Honorary Lettermen.
The Hall of Fame will induct its newest class on October 16th when the Terriers host Western Carolina in football.
The Hall of Fame recognizes “those former athletes and coaches who, by outstanding athletic achievements and service, have made lasting and significant contributions to the cause of sports at Wofford College, the Spartanburg community, South Carolina and the nation.”
Basinger and Deutsch earned All-America honors in football. McGirt won the 2001 Southern Conference men’s golf championship and Wile was one of the top defensive backs in school history.
Eric Deutsch ‘05
Deutsch was a three-time All-Southern Conference (2002, 2003, 2004) honoree on the offensive line for the Terriers. He was named AP First Team All-American in 2003 and 2004 and earned All-America honors from College Sports Report.com, Sports Network, CSTV and National Football Gazette. The native of Cincinnati, Ohio, led the team in knockdown blocks in 2002, 2003 and 2004. In 2003, his 182 knockdowns ranked him sixth in a single season and garnered him the Jacobs Blocking Trophy from the SoCon. He was the first Wofford player to receive the award in the Division I era. He was named SoCon Offensive Player of the Month in December of 2003 after posting 20 knockdown blocks in the NCAA semifinals against Delaware.
Lee Basinger ‘05
Basinger was named All-Southern Conference in 2003 and 2004 at defensive end for Wofford. As a senior in 2004 he earned AP First Team All-American honors. He added All-America honors from the Walter Camp Foundation, CollegeSportsReport.com, American Football Coaches Association, Sports Network, CSTV and National Football Gazette. Basinger was a finalist for the 2004 Buck Buchanan Award, given to the top FCS Defensive Player. He holds school marks for tackles for loss in a game (six) and fumbles forced in a game (three). He is second in school history in career sacks (23.5) and career tackles for loss (61), plus he is tied for the school mark in career fumbles forced (nine). A native of Kannapolis, N.C., he also earned Academic All-District honors in 2002.
William McGirt ‘01
McGirt recorded a total of three career wins, including the 2001 SoCon Championship, and nine top ten finishes for the men’s golf team. He was the medalist at the 2001 Southern Conference Championship as he fired a 5-under par 205 and won the event with a par on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. He was named the 1998 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year and garnered All-Southern Conference honors in 2000. He added a win in the 2000 Cleveland Golf/ASU Invitational with a 9-under par 207 with three-straight rounds of 69. In 2000, he finished second in the Southern Conference Championship, just one stroke behind the winner. In his fourth-ever collegiate tournament, he captured medalist honors at the 1997 Holiday Inn/Davidson Invitational. A native of Fairmont, North Carolina, McGirt currently is playing on the Nationwide Tour.
Ed Wile ‘73
Wile was a four-year letterman on the football team and is a 1973 graduate of Wofford. He is ranked fourth in school history in career interception return yards and was named to the Wofford All-Time team that was selected in 1983. Wile broke into the starting line-up as a freshman in 1969, playing defense and returning punts. During his freshman season he had 29 punt returns for 278 yards and one touchdown. In 1970, Wile had three punt returns and an interception as a defensive back. During his junior season, he had two interceptions returned for 61 yards in 1971. As a senior in 1972 he recorded two interceptions, with one returned for touchdown, and added six punt returns. A native of Wooster, Ohio, he also earned an M.B.A. from Georgia State University. Wile is a Trustee of Wofford College and is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Union Mission.
Mike Brown ‘76, Honorary Letterman
Brown is a native of Charlotte and graduated from Wofford in 1976. He earned an MBA from Tulane University and currently works with Health Care Capital, Inc., which is a multi-faceted company engaged in all phases of the retirement community business. He is also an entrepreneur involved in a myriad of other business investments. His leadership at Wofford is reflected not only in his passion for student life and in his vision for the college, but also in specific initiatives which have benefited from his generous financial support. Brown served on the task force that recommended to the board to grow the student enrollment to add to the vitality of campus life, enhance academic programs and take advantage of the economic benefits. The result of this vision was the award-winning Wofford Village, where construction of Phase V is underway.
Joe E. Taylor ‘80, Honorary Letterman
Taylor, a Columbia, S.C. native and member of the Wofford class of 1980, was named Secretary of Commerce in February 2006. Long recognized as a successful entrepreneur, he started Southland Log Homes with his father in 1978 while still a student at Wofford. He became president and chief executive officer in the early 1980s and built the company into the largest producer of pre-cut log home packages in North America. In 2004, Taylor sold the successful business and continues to serve on Southland’s board of directors. In 2002, Taylor was a founding board member of Carolina National Bank & Trust, based in Columbia. He serves on the bank’s executive committee. He serves on the board of the Hammond School in Columbia and on the board of visitors of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, as well as the boards of numerous other civic organizations. Taylor is a former member of the board of Wofford’s Terrier Club, National Alumni Association and President’s Advisory Board.
Ann Cobb Johnson, Distinguished Service Award
Johnson has played an instrumental role in the founding and development of the annual Terrier Ball into one of the top fundraisers for the Terrier Club. With her drive, dedication and vision, the Terrier Ball raises over $100,000 each year for athletic scholarships. A native of Spartanburg and a graduate of the University of South Carolina, she is married to Stewart H. Johnson, Sr., a member of Wofford’s class of 1967. She and Stewart are parents of four children, three of whom are Wofford graduates. She served on the Wofford Board of Trustees from 2005-09, chaired the Committee on Education and was a member of the Executive Committee. The Johnsons have been generous supporters of numerous projects and programs at Wofford, most notably having established an endowed chair in humanities to honor the memory of her late brother, Dr. John C. Cobb ’76, who was a Wofford faculty member at the time of his death in 2004.
