COLUMBIA, S.C. – Former Wofford College football coach Buddy Sasser is one of eight individuals in the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame's Class of 2016.
 
The Class of 2016 also consists of Barnwell's Troy Brown, who collected three Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots, Clemson's Greg Bucker, who spent 11 seasons in the NBA, South Carolina basketball standouts Art Whisnant, B.J. McKie and Martha Parker Hester, Citadel baseball great Richard Wieters, and former Clemson and major league pitcher Flint Rhem.
 
The eight individuals will be forever enshrined with the state's highest athletic honor on May 16 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. Tickets (table of eight for $600) and program sponsorships may be purchased by calling the SCAHOF office at 803-779-0905. The affair, which includes a reception and dinner, begins at 5:30 p.m.
 
Born in Conway who attended Conway High, Buddy Sasser played quarterback in the Shrine Bowl and was MVP of the North Carolina vs. South Carolina All-Star Basketball Game. A graduate of the University of North Carolina, where he played quarterback, Sasser earned his bachelor's degree and later received his master's at the University of South Carolina. He served as head football coach and athletics director at Conway High from 1963-70 and amassed a record of 66-17-5.  
 
He then became an assistant football coach and assistant athletics director at Appalachian State from 1972-77, and later moved to Wofford as head football coach from 1977-82, posting a 36-26-3 overall record, including an 8-3 mark in 1982. He was named Kodak National Coach of the Year, AFCA Regional Coach of the Year, and NAIA District Coach of the Year in his final season at Wofford in 1982. From Wofford, Sasser served as head football coach and director of athletics at East Tennessee State from 1982-86. He is the namesake of Coastal Carolina's George F. "Buddy" Sasser Athletics Hall of Fame and the Big South Conference's Sasser Cup, which is presented annually to the department with the best overall performance. Sasser was inducted in the Coastal Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003 and the inaugural Big South Hall of Fame in 2003. In his first stint as Coastal Carolina's AD (1986-89), he oversaw the department's transition to NCAA Division I and the addition of new programs. During his second term as AD (1996-99) in Conway, he again led the effort to establish several new programs, including football. As the Big South Commissioner from 1989-96 –the league's second-ever commissioner –he initiated the league's first television package, spearheaded conference expansion and helped establish NCAA Tournament automatic qualification for several league sports.
 
In addition to the inductees donning of the symbolic blue jackets, the annual Bobby Richardson Sportsmanship Award recipient will also be recognized. The event, which includes a host of returning past inductees, is the largest annual celebration of Palmetto State sports stars under one roof. Legendary South Carolina State coach and 2008 SCAHOF President Willie Jeffries, known for his witticism, will again preside over the banquet as master of ceremonies along with Executive Director Ephraim Ulmer and this year's president, Sam Blackman of Clemson.