Cary High will name its gymnasium in honor of Charlie Adams this fall.
The Wake County School Board approved the school's request to name the gymnasium where he coached in his honor.
Adams played on the Imps' state basketball championship team in 1954 and later coached at the school. He was an N.C. High School Athletic Association leader for 42 years, including 25 years as the executive director.
"He is one of ours," said Steve Holleman, who played for Adams at Cary and later coached the Imps. "He deserves this honor. The school is honored that the gym will be named for him."
Adams was nationally prominent before resigning as the NCHSAA's executive director on Feb. 1. He had been president of the National Federation of State Associations and had been chairmen of several of its committees, including hall of fame, endowment and finance.
He is a member of the National High School Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.
"It is no exaggeration to say that Charlie Adams had an impact on every high school athlete in the country," said Robert F. Kanaby, the executive director of the National Federation. "He not only had great ideas, he shared those ideas with the nation."
Kurt Glendenning, the Cary athletic director, said the school plans to have the official dedication in the fall.
"This is very important to our community," he said. "There are lots of people who will want to join in the celebration. We want to make sure we do it right."
A few football fields in the area have been named for individuals, including former Cary principal Paul Cooper, but Adams is believed to be the first person to have a Wake County Schools gymnasium named for him.
Apex duo: Apex seniors Weston Murphy and Connor Belicic have helped Apex (15-4) build a two-game lead in the Tri-Nine 4-A basketball race. Murphy, who averages 15.1 points per game, recently scored the 1,000th point in his career. Belicic (12.8 points per game) is making 92.7 percent of his free throws.
Hoops for Hope: The Athens Drive girls will host their third annual Hoops for Hope game next Tuesday in a Tri-Nine 4-A game against Apex.
Pink T-shirts, bracelets, flower arrangements and college memorabilia will be on sale. All proceeds from the fundraising go to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. Last year's game raised more than $2,800.
Rinfrette in all-star game: Former Bunn football standout Mike Rinfrette is playing in the Texas vs. the Nation all-star football game in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday. Rinfrette was the starting fullback at Wake Forest University.
The game will be televised by CBS College Sports.
Other players of local interest in the game are runner Toney Baker of N.C. State, runner Dominique Lindsay of East Carolina and cornerback Quintez Smith of Shaw.
Regional swims: NCHSAA regional swimming championships are scheduled for Saturday. Most area 4-A swimmers will compete in the East Regional at Cary's Triangle Aquatic Center. Competition is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
The 4-A Central meet is at the Triangle Sports Plex in Hillsborough. The 3-A East is at the Goldsboro YMCA and the 1-A/2-A East is at Cary's Triangle Aquatic Center starting around 4 p.m.
The top eight finishers in each 4-A regional qualify for next week's state meet.
Wrestling: The NCHSAA dual-team wrestling tournament is scheduled for next Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. In dual-team, the competition is between teams. The winning team advances.
The individual regional tournaments are Feb. 19 and 20. The state individual finals are Feb. 26 and 27 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Conference wrestling championships are scheduled for Saturday in the Greater Neuse River 4-A (at Smithfield-Selma, 1 p.m.), Cap Seven 4-A (Leesville Road, 9 a.m.) and Tri-Nine 4-A (Cary, 10 a.m.).
Indoor track: The NCHSAA indoor track and field championships are scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 13, at the University of North Carolina.
Carolinas 3-A drops basketball tournament: The Carolinas 3-A conference will not hold boys and girls conference basketball tournaments this year. The league's athletics directors voted to extend the regular season by a week to make up games that had been postponed.
Hughes wins honors: Carley Hughes of Apex, the most decorated softball player ever at UNC Wilmington, was named to the Colonial Athletic Association 25th Anniversary team.
Hughes started 182 games during her four-year career (2006-09) and posted a .374 career batting average. She was a three-time All-CAA selection and is the school's all-time leader in slugging percentage (.660), home runs (45), and total bases (376).
She was the CAA co-player of the year in 2007.
Get the biggest news in your email or cellphone as it's happening. Sign up for breaking news alerts.
