Iredell County Sports Hall of Fame inducts 2026 class. Meet the 7 honorees.
The Iredell County Sports Hall of Fame inducted the Class of 2026 on Monday night at the Statesville Civic Center.
This year's inductees featured seven accomplished and respected members of the sports community.
With family, friends, colleagues and others looking on, the following were enshrined: Jean Berry, William (Bill) Bustle, Dr. Patrick Campbell, Dale Fox, Maria Hickman, Robert Long, Sr., and Rick Lewis, the 2026 Harold Johnson Community Partner award recipient. The Johnson award is based on service to the community and not based on athletic performance.
In addition, male and female athletes of the year from each of the county's eight public high schools were recognized at the annual banquet.
* Female athletes: Kasey Dingman (Lake Norman); Lila Pearson (Langtree Charter); Gia Lowe (Mooresville); Barrett Williams (North Iredell); Sophie Chilton (Pine Lake Prep); Emma Line (South Iredell); Promise Lovelace (Statesville); and Taylor Stikeleather (West Iredell).
* Male athletes: Keegan McClure (Lake Norman); Jerel Brawley (Langtree Charter); Joseph "Joe" Hauck (Mooresville); Callum Cary (North Iredell); Bridger Chayes (Pine Lake Prep); Josh Terry (Statesville); Brooks Culp (South Iredell); and Ex-Avier Peet (West Iredell).
Hauck and Stikeleather were named the Iredell County Sports Hall of Fame Male and Female Athletes of the Year, respectively.
A little more on each of the 2026 hall of fame inductees:
Jean Paul Berry
Berry, a former star athlete at Mooresville High School, made all-state in football in back-to-back seasons in 1957-58 and was selected to the 1958 North Carolina Shrine Bowl team as well as the state East-West game. He also participated in track and wrestling at Mooresville.
Berry, however, followed his illustrious high school career with an even more award-winning career as a football player at Duke University. Berry played for Blue Devils from 1959 to 1962 and was selected to the All-ACC team his junior and senior seasons. He was named a first-team All-American in football in 1962. Berry was a member of the Duke team that participated in the 1961 Cotton Bowl and was a member of three conference championship teams. He became a member of the Duke University Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
William H. (Bill) Bustle
Bustle passed away in 2008 at the age of 90 but left a lifetime of work dedicated to serving the needs of hundreds of athletes of all ages in eastern Iredell County. Bustle was founder and chairman of the New Salem Recreation group and sports included men's and women's baseball and softball leagues from the 1940's until the middle of the 1990's.
He was also founder and chairman of the East Iredell Little League, which he started in 1952, and it later changed its name to New Salem Little League. He served as a coach with the league for over 40 years.
Dr. Patrick Campbell
Campbell was a state champion cross-country and track star at Mooresville High, where he graduated from in 2008.
In cross-country, Campbell was an all-state selection in 2006 and 2007. He set a school record of 15:12 in the 5K and was a Footlocker All-American selection in 2007.
As a member of the indoor track and field team, Campbell won state championships in both the 1600 and 3200 meter runs in 2008 and also was a member of the state champion 4x800m relay team. During his time at MHS he set school records in both the1600 and 3200 and was the team MVP in 2007.
Among other accomplishments in outdoor track, Campbell was state champion in the 1600 meters in 2008 and state runner-up in the 3200 that same year.
Campbell went on to N.C. State University on a partial scholarship and collected All-ACC honors in cross country and was a team captain for the Wolfpack. He was a member of two ACC championship teams in cross country, including a team that finished 10th in the NCAA in 2012.
Dale Fox
Fox starred at Statesville High School, participating in wrestling and baseball. The baseball teams he played on in 1969-1971 were three-time conference champions, and twice Fox helped lead the team to appearances in the WNCHSAA championship game. During his Greyhound career, Fox was an outstanding shortstop, making all-conference as a junior and senior and batting .420 during his senior year.
Fox walked on at Western Carolina and earned a scholarship. For the Catamounts, Fox started every game for four years and finished with a .979 field percentage. He had a string of 113 straight at-bats without striking out and in 1972 he set a record with an on-base percentage of 65 percent. Fox made the NAIA District 6 All-Tournament team.
After college, Fox was invited to spring training tryouts with the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros. He played semi-pro baseball for two years with the Broyhill Chiefs and helped lead the team to the state championship in 1973 when the Chiefs earned a berth in the semi-pro nationals in Wichita.
Fox returned to Iredell County and taught and coached in the Iredell County School system for 20 years. He set the record at North Iredell for most wins in a season as the baseball coach that was just broken in 2025 by Randy Martin. He also coached several wrestlers who advanced to the state championships.
Fox served 20 years (1976-1996) with the Special Olympics of Iredell County.
Maria Hickman
North Iredell High graduate Maria Hickman has made great strides in the sports world since she was team captain of the Raiders basketball team from 1996-98.
Hickman is currently the Executive Associate Athletics Director, Senior Woman Administrator (SWA), and Director of Inclusive Excellence for the University of South Carolina Athletics Department.
Her primary responsibilities include serving as the sport administrator for women's basketball and beach volleyball. Hickman also has oversight of sport administrator meetings, creation and oversight of department diversity and inclusion committee as well as execution of departmental diversity action plan. In her role as SWA, Hickman participates in SEC governance.
Hickman, who arrived at the University of South Carolina in 2007, serves as a member of the athletic department's senior staff and the University Athletics Advisory Council. She reports directly to the Provost Office.
A native of Statesville, Hickman graduated from Mars Hill College with a dual bachelor's degree in business administration and sports management and earned her master's degree in sport administration from the University of Louisville. She played basketball for Mars Hill and is the 23rd all-time leading scorer at Mars Hill with 1,084 points.
Robert Lee Long, Sr.
Long was an outstanding athlete at Morningside High School from 1964-1966 and was captain and quarterback of the Golden Tigers football team and was named MVP after leading the Golden Tigers to the 2AA western baseball championship in 1966. He was voted the Morningside athlete of the year as a senior.
Long moved on to Shaw University in the fall of 1966 and played football for two years and baseball for all four years at Shaw. He was the starting catcher for two years, including the 1967 season, when Shaw won the CIAA baseball championship. In his junior and senior years at college, Long played other positions and posted a .387 batting average, earning him the All-CIAA as a utility infielder. He was the Shaw MVP in 1967.
On October 18, 2012, Long was inducted into the Shaw University Athletic Hall of Fame.
After graduating from Shaw, Long taught and coached basketball at Palmer Memorial Institute for two years (1970-72) and when Palmer closed in 1972, Long relocated to Catawba County, where he served as a coach and teacher in the Hickory public schools.
Rick Lewis
A Statesville resident, Lewis is the founder, owner and promoter for Phenom Hoops, which has become one of the premier sources of high school basketball exposure. Phenom Hoops is a NCAA-compliant scouting service that offers a unique and valued opinion throughout the basketball landscape. The Phenom platform offers nationally recognized exposure camps, travel ball tournaments, and high school showcases with the chance to play in front of prime-time coaches and scouts.
The Phenom Hoops Scouting Service works for and with over 100 coaches and colleges since 2009, producing 24 reports per year to send to recruiters featuring over 100 student athletes in each report.
After previously serving as an assistant coach to successful Iredell County coaches Danny Davis and Kent Blackwelder, Lewis went on to coach both girls and boys travel team basketball teams from 2002 to 2011, including two McDonald's All-Americans, two NBA players and over 10 players who made it to Division I colleges.
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