HS mailbag: All-time best Charlotte coaches? Boys volleyball? Myers Park residency issues?
Longtime Charlotte Observer reporter Langston Wertz Jr. will periodically answer reader questions, which are lightly edited for brevity and clarity. If you have a question, visit bit.ly/AskLangston
Q. Who are the top five high school coaches for boys and girls in Charlotte history? From David in Charlotte
Five is hard, David, as there have been many. But West Charlotte’s Charles McCullough won nearly 600 games and five state titles and has a gym named after him. Charlotte Latin’s Jerry Faulkner won nearly 900 games and has a court named after him. South Mecklenburg’s Dave Price became the first coach to win three straight 4A titles.
From 1970-72, South Meck was 52-1 under Price, who ended his career 535-285. North Meck’s Duane Lewis played for a legend, Leroy Holden, and Holden won more than 400 games at North and took the Vikings to the 1987 state championship game. Lewis topped his mentor. He has won two state titles and won his 500th game this year.
And then there’s Myers Park girls coach Barbara Nelson. She won her 700th game four years ago. Nelson has won nine state championships — two at Myers Park and seven at Providence Day. She was also 101-51 at Wingate with three NCAA Tournament appearances and one Elite 8. She was also named South Atlantic conference coach of the year in college.
Seven times, Nelson was named The Observer’s coach of the year in Mecklenburg County. She’s a four-time All-Observer regional coach of the year.
And here’s one to keep an eye on: Carmel Christian’s Joe Badgett is 131-18 in five seasons. His teams have made four state championship games and won two.
Q. Central Cabarrus and West Rowan just capped off undefeated state championships. Is that unprecedented for two teams in the same conference to do that in the same season? From Craig Smith in Charlotte
That’s a great question Craig, and with how often teams change conferences nowadays, it would require more time to research than I have right now, but I would say it’s very rare. And rarer still for two teams to be that dominant doing it. Central Cabarrus outscored opponents by nearly 40 points. West Rowan? By 44. That’s something those players will tell their grand kids about.
Q. Why were Saturday’s NCHSAA 3A and 4A boys finals at the same time? Those are the two games everyone wants to see. Poor planning, right? From John in Matthews
Not exactly. There were large crowds for most of the games Saturday, and there was probably no schedule everyone would agree with. It’s been suggested to me to play all four boys games at one site and all four girls at another. That might be a solution.
Q. Has UNC Charlotte been approached about hosting high school playoff or championship games? As an alum and former AAU guy from the late ‘80s and ‘90s, we once had a Royal/Sonic final at the old MIne Shaft. From Randy Bolton in Charlotte
No Randy, I don’t believe so. UNC Charlotte hosted some Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools conference championship games years ago at Halton Arena. No question, the site would be great for regional or state championships, in my opinion.
Q. Do you think that Kirsten Lewis-Williams was hit with politics in the all-district voting? From William Brown in Mooresville
I was surprised that she made third team in her district, yes. She was a well-publicized top three finalist for Ms. Basketball in the state and was the engine of an unbeaten nationally ranked team until Lake Norman was upset in the state final by Panther Creek.
The teams were voted on by members in the district and only active members can nominate and vote. Maybe there weren’t enough active members who had seen her play enough, not sure, but I don’t think she’ll be on the All-Observer third team later this month.
Q. What’s the best state championship performance you ever saw? From Deron Sullivan in PIneville
You didn’t specify in your question, but I’ll assume you’re talking basketball. West Charlotte star Jason Parker was ranked among the world’s top amateur players when he led the Lions to the 1999 N.C. 4A state finals. He had the flu that week and was sick during the game but finished with 38 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks and five dunks in an 84-67 win against Wilmington Laney. I still remember how violent the dunks were to this day.
Q. I got tickets for the 1A and 3A championships at N.C. State, but many didn’t. The NCHSAA needs to rectify the situation: 5,600 (capacity at N.C. State) vs (22,000 at UNC). How is that remotely acceptable or fair? From Angela Hoppel in Concord
The NCHSAA has rotated championships between UNC and N.C. State for many years now, but elected to keep the 2A and 4A at the larger Smith Center this season due to anticipated crowds. The 4A finals drew the largest crowd I can remember there since West Charlotte upset a Jerry Stackhouse-led Kinston team in the early ‘90s. I think it was the right call.
When it’s your one time to go to the finals and there is an issue, i get that, and given interest in public school athletics is high and doesn’t appear to be slowing down, the NCHSAA probably needs to plan accordingly. I think it will.
Q. Do you think there should be a tournament after the state title games of all public and private school state champions? From Aiden in Concord
I’d love to see it. I think the players would love to do it, and the crowds would be humongous. I think 10,000 plus. It would take some rule changes to make happen, but it would be great for the sport I think.
Q. Love seeing the flag football league for girls. What will it take to make it a statewide sanctioned sport? From Julie Orr in Charlotte
On Saturday, 24 teams participated in a jamboree as the Panthers and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools launched Year 2 of flag football as a club sport. The finals will be at Bank of America Stadium May 13. By this fall, eight states nationally are expected to have sanctioned the sport. A year ago, there were five.
In North Carolina, there are more than 400 NCHSAA schools. At least 25 percent of them would have to offer the sport for the association to have an official state championship. Alternatively, if half of the schools in a classification offer it -- or about 54 of the state’s 4A schools -- that could also trigger a state championship tournament.
Q. Do you know about the boys volleyball match here? From Coach Jones in Charlotte
Yes, last week Ardrey Kell and Porter Ridge played what is thought to be the first boys volleyball match in Mecklenburg County involving a CMS team. Ardrey Kell won and the fan turnout was strong. The sport is growing fast in the area, too.
Q. Langston, why can’t you guys cover more schools outside the Charlotte region, like Greensboro/Winston. We only get coverage during the playoffs. From John Sims in Greensboro
Wish we could do more John. We’ve actually trimmed our primary coverage area back to 106 schools in counties that touch Mecklenburg to sharpen our focus on the areas where we have the highest readership. We’ll still offer some statewide coverage in our polls, statewide Mr. Football and Mr. and Ms. Basketball as well as on our Talking Preps streaming shows and podcasts. And, of course, we’ll have the postseason coverage you mentioned.
Q. Did you see how disrespectful Myers Park fans were to Richmond’s, in and outside of the championship game? I had numerous family members tell me about being called some pretty nasty things and threatened. Did y’all’s moms up there forget to teach y’all how to act decent, or is it just that petty in y’all’s area? From Tony in Rockingham
Tony, I was outside a good bit before the game and on the concourse, chasing a drink, and I didn’t see anything like that. I saw a water bottle and some popcorn thrown on the court, not from the Myers Park section, during and after the game. But fans can say and do things all the time that can be out of line, so if you or your family were harassed, I am truly sorry that happened.
Q. Word out of Richmond County is that all five starters for Myers Park do not live in the Mustangs’ district. I find this hard to believe. From Larry Smith in Laurinburg
Hi Larry, given that Myers Park recently lost a full football season to ineligible players, some of whom had moved here from out of state, I don’t think the Mustangs would push the envelope at all. Myers Park principal Robert Folk was the person who reported the football infractions to the NCHSAA, in his second week on the job. And the current CMS athletic director, Ericia Turner, sat the best football player in North Carolina for the 2022 season over residency issues.
So to answer your question, I’d find it hard to believe, too.
Q. Do West Rowan, Central Cabarrus and Myers Park repeat as state champions next season? From Mike from Shelby
Repeating is hard. No CMS boys team has done it in 30 years. But Myers Park returns four of its top six players and three of them are top 100 national recruits. Central Cabarrus loses star Jaiden Thompson but returns a lot of its nucleus. West Rowan had three seniors.
So I think all three teams will definitely be in the mix next season. I’d expect Myers Park to be a top 25 national type team in preseason.
Q. What should Garinger do to be more competitive? They have another new football coach. From James from Charlotte
Well, they don’t have a new coach just yet, although coach Shon Galloway has stepped down. Galloway was hired in May 2021 and was Garinger’s 12th football coach since 2011. Garinger hasn’t had a winning season since 2010 in football and just two since 1995.
What to do? Garinger’s student population is different than most CMS schools. According to Public School Review, its 1,498 students are 47% Hispanic, 41% Black, 6% percent Asian, 4% percent white and 2% other races. Coaches have told me that makeup creates challenges in building football and basketball teams, especially.
Garinger should petition the NCHSAA to play in a lower classification. I think not playing in 4A would help immensely. So I’d start there.
