Athletics | 9/22/2026 3:45:00 PM

GREENSBORO – The North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Sports Hall of Fame will hold a press conference Thursday, Sept. 24, at noon in Harrison Auditorium (1009 Bluford St., Greensboro, NC) on the North Carolina A&T campus.

The Aggies will induct 10 new people, including a philanthropist/honorary member, a three-time Super Bowl champion, two track and field legends, a baseball/football player, a men's tennis standout, a former A&T rushing record holder before Tarik Cohen entered the scene, a women's basketball player who collected records and championships like no other, a record-breaking softball player, and a legendary football coaching figure many times over.

Jason Battle (baseball)
1999-02

Jason Battle was a strong student-athlete at A&T. Most of his accolades came in baseball, but he also started at quarterback and used his athleticism to gain yards with his arm and legs. Battle was a three-time first-team All-MEAC performer (2000-02) and earned MEAC Player of the Year in 2001. He hit .349 and stole 36 bases as the Aggies led the nation with 141 stolen bases. Twenty years later, the MEAC placed him on its 50^th Anniversary Baseball team as one of the conference's greatest players.

As a football player, he played 12 games at quarterback during A&T's historic 1999 season, when the Aggies went 11-2, won an NCAA Division I-AA playoff game, won the MEAC championship, and were named black college football national champions. Battle threw for 2,082 yards and 14 touchdowns and added six rushing touchdowns. He married former women's basketball student-athlete Stephanie Battle, and the couple has three children. Today, he is the high school football coach at Rocky Mount High School, and she is a pastor.

Dwaine "Pee Wee" Board (football)
1975-78

Dwaine "Pee Wee" Board was a dominant football player at A&T and earned a fifth-round selection in the 1979 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was the 137^th overall pick. Board earned the 1977 MEAC Defensive Player of the Year award, secured first-team All-MEAC honors twice (1977-78), and was inducted into the MEAC Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. He is also a finalist for the Black College Football Hall of Fame. He graduated from A&T with an engineering degree.

After the Steelers drafted him, they released him in the preseason. The setback sparked a 10-year career with the San Francisco 49ers. Board spent 10 seasons with the Niners, helping them win Super Bowls XVI, XIX, and XXIII. He also helped the organization win Super Bowl XXIX as an assistant coach. Board coached three other NFL teams before leaving the NFL after 27 years as an assistant coach.

Keith Bostic (men's track and field)
1993-96

Another member of the outstanding men's track and field teams of the mid-90s is in the North Carolina A&T Sports Hall of Fame. Keith was an outstanding field athlete in Aggieland, excelling in the throwing and jumping events. Bostic came to A&T as a walk-on and learned under legendary A&T track and field coach Roy "Spaceman" Thompson. Bostic used the opportunity to break records, earn All-MEAC honors, and win championships. Over four different events, Bostic earned two All-MEAC honors and four honorable mention accolades. During his time at A&T, Bostic competed in pole vault, long jump, javelin, shot put, and discus.

Bostic broke the program's outdoor pole vault record in 1995, clearing 12 feet, 6 inches, and led the Aggies to their second consecutive MEAC outdoor title. The following winter, at the MEAC indoor championships, he broke the school's indoor pole vault record with a 12-foot, 6-inch mark. It helped the Aggies win their first-ever conference indoor title. In spring '96, Bostic broke the javelin record with a throw of 189 feet. His javelin record remains the school's top mark.

Ta'Wuana "Tweet" Cook (women's basketball)
2006-10

Ta'Wuana "Tweet" Cook joins teammates Amber Bland and Britanie Taylor-James as North Carolina A&T Sports Hall of Famers from the women's basketball mid-2000s championship years, which included three regular-season MEAC championships, a MEAC tournament title, an NCAA appearance, two WNIT postseason appearances, and two WNIT postseason victories. Cook's induction puts the floor leader and point guard from those historic teams into the Hall. Cook is the program's second all-time leading scorer with 1,723 points. Until the 2024-25 season, she held the program's all-time assist record until Jordyn Dorsey broke it.

She is also second all-time in steals (262) and 3-pointers made (199). She had one of the best performances in A&T history on Feb. 27, 2010, at Coppin State, when she scored 33 points, had nine steals, and three assists on 7-for-17 shooting from 3-point range in an A&T win. When the Aggies won back-to-back games in the WNIT in 2010, they became the first HBCU women's basketball program to achieve the milestone. Cook carried that on-court leadership into education, becoming one of Guilford County's top educational leaders.

Willie E. Jeffries (football)
1968-71

Willie Jeffries is an unquestionable legendary figure in college football. His historic rise began at North Carolina A&T. He started his march toward legend status as a high school coach in Gaffney, N.C., winning three consecutive titles from 1964-66. In 1968, A&T gave Jeffries his first collegiate coaching opportunity, where he served on the program's defensive staff from 1968-71 under head coach Hornsby Howell. The 1968 A&T team was one of the program's all-time great teams. The Aggies went 8-1 and earned their final CIAA title, while also winning the program's second black college football national championship.

Jeffries served as A&T's interim head coach in 1970 for Howell, who was out sick. After A&T, he served as an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh before returning to coach at his alma mater, South Carolina State University (SCSU), in 1973. Over his two coaching stints at SCSU, Jeffries won six MEAC titles and two Black College Football titles (1976, 1994). He coached future Pro Football Hall of Famers Harry Carson and Donnie Shell, along with NFL standouts Dexter Clinkscales and Robert Porcher. In 1979, Wichita State made Jeffries the first African American head coach of a Division I program. In 29 seasons as a head coach at SCSU, Wichita State, and Howard, Jeffries won 179 games.

Eric Damon Martin, Jr. (men's tennis)
2002-06

Known as Damon Martin during his extraordinary career at A&T, Martin is widely regarded as one of the best players in the program's history. The North Carolina A&T Department of Intercollegiate Athletics named him Male Athlete of the Year in 2006. The program named him team MVP four times. He was also named first-team All-MEAC three times and second-team All-MEAC once. In 2005, he won the HBCU men's singles national championship. Martin finished his career 72-24 in singles and 60-25 in doubles. He also competed on the ITA Futures and Challenger tours.

He won the 2003 ATA Men's Open Doubles National Championship and captured the USTA Men's National Championships in 2009 and 2011. Today, Martin is an entrepreneur who leads a real estate investment firm focused on residential redevelopment, partnerships, and a diverse portfolio throughout the Southeast United States. Damon and his wife, Ashley, have three children.

Michael Mayhew (football)
2009-12
Michael Mayhew became a major part of A&T's football resurgence in the latter part of his career. He established himself as one of the premier backs in the MEAC from his first time stepping on the field for the Aggies. In 2009, he became the first Aggie to win MEAC Rookie of the Year, rushing 471 yards and six touchdowns. Mayhew was a two-time first-team All-MEAC standout and earned MEAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2011. During his first two years, the Aggies went 6-16. The Aggies went 14-8 over the final two years of his career, helping build a championship program.

When Mayhew left A&T, he was the school's all-time leading rusher with 3,521 yards. Today, he remains the program's second-leading rusher. He also scored 29 rushing TDs and caught 57 passes for 342 yards. Mayhew works in corporate America with more than a decade of experience in the mortgage industry, specializing in regulatory compliance, risk management, and helping ensure financial institutions operate with integrity and adhere to complex federal and state lending standards.

Calesio Newman (men's track and field)
2007-10

Calesio Newman established himself as the fastest man in the MEAC and one of the nation's fastest sprinters during his time at A&T. He won five MEAC event titles. At the 2010 MEAC outdoor championships, he won both the 100- and 200-meter events. Newman qualified for NCAA East Regionals four straight seasons and the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships three consecutive seasons (2008-10). He once ran 10.08 aided by the wind before running 10.18 at the 2008 International Friendship and Freedom Games at A&T. He is one of a few A&T student-athletes to qualify for NCAA regionals four straight seasons.

He also became the first athlete to win the Penn State National Invitational 60-meter event three years in a row. After graduating, Newman represented Team USA and earned a bronze medal in the 4x100-meter relay at the 2011 Pan American Games. He also reached the final of the 100m at the Pan American Games, where he nearly qualified for the USA Olympic team. Newman also finished fourth in the 200m. Track and Field News once ranked him No. 10 in the world in the 200m.

Cheretta Reese (Stevenson) (softball)
2001-04

Cheretta Reese, known as Cheretta Stevenson during her time at A&T, is one of the best hitter/pitcher combo players in program history. When she left A&T, she ranked as the all-time leader in batting average, on-base percentage, strikeouts, and ERA. She has the eighth-best single-season batting average at .355 in 2003. She also compiled 61 hits, scored 48 times, registered 86 total bases, posted a .425 slugging percentage, and had 17 doubles and 131 assists that season. Those numbers still rank in the top 10 all-time in A&T history. She still leads the program in single-season doubles and single-season assists.

Reese still ranks second all-time in batting average at .375 behind Yahamma White. Her 2.35 ERA ranks her second behind Jennifer Luper (2008-10). Reese was A&T's first first-team All-MEAC selection. She also earned MEAC Rookie of the Year, Freshman of the Year from the Athletics Department, team MVP, and all-tournament honors at the MEAC tournament. Today, she serves as a Special Education Teacher, Certified Fitness Instructor, Co-Owner of CR2 Legacy Training, Co-Founder of the Carolina Reds Baseball & Softball Organization, and founder of The Village SC, a nonprofit focused on youth mentorship. She is married to retired MLB player Calvin "Pokey" Reese, and they have one child.

Dr. Michael Simmons (philanthropist/photographer)

Dr. Michael Simmons is a North Carolina A&T Athletics treasure. He has been involved with the department since 1984, capturing lasting moments with his camera and propelling student-athletes to excellence with his financial donations. Simmons is known around A&T Athletics for sharing his many photos of staff, student-athletes, fans, and anyone else at an A&T event that falls within his lens' range. Although he is known around A&T athletics for sharing his photos, he also has a distinguished résumé that includes serving as Chairman of A&T's Department of Economics from 1989-02.
He also served as the director of the Transportation Institute from 2003-07. Simmons became involved with athletics through the William "Bill" Clark Fund in 1984.

Simmons, Clarence Fisher, Milton Pittman, the late Jim Lanier, and Bill Clark started the fund to raise money for football and men's basketball. Originally called Target Blue and Gold, the fund was later renamed in Clark's memory after his passing in 1984. The fund later added fundraising efforts for women's track and women's basketball. The fund is expected to raise more than one million dollars by year's end. But even before 1984, Simmons was sharing his photos on a Merrick Hall bulletin board outside his office in 1979. After displaying his photos, Simmons gave them to the person pictured, allowing him to build lasting relationships with student-athletes and coaches over the years. In recognition of Simmons' support for Athletics, the department established the Michael and Catherine Simmons Leadership Award named for him and his wife. The award honors people who selflessly make athletics great behind the scenes, including staff from housing, academics, bus drivers, field maintenance staff, videographers, and many others.