| Davidson Inducts Three Alumni into the Hall of Fame |
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March 01, 2007
by Preston Davis '06, Davidson Athletic Foundation Fellow Scroll to to the bottom of the page to hear the 2007 Hall of Fame inductees' speeches. Once a year the Davidson Athletics Hall of Fame takes a literal step onto center court of the Davidson College Campus. This year’s Hall of Fame inductees, Angus M. McBryde ’59, Charles D. Slagle ’74, and Brandon D. Williams ’96 stepped forward to be honored during the halftime of the men’s game versus Appalachian State, and during the halftime of the women’s game versus Wofford. Recognized most notably for their efforts in cross-country and track, men’s soccer, and men’s basketball, respectively, McBryde, Slagle, and Williams helped engineer many of Davidson’s exceptional athletic sporting moments during the last half of the twentieth century. The inductees were recognized for their athletic accomplishments, their contributions to DavidsonCollege, and their achievements after leaving the college. 
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| (l-r) Brandon Williams '96, Charlie Slagle '74, and Angus McBryde '59 receive their awards. |
About 225 guests, including Davidson College Trustees, Davidson Athletic Foundation Board Members, and past Hall of Fame Inductees, attended a dinner in honor of this year’s inductees.
President Robert Vagt ’69 opened the evening with comments on the vital role athletics play at Davidson. He highlighted the academic and athletic achievements for which many student athletes at Davidson have been responsible. Director of Athletics Jim Murphy introduced the inductees, and McBryde, Slagle, and Williams shared their experiences of DavidsonCollege athletics. These three sporting Wildcats contributed to Davidson in a variety of fashions. Angus McBryde earned All-Southern Conference honors three times in cross country – only the second Wildcat cross country runner to do so. In the 1958 conference track championship McBryde won the mile competition. In 1976 McBryde returned to DavidsonCollege to serve as a team doctor, an occupation he held for a decade. Though sports were and are a staple in McBryde’s daily life – he now has a sports medicine practice in Birmingham, Ala. – McByrde also served Davidson as president of the Wildcat Club and as a member of the Board of Trustees. He has continued his career in sports medicine, practicing throughout the Southeast. In his acceptance speech Dr. McBryde joked, “My mother used to say, 'Angus, you’re just like a migrant worker with an MD degree.'” In response to his induction McBryde recounted the moments at Davidson that were special to him. Whether it was on the track with his coach, Heath Whittle, or working as a team doctor for DavidsonCollege alongside colleagues such as Thom Cartmill, McBryde noted that all left an indelible mark on his life. Soccer star Charlie Slagle still holds the record for the most saves in a single season. After he laid down his goalkeeper gloves, Charlie Slagle picked up a coach’s clipboard to lead Davidson's men’s soccer team for 21 seasons and 209 wins. In 1992 Slagle led the Davidson soccer team to the national final four, played in Davidson’s very own Richardson Stadium, and he was named NCAA Coach of the Year. Slagle also garnered recognition as Southern Conference Coach of the Year seven times and regional coach of the year twice. While at the helm of the men’s soccer team, Slagle won three regular-season titles and two tournament crowns. Slagle left Davidson in 2001 and now heads the Capital Area Soccer league in Raleigh. During his acceptance speech Charlie D. Slagle professed, “the ‘D’ is Davidson…I love this place, I love the sport I’m in, but I mostly love the players who played for me.” Davidson’s third inductee, Brandon Williams, came to Davidson with the nickname, “Ozone.” As a kid he could jump so high that friends started attaching the stratosphere to his name that finally morphed into Brandon “Ozone” Williams. During the mid 1990s Williams electrified crowds with his play, and helped lead the men’s basketball team to two post-season births in the NIT in 1994 and 1996. Those same seasons Williams earned all conference and all tournament honors. Williams currently is eleventh all-time on the Wildcat scoring list. After Davidson, Williams continued his basketball career to play professionally in several foreign leagues, all of the professional leagues in the United States, including multiple seasons in the NBA. He played with the Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, and the San Antonio Spurs, the latter with whom he won an NBA championship. Such athletic grandeur was not without its challenges. Williams related to the audience his athletic quest and a maxim that has held true for him: “trust, commitment, care.” Williams commented on his induction, “I did have questions. I mean, what did I do? I didn’t shatter any record books. With all the previous players that stirred this campus, what made me the one? Were my Davidson accomplishments really that significant? So after months of soul searching I concluded that you never know who you touch…I know now this wasn’t luck, I wasn’t selected for points scored or games won. I can only imagine that the selection committee felt strongly that I would represent not myself but the collective greatness that DavidsonCollege has fostered…” These three gentlemen join an impressive lineage of Davidson athletes in the Davidson Athletics Hall of Fame. An electronic kiosk in the newly renovated Nisbet Hall of Fame Room in the Baker Sports Complex includes photos and biographies of all inductees. Listen to the Hall of Fame Celebration. Real Player is required for all audio.*
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