Watch The Live-Stream: Limestone's Gaylord Perry To Be Inducted Into S.C. Athletic Hall Of Fame

For the first time ever, the upcoming South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Banquet will be live-streamed online.

Three of the 11 individuals being inducted have ties to Cherokee County, including Gaylord Perry, Sidney Rice, and Judy Wilkins Rose.

The event, set for Monday, May 23, at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, is once again a sellout with more than 900 individuals slated to attend. The program will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The ceremony can be watched live online at www.facebook.com/scahof.

“Since the event is sold out, the Board of Directors voted to have it streamed so others may witness how special our event is,” said Executive Director Andy Solomon. “Of course, it won’t be like being there in person, but it will be the next best thing.”

A member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, Perry is being recognized for his contributions as Limestone University’s founding baseball coach. Rice is a Gaffney native who played wide receiver for the University of South Carolina and in the National Football League. Rose is a Blacksburg native who played basketball at Winthrop University and was the long-time Director of Athletics at UNC Charlotte.

The ceremony will be highlighted with the induction of the Class of 2020 that includes Perry, plus Columbia native and NFL defensive end Peter Boulware, Hilton Head native and Cincinnati Reds infielder Dan Driessen, USC quarterback Todd Ellis, USC pitcher and Chicago Cubs general manager Ed Lynch, Clemson and NFL running back C.J. Spiller, and S.C. State basketball standout Roberta Williams of Charleston.

The Class of 2022 features Rice, Rose, Wofford football coach Mike Ayers, and Clemson’s Fred Hoover (known as the “Father of Sports Medicine in South Carolina”).

More than 40 former honorees will be participating in the featured “Walk of Legends” prior to the induction ceremony.

The South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame will also recognize the Clemson men’s soccer team that won the NCAA championship, as well as South Carolina State’s football team that captured the HBCU crown.

Also being acknowledged will be the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team that captured the NCAA crown, along with USC’s Dawn Staley as the national coach of the year and Aliyah Boston as the women’s basketball player of the year.

Great Southern Homes is the event’s primary sponsor.

Perry’s induction was postponed in 2020 and then again in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Because of the pandemic, the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame did not elect a class from 2021.

The mission of the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame is to honor those who, by outstanding achievement or service, have made lasting contributions to the cause of sports in South Carolina, the nation, and the entire world. The non-profit organization in based in Columbia. The annual SCAHOF Banquet is considered the largest annual celebration of Palmetto State sports stars under one roof.

The members of the Class of 2020 and Class of 2022 will take part in a private SCAHOF President’s Reception in Columbia during the evening of Sunday, May 22. They will also attend an Inductee Luncheon the next day, followed by a press conference at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. The Induction Ceremony and Banquet will begin on May 23 with a reception at 5:30 p.m. For

For more information on the S.C. Athletic Hall of Fame, visit www.scahof.com.

“What a tremendous honor it was for both Gaylord and Limestone when he was elected into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020,” said the University’s President Dr. Darrell Parker. “We are looking forward to his official induction later this month. It is also exciting for us that two Cherokee County natives, Sidney Rice and Judy Wilkins Rose, will also be inducted that same night.

“While almost everyone knows that Gaylord was one of the greatest pitchers in Major League Baseball history, it’s truly a privilege for us that he is being inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame not so much for what he did on the mound during his playing career, but for the impact he made at Limestone and the influence he had on the lives of our students,” Parker added. “We are blessed to count Gaylord Perry as one of our own here at Limestone. He continues to be a special part of this institution.”

Perry founded the Limestone baseball program in 1987 and led the Saints for four seasons, compiling an overall 81-57 (.587) mark and three 20-win seasons.

As part of developing the program, Perry also helped secure the funding for the baseball field still being used by the Saints.

In 1991, Perry was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, and seven years later, he was inducted into the Limestone Athletics Hall of Fame.

He played a key role in the $4 million renovation process for Limestone’s Winnie Davis Hall of History. Perry was an honorary chairman of that fundraising campaign because he was instrumental in securing funds to protect the building from deterioration in the late 80s and early 90s.

A native of Williamston, N.C., Perry pitched 22 years in the big leagues and became the first pitcher to win the highly coveted Cy Young Award in both the American and National Leagues. He accomplished that feat in 1972 with the Cleveland Indians and again in 1978 with the San Diego Padres. Those accomplishments, along with his 314 career victories, 3,534 strikeouts, 3.11 earned run average, and five All-Star Game selections, earned him a spot in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

The San Francisco Giants dedicated a nine-foot, bronze statue, weighing 1,400 pounds, in honor of the 6-foot-4 Perry in August of 2016, at one of the major entrances into AT&T Park. The sculpture, which took one year to complete, portrays Perry’s intensity and focus on the mound at the point of his follow through. His number 36 was retired by the Giants in 2005.