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2020 & 2021 WCU Athletics Hall of Fame
BETH CRISP
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL & SOFTBALL (1977-81)
Beth Crisp was a two-sport standout during her time in Cullowhee where she was a four-year starter on the women’s basketball team and lettered three years in slo-pitch softball from her sophomore to senior seasons.
Playing alongside the program’s all-time leading scorer and 1992 Hall of Fame inductee Jayne Arledge, Crisp finished her WCU women’s basketball career with 1,446 points coming on 648 made field goals with both marks continuing to rank third in program history. Crisp averaged double-digit scoring each of her four seasons, tallying 300-or-more points in each year while posting double-figure scoring in 76 of her 99 career games, eclipsing the 20-point plateau 27 times.
A native of Asheville, N.C., Crisp ranks just outside WCU’s career top 10 for rebounds, pulling down 712 boards in her four years in Cullowhee to currently sit 11th overall in the school ledgers. She is one of just seven WCU women’s basketball players to eclipse the 1,000-point scoring mark while also tallying 700-or-more rebounds in a career, the third of that group to be enshrined in the hall of fame. Combined, Crisp recorded a double-double with points and rebounds in 22 career games.
As a freshman in 1977-78, Crisp garnered All-State plaudits as WCU won a then program-record 21 games – a win tally that would not be matched again until the 2002-03 season before being surpassed in 2007-08 (25 wins). That 1977-78 squad advanced to the third round of the 1978 North Carolina Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NCAIAW) State Tournament. She connected on the third-most field goals in a single-season in 1979-80, scoring her career-best 481 points that season – a mark that still ranks 11th on WCU’s seasonal charts.
Under head coach and WCU Hall of Famer Betty Peele on the diamond, the power-hitting Crisp earned All-State plaudits at catcher in the 1980 season. She helped guide WCU to a secondplace finish in the North Carolina AIAW (NCAIAW) Division I tournament and advance to the four-state AIAW Southern Region II Tournament, both held in Graham, N.C. The 1980 softball team finished 32-14 overall. As a senior in 1981, Crisp garnered All-AIAW Regional honors in leading ninth-seeded WCU to the first-ever AIAW National Slo-Pitch Softball Championships. As one of the 13 inaugural teams, WCU defeated Wilmington College, 4-1, in the tournament’s very first game.
A three-time All-Western North Carolina team, All-Buncombe County, and all-conference selection during her prep career at A.C. Reynolds High in Asheville, Crisp signed with WCU and Hall of Fame head coach Betty Westmoreland Suhre and helped guide the Catamounts to fourconsecutive winning seasons during her career. WCU also played in the NCAIAW state tournament each of her four seasons.
After leaving Cullowhee, Crisp enjoyed a 30-year teaching and coaching career at both the middle and high school level where she additionally served as the athletics director at A.C. Reynolds Middle in Asheville. She was an assistant on the women’s basketball coaching staff at Wofford in the 1989-90 season under head coach Crystal Sharpe, who is also a WCU alumna and a former teammate.
A local product, Joe C. Love helped revolutionize intercollegiate athletics as a student-athlete at Western Carolina as his efforts and sacrifices, along with those of other WCU Hall of Fame inductees Henry Logan (1965-68) and Keith Elliott (1965-68), broke down racial barriers and to help open the door for future generations of African-American students.
Originally from Sylva, N.C., Love was prohibited from going to then Sylva-Webster High. Instead, he traversed over Balsam Mountain to attend Reynolds High School, a small African-American school in Canton among a class of just 18 students where he also played football. In 1964, he enrolled at Western Carolina and walked-on to the football team in the spring of 1965. After making the team that following fall, the two-way player quickly made his way to first on the depth chart at defensive end and the No. 2 tight end and later earned an athletic scholarship for his efforts. He was described in the 1965 game program as a “real tough and aggressive player; specializes in defense.”
Love became the first minority to start in a football game at WCU – and was the first minority to start a game in the old Carolinas Conference. Once on the field, Love earned Carolinas Conference Defensive Player of the Week plaudits in just his second game, recording 15 tackles in a 7-0 victory at Appalachian State. He was selected to the NAIA All-District 26 in 1965, while also collecting all-area and all-conference plaudits. Love also garnered NAIA AllDistrict 6 honors at end in 1968.
According to available research and historical statistics, Love, who was sidelined much of the 1966 season with an ankle injury, caught two touchdown passes between the 1967 and 1968 seasons on offense, combining for 14 receptions and 206 career receiving yards.
Love holds the distinction of being the first minority to graduate from Western Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He was an employee of the Union Carbide Corporation, a chemical and polymers company that became Eveready Battery Company before becoming a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company that is renowned for its tradition in technological innovation. He progressed to become the African-American in Union Carbide’s management group in the battery parts division.
A resident of Fremont, Ohio, he remains active within his local community and is a member of several professional organizations helping to educate African-American students and to promote black businesses.
Love is married to his wife, Betty, also from Sylva, N.C.
Revered as one of the greatest defensive backs in program history, David Rathburn was a four-year starter who never missed a game or a practice during his time in Cullowhee. He played at WCU as the football program transitioned from NAIA to NCAA Division II, making the playoffs in his senior season in 1974.
Rathburn amassed a school-record 23 career interceptions – an impressive mark that has stood for over 45 years. He tallied three interceptions in both 1971 and 1973 while leading the team with eight picks in 1972, earning the team’s “Cat Award” from the coaching staff. As a senior in 1974, Rathburn tied WCU singleseason interception leader and 2021 Hall of Fame inductee Harvey Walker (1969-71; 1975-76) with nine interceptions.
Rathburn was additionally credited with a program-record 12 career fumble recoveries including a team-best five in 1973.
WCU football’s co-captain and most valuable player in 1974, Rathburn – who was originally from Asheville – was selected as the Asheville Citizen / Pepsi Cola Most Valuable College football player in western North Carolina in 1974. He also garnered the Ruebin Robinson Award which went to an outstanding football player from western North Carolina playing at any university.
Following his graduation, Rathburn served as a student and graduate assistant coach on the WCU football staff. He later embarked on a coaching career that included stops as an assistant at Hart County High in Hartwell, Ga., Lexington High in Lexington, N.C., and Boiling Springs High in Boiling Springs, S.C. He was the head football coach and athletics director at Trinity High in Trinity, N.C., and later served as an assistant coach at Bishop McGuinness High in Kernersville, N.C.
Rathburn has been married for 43 years to the former Joan Estridge, who is also a graduate of Western Carolina. The couple has two children including son Josh of Greensboro and daughter, Josie, who resides in Raleigh, N.C., with her husband, Max Hoon.
Rathburn also has a sister, Susan Hammond of Asheville, and brother, Bob who resides in Edgewood, Texas with his wife, Irene.
JOE C. LOVE
FOOTBALL (1964-69)
DAVID RATHBURN
FOOTBALL (1971-74)
GERALD AUSTIN
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT – (WCU 1964-69)
Earning an honorary induction as a part of this year’s induction class for his career achievement, Dr. Gerald Austin compiled quite the career as a sports official, primarily in football where he worked for 26 years in the National Football League (NFL). Beginning in 1982, Austin worked 525 career games including 23 playoff games with three conference championships and three Super Bowls – XXIV, XXXI, and XXXV. Perhaps the most famous game Austin worked was a game later known as “The Comeback” – the 1993 AFC Wild Card game between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers, which the Bills rallied to win 41-38 after trailing 35-3 in the third quarter.
Austin earned his start in what proved to be a lifelong profession in high school, continuing to officiate high school games while an undergraduate at WCU. Following his graduation from WCU with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree, he earned a doctorate from UNC Greensboro before embarking on a 30-year career in public school administration. He also continued his passion for officiating games, working as a football and basketball official in various conferences including the Atlantic Coast Conference, Metro, Sun Belt, and Southern Conference for nine years before getting the call to the NFL, working the 1977 Orange Bowl and 1978 Liberty Bowl.
Since retiring from on-field duty, Austin has remained a large part of game rules, acting as the supervisor of officials for Conference USA where he was instrumental in hiring Sarah Thomas, who went on to be the first female official in the NFL. Among his most recent accolades include joining ESPN broadcasts as a rules expert for Monday Night Football.
Austin adds the WCU Athletics Hall of Fame to a litany of honorary societies in which he’s been enshrined. He has been enshrined in the Erwin High School and Western North Carolina Halls of Fame, as well as the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) Hall of Fame.
In 2007, Austin was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. A member of WCU’s Alumni Association Board of Directors and longtime Catamount Club member, Austin has also received the association’s Academic Achievement Award and served as the keynote speaker for the 2003 WCU graduation commencement ceremony.
Originally from Asheville, Austin and his wife Sylvia reside in Summerfield, N.C. The couple has six children.
PAUL MENHART
BASEBALL (1988-90; 2003-05)
Paul Menhart was a prominent member of the Catamount baseball pitching staff for three seasons from 1988-90 who went on to be drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the eighth round of the 1990 MLB draft. He progressed to the Majors in 1995 and pitched for three different MLB teams including Toronto, the Seattle Mariners (1996) and the San Diego Padres (1997). After retiring as a player, Menhart later returned to WCU to complete his degree and serve as an assistant coach from 2003-05, embarking on a coaching career that landed him a World Series ring in 2019.
Originally from St. Louis, Mo., and growing up in coastal Connecticut, Menhart earned Southern Conference All-Freshman plaudits in 1988 after posting an 8-2 record and led the league with a 3.55 ERA. He was a key performer on WCU’s SoCon regularseason and tournament championship squad, earning a berth in the NCAA South Regional. The following season, Menhart keyed WCU’s run to the regular-season championship and garnered Most Valuable Player honors in the SoCon Tournament in guiding WCU to its fifth-consecutive title. He struck out 10 over a five-hit victory over Appalachian State in the championship game.
Menhart, who was also inducted into the Robert E. Fitch High School Athletic Hall of Fame, led the SoCon in strikeouts in both 1989 (64) and 1990 (82). He won 19 games during three seasons on the Catamount pitching staff to rank tied for 13th in school history and continues to rank 11th in program history with 266.1 career innings pitched, 13th with 214 career strikeouts, and is tied for seventh with 12 career complete games as a Catamount.
Drafted as a college junior, Menhart forwent his senior year in Cullowhee to join the Toronto Blue Jays’ minor league farm system. He progressed through the system over the next five seasons and made Toronto’s Opening Day 25-man roster at the start of the 1995 season. His MLB debut came on April 27 against Oakland where he struck out the two batters he faced in Mark McGwire and Andy Tomberlin to help secure the win out of the bullpen. Menhart made his first major league start against Detroit in late May of that same season.
Perhaps his best MLB performance came with Toronto at Camden Yards in Baltimore where he went pitch-for-pitch with the Orioles’ Mike Mussina, tossing a one-hit complete game in a tough, 1-0 loss. Menhart was traded to Seattle at the end of 1995, pitching for the Mariners in 1996 and the San Diego Padres in 1997. He continued his professional career in the minors from 1999-2001 before retiring. Over three big league seasons, Menhart won five games over 41 career appearances with a 5.47 ERA while striking out 90.
Menhart’s coaching career began in Cullowhee in 2003 where he spent three seasons. He was later hired by the Washington Nationals franchise and progressed through the ranks in a variety of roles including the team’s minor league pitching coordinator. In 2019, he earned the call to the big leagues as the Nationals’ pitching coach, helping the team to the World Series championship.
Menhart and his wife, Bitsy – a 1991 graduate of WCU – met while both undergraduates in Cullowhee. The couple has three children including daughters Alison Menhart Mitchell and Jamie; and son, Michael.
HARVEY WALKER
FOOTBALL (1969-70; 1975-76)
Harvey Walker remains one of the greatest athletes to have ever graced the football field at Western Carolina University as his name continues to adorn many of the single-season and career charts in the program’s defensive record books. His outstanding playing career spans seven total years, interrupted by three years of military service in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War.
Born in Morehead City, N.C., Walker and his family moved to Baltimore, Md., where he was recruited by WCU Hall of Famers Dan Robinson and Johnny Wike as a running back from Mount Saint Joseph High School where he was all-state in both football and baseball. Converted to defensive back by head coach Bob Waters, Walker finished his WCU career second in program history with 22 interceptions, posting three or more in each of his four seasons on the gridiron, the only defender on record to solely lead the squad in interceptions for three separate seasons. He also set the benchmark with four interceptions returned for touchdowns in his career and is credited with two of the top six longest interception returns in school history.
Walker set a program record with nine interceptions in the 1969 season – a mark that still stands entering the 2021 season – helping the Catamounts to a 9-1 seasonal record and a No. 8 national ranking. He added two fumble recoveries and returned a punt for a touchdown in earning All-NAIA District 26 honors and also garnered the Big Play Award in the 1969 season as selected by Coach Waters. Walker and his 1969 teammates were inducted into the WCU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.
Upon returning to the team in 1975, Walker again paced the Catamounts in interceptions with three while also leading WCU in kickoff returns, fumble recoveries, and deflected passes. He closed his outstanding career by finishing fourth nationally in the NCAA Division II in interceptions as a senior in 1976, amassing a program single-season best 171 interception return yards while collecting AP All-America honorable mention plaudits. Walker continues to hold the fourth-longest interception return in school history, returning a pick 74 yards for a score against Appalachian State on Oct. 2, 1976. He also keyed the 1976 WCU defense which ranked second in all of NCAA D–II in pass defense, limiting foes to 62.6 yards passing.
Currently residing in eastern North Carolina, Walker has served as a commissioner and the Mayor Pro Tempore in Morehead City. He also served as a past Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Elizabeth City State University from 2013 through 2017. Walker also held positions within the Carteret County Department of Social Services, Health Department Board, Triangle Transit Authority, and been a board member for Habitat for Humanity, in addition to serving as the CEO of Coastal Carolina Industries.
Walker was one of the founders of the first African-American fraternities on WCU’s campus – the Nu Zeta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc., in 1977. Later, he established the Harvey Walker Alpha Phi Alpha Scholarship at WCU, receiving a community service award from the state organization during his time.
Walker has four children including three daughters – Chalae, Taylor, and Charisse – and a son, Harvey.
