ECU Athletics Hall of Fame 2023 class announced, the late Jeff Charles to be honored with three Pirates stars
Induction Ceremony is October 20th
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - ECU Athletics Hall of Fame inductees are announced for the class of 2023. The late Jeff Charles, the Voice of the Pirates, is one of the four inductees.
Charles is joined by All-Colonial Athletic Conference guard Justine Allpress, two-time All-Conference USA defensive lineman Roderick Coleman, and All-America pitcher Seth Maness.
The induction ceremony is Friday, Oct. 20. The 45th class going into the hall. They will also be recognized at the home ECU football game against UNC Charlotte on October 21st.
ECU athletics shared more about their incoming class in a press release:
“Allpress (ECU ‘97) finished her time in the Purple and Gold as the owner of seven combined single-game, single-season and career ECU records. The four-time letterwinner, who played under ECU Hall of Fame coach Rosie Thompson and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Anne Donovan, used her senior season to not only break personal records but to rewrite several Pirate records as well. She finished her career ranked seventh on the school’s all-time scoring list (1,226), fifth in assists (326), seventh in steals (178) and seventh in free throw accuracy (71.8 percent). The team’s leading scorer during the 1996-97 campaign (15.8 ppg), Allpress was also ECU’s all-time leader in three-pointers (166) and, on Dec. 30, 1996, she posted single-game records in points (42) and three-pointers (seven) against Hampton. Both records still stand today. Following her senior season, she earned second-team All-CAA accolades, was selected to the 1997 All-CAA Tournament Team, collected her second CAA All-Academic Team honor, was named ECU Co-Most Valuable Player and was a CoSIDA Academic All-America selection.
Charles, a 1975 graduate from Goshen (Ind.) College, handled the play-by-play duties on the ECU Sports Network for both Pirate Football and Basketball for 35 years after previously serving in the same capacity at Virginia Tech, Illinois and Furman prior to becoming the “Voice of the Pirates.” Charles called some of ECU’s most memorable games on the gridiron and hardwood, including 15 bowls and over 1,000 basketball contests. He also served as the play-by-play announcer for ECU Baseball until the late 1990′s. The two-time North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year also served as sports director at WSB in Atlanta where he was the night-time host of a sports talk show heard throughout 38 states and Canada on the 50,000-watt clear channel station. The Piqua, Ohio, native also had a major market sports background having worked at WSB-AM in Atlanta, where he served as sports director and the “Voice” of the Peach Bowl. In addition to Charles’ responsibilities at ECU, he worked selected college basketball telecasts for Fox Sports Net South. Charles passed away on Feb. 10, 2023, at the age of 70.
Coleman (ECU ‘99) was a four-year letterman under ECU Hall of Fame coach Steve Logan, helping the Pirates to 28 wins from 1995-98 that included a 19-13 victory over Stanford in the 1995 Liberty Bowl. The two-time All-Conference USA selection (second team ‘97, first team ‘98) at one time held six ECU sack records and currently owns the single-game (4 vs. Wake Forest/1997), single-season (15/1997) and career (39) marks. Coleman, who was a two-time ECU Defensive Most Valuable Player, finished his collegiate career appearing in 45 games where he tallied 250 stops (185 solo) to go along with 24 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles (two recoveries) and 37 quarterback hurries. He participated in the 1998 East-West Shrine Game and the 1999 Senior Bowl before being selected in the 1999 National Football League Draft by the Oakland Raiders in the fifth round.
Maness (ECU ‘11), a four-time First-Team All-Conference USA selection, helped ECU to 144 wins across four campaigns which included three 40-win seasons and three NCAA Regional appearances. In 2009, he was a member of the squad that earned the No. 16 overall seed and hosted the first on-campus regional in program history, defeating South Carolina in the Greenville Regional finals and advancing to the Chapel Hill Super Regional. At the end of his freshman season in 2008, during which he posted a 9-2 overall mark with a 3.57 ERA, Maness was named to a program-record five freshman All-America teams, earned Collegiate Baseball and Ping!Baseball Third-Team All-America accolades and was named C-USA Freshman of the Year. Two years later, he took home C-USA Pitcher of the Year honors after earning 10 wins with a save in 17 appearances (15 starts). Currently, Maness ranks first all-time at ECU in wins (38), strikeouts (334), starts (61) and innings pitched (411.2) and was selected in the 11th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. Academically, he earned inclusion on four Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll lists and was an eight-time ECU Director of Athletics Honor Roll selection.”
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