BOONE, N.C. — The 2019 class for the Appalachian State University Athletics Hall of Fame features All-Americans, record-holders and, yes, even college roommates.
Bobby Barbera (men's tennis, 1963-67), DaVon Fowlkes (football, 2000-04), Donald Sims (men's basketball, 2007-11) and Jim Whitmer (wrestling, 1963-67) make up the class that was inducted Saturday morning and recognized during the season-opening home football game Saturday afternoon. The induction breakfast also included recognition for Fowlkes' coach, Hall of Famer Jerry Moore, who was hired by the school 30 years ago.
The simultaneous honors for Barbera and Whitmer were coincidental but special given that they both attended Goldsboro High School in the early 1960s and lived together as App State freshmen.
"I'm happy we are being recognized together," Barbera said. "Thanks to the committee for honoring two athletes from the Carolinas Conference and the NAIA."
Sims, the youngest member of the class, is still playing professional basketball overseas. A native of Gaffney, S.C., he is both App State's career scoring leader (2,185 points) and single-season scoring leader (754 points in 2009-10). He was named the 2010 Southern Conference Player of the Year after averaging 20.4 points for a 24-13 team that won the SoCon North title by two games, reached the SoCon Tournament final and advanced to the CollegeInsider.com semifinals.
With a huge crowd of supporters in attendance, he thanked the many family members, teammates and coaches who have helped him through the years.
"Being undersized, not really a point guard, more of a shooting guard, not being heavily recruited, being a kid from the middle of South Carolina, having the opportunity to come here and do special things," Sims said, "I want to recognize the people that contributed so much to my career, my life and are a huge part of why I'm standing up here today."
The other inductee who competed at App State in the 21st century is Fowlkes. He was recognized as the Southern Conference Player of the Year and a first-team All-American as a senior in 2004 before being named the Southern Conference Male Athlete of the Year for 2004-05.
He still holds App State records for single-season receiving yards (1,618), single-season touchdown catches (14), single-season receptions (103), single-game catches (17), single-game receiving yards (280) and career punt return yards (1,276) as a multi-year standout for Moore.
"Coach Moore, thank you for giving me this opportunity to play here and believing in me and allowing me to thrive on the field," Fowlkes said. "I just want to thank the former teammates I got to meet along the way — many of them I still talk with to this day. It was definitely an honor to be part of something special, and hopefully we can pay it forward for the next group of athletes."
Whitmer and Barbera were back in the Boone spotlight more than 50 years removed from the end of their college careers.
Whitmer wrestled for Hall of Fame coach Steve Gabriel at App State and was a two-time NAIA All-American at 137 pounds, placing sixth nationally in 1966 and fourth in 1967. He founded the wrestling program at Enka High School in 1970 and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Oklahoma in 2008 thanks to a 351-80 record as a coach.
"I'm a lucky man," Whitmer said during his speech. "I've had good parents, good coaches, good teachers and good friends. Some of those friends are over there at this table, some coaches and wrestlers. Somebody said it's probably a thousand years of experience at that table."
Barbera was a four-time national NAIA tournament participant who helped App State win four Carolinas Conference and four National Association of Intercollegiate District 26 titles.
With a career regular-season winning percentage of .653 in singles and .733 in doubles, he helped the Mountaineers place in the top 11 of the national tournament four times, highlighted by finishes of third and fourth place in Kansas City.
"In 1954, on my ninth birthday, my grandfather gave me a tennis racket, a can of white tennis balls and a charcoal grill," Barbera said. "I have yet to figure out the grill."
Adept or not at grilling, Barbera joined Whitmer in being fine representatives of both Goldsboro and Appalachian State.
