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gwshof_2016

Administration Joe Browning

GWSHOF Inducts Seahawk Trio In 2016 Class

WILMINGTON, North Carolina – Gwen Austin, Larry Honeycutt and Charlie Niven, three area sports icons with ties to UNCW, joined the ranks of Wilmington's sports luminaries when the trio was formally inducted into the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday night at the Burney Center.
 
Austin was a standout center for UNCW's women's basketball team in the early 1980's, while the affable Honeycutt coached three sports - baseball, men's soccer and men's tennis - for the Seahawks. Niven, inducted posthumously after passing away in 1994, played men's basketball for the legendary Bill Brooks at Wilmington College in the mid 1950's.

The threesome continue a strong presence for the local university in the GWSHOF. Since its inaugural ceremony in 2006, the GWSHOF has honored 11 individuals associated in some way with UNCW.

A sleek center and native of nearby Wallace, N.C., Austin graduated from Wallace-Rose Hill High School and patrolled the paint for the UNCW women's basketball team from 1981-85.

The talented Austin was named First-Team All-ECAC and ECAC South Player-of-the-Year in 1984-85 after averaging 20.4 points and 12.8 rebounds for the women's basketball team. During her 109-game career, she averaged a double-double of 18.9 points and 11.8 rebounds, shooting a remarkable 52 percent from the field.

Austin remains UNCW's all-time leader in scoring (2,056 points), rebounding, (1,290 rebounds) and blocked shots (222 blocks). She also holds school records for career scoring average (18.9 ppg), career rebounding average (11.8 rpg) and owns 16 school records overall.

In 2009, Austin was honored by the Colonial Athletic Association as one of the league's legends during its program to honor past greats of the game and was inducted into the UNCW Athletic Hall of Fame on Jan. 30, 2010. On February 23, 2014, Austin's No. 23 jersey was retired - the first for a women's player in UNCW history.

Honeycutt, meanwhile, was an outstanding baseball player for the Seahawks during the team's ultra-successful junior college days and later coached baseball, soccer and tennis for 25 years while serving as a highly-regarded high school and college official in the Carolinas.
 
The Raleigh native was an outfielder on Wilmington College's 1963 National Junior College Championship Team before graduating in 1966.  Honeycutt returned to UNCW in 1970 as a coach and faculty member and was voted NAIA District 28 Men's Tennis Coach-of-the-Year in 1975.

Honeycutt began his officiating career in basketball and football while attending Wilmington College. He received the coveted Golden Whistle Award - the highest honor for a sports official in North Carolina – in recognition of 47 years of service from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) last May.

Honeycutt remains a part-time faculty member in UNCW's School of Health and Applied Human Sciences and serves as a faculty advisor in the University College advising program. He's also an active member of the Seahawk Club and an alumni ambassador.

The talented Niven was a standout in football, basketball and baseball at New Hanover High School from 1949-51 and played one year on the freshman football team at Duke. After one year in Durham, he moved north and compted in the Canadian Football League before returning home to play basketball for Brooks. In 1954, Niven led Wilmington College and the JUCO ranks in scoring with 38.6 points per game.
 
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