Football players Joe C. Love, David Rathburn joined by two-sport standout Beth Crisp

 

Cullowhee, N.C. – Three former student-athletes representing two different sports comprise the Western Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2020 announced today as the hall of fame celebrates its 30th anniversary since its inception in 1990. Beth Crisp (Women’s Basketball & Softball, 1977-81), Joe C. Love (Football, 1964-69), and David Rathburn (Football, 1971-74) have each been elected as the 31st class inducted into the WCU’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

 

Due to the uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the in-person 2020 WCU Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony has been postponed until further notice.

 

Beth Crisp (Women’s Basketball & Softball, 1977-81) 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 the 1977-78 season, 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 second-place 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 was selected to play in the North Carolina All-Star girls basketball game as a senior. In that showcase game, she made the game-winning 15-foot jump shot to lead the West squad to the 50-48 come-from-behind victory in claiming the most outstanding player of the game honors. She signed with WCU and Hall of Fame head coach Betty Westmoreland Suhre and helped guide the Catamounts to four-consecutive 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 also an assistant on the women’s basketball coaching staff at Wofford College 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 (Football, 1964-69) 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 in 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 All-District 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 (Football, 1971-74) 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 single-season interception leader and fellow Hall of Fame nominee 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 Reuben 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.

 

Including this year’s induction class, the Western Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame has enshrined 125 individuals, six athletic teams, 11 Patron Award recipients, and two individuals recognized for career achievements since its creation and first induction class in 1990.

 

To be considered for induction into the WCU Athletics Hall of Fame, nominees must be submitted to the Hall of Fame committee where they are kept on file for five years. Each spring, the committee convenes to vote upon a list of nominees that are approved by the Hall’s executive committee, which vets those nominated against the criteria put forth by the committee’s constitution. The appropriate nomination forms are available online at CatamountSports.com.