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A dedication ceremony to name the Bladenboro High School Gym after Coach Willis Nance, Jr. will be held on Saturday, October 30th at 9 a.m. at the gym. The public is invited.

Nance’s Bladenboro teams won Class 1A State Basketball Championships in 1990 and 1994. The 1990 team featured championship game Most Valuable Player and former Wake Forest star Trelonnie Owens. The 1994 team was led by the high-flying duo of Bert Rogers and Alfonza Lewis. Rogers was named the Most Valuable Player in the championship game.

The 1992 Bulldog team won the Class 1A Eastern Regional but finished as State Runners-up. Leading scorer Dietrich Banner was hampered by an ankle injury in the state title game. Current Whiteville Coach Jerry Singletary was a starting guard on that team.

Nance posted a career record of 308 wins and 106 losses and was 299-102 at Bladenboro. He coached the East Bladen girls to a 19-4 record before taking the job at Bladenboro.

Under Nance the Bulldogs were 6-0 in Eastern Regional play and won 7 conference championships in a 10-year span. He was named the NCHSAA Class 1A Coach of the Year in 1990 and 1994 and received 7 Conference Coach of the Year Awards.

During that 10-year span the Bulldogs were considered one of the Premier Basketball Powers in the state and ranked in the Top 10.

An accomplished golfer Nance won NAIA All-American honors as a golfer at Pembroke State University in 1976. He was inducted into the UNC-Pembroke Hall of Fame in 1983.

Nance also served on the Bladen County Recreation Advisory Board for 12 years and has served as Tournament Director for the West Bladen Christmas Basketball Tournament since it began.

In addition to his basketball duties, Nance coached 3 years of track at Bladenboro and was the West Bladen golf for 13 years before he retired in 2013.

Otis Evans was one of the community members who requested the Bladen County Board of Education to allow the Bladenboro High School Gym to be named after Coach Willis Nance, Jr.

Evans said, “We would love to see former players, friends, and family at the ceremony.”