A statue honoring revered HBCU football coach Bill Hayes is taking shape and ready to be brought to Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Get the full story from John Dell at Journal Now below.
The next stage for honoring the legendary Bill Hayes is nearly complete.
A 12-foot bronze statue of Hayes is nearly finished, and it will sit outside Bowman Gray Stadium in honor of the former football coach at Winston-Salem State and N.C. A&T. The first phase of honoring Hayes, 78, was naming the football field at Bowman Gray Stadium after him last fall.
Donald Evans, a former star at WSSU, is the fundraising chairman for the Bill Hayes Bronze Statue and the Bill and Carolyn Hayes Scholarship Endowment campaign.
Evans says the progress on the statue has been swift and the plan is to have it installed this fall once he meets with city officials.
“We think in September or October we can have it ready to go so that’s what we are shooting for,” Evans said.
In the meantime Evans is continuing to accept donations to help with the statue and the scholarship.
The statue will be made of the highest quality of USA Bronze and it will be placed on a granite pedestal that will reach 12 feet high.
“We really like the look of it so we wanted to give folks a chance to see what it’s going to look like,” Evans said.
When the statue is completed and put outside of Bowman Gray Stadium it will be the second statue in Winston-Salem of a sports figure. The other statue sits on the campus of Wake Forest and is of iconic golfer Arnold Palmer.
For more information on the statue go here.
Hayes helping to raise money for HBCU’s
The three most impactful schools that Bill Hayes touched were Winston-Salem State, N.C. A&T and N.C. Central.
Hayes, who loves to play golf, will help raise money for scholarships to all three HBCU’s on May 13 at Maple Chase Golf & Country Club in Winston-Salem with a golf tournament in his name.
Maseo Bolin, a former quarterback for the Aggies, is excited about the golf tournament because of who is helping raise money.
“Mack Brown (the football coach at North Carolina) said he will be coming unless he has some pressing issues with his program, and Steve Forbes (the men’s basketball coach at Wake Forest) said he’s coming,” Bolin said.
Several of Hayes’ former players at A&T and WSSU are also playing in the tournament. Hayes, who was an All-American in his playing days at N.C. Central, was later the athletics director at his alma mater.
Bolin said the tournament should raise plenty of money for all three schools.
“Bill’s got a piece of his heart at all three institutions and each one of them mean the world to him,” Bolin said.
Bolin said that plan is to have a morning shotgun wave of four-man teams and an afternoon wave.
“A lot of teams have already signed up so it’s going to be a great day,” Bolin said about having the tournament on Hayes’ home course.
The William “Bill” Hayes Charity Golf Tournament is something Baseo said will be a yearly event.
“We are having a great start with this one so we definitely want to do it every year because it’s no secret HBCU’s need dollars to help kids get to college,” Baseo said. “And all of the proceeds will be divided up to all three schools.”
For more information go here.
