Andrews – Over the next few weeks, Andrews High School is set to honor some of the best athletes in school history.
Gary Roper, a 1981 graduate, will have his No. 15 jersey retired Friday, Jan. 27, between the girls and boys basketball games against Cherokee. And the newest class of the Andrews High School Hall of Fame will be inducted Friday, Feb. 3, between the girls and boys basketball games against Murphy.
Roper was named Smoky Mountain Conference Player of the Year and All-Western North Carolina in 1981 as well as valedictorian of his graduating class. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1985 with a degree in chemistry and played in 10 games for the men’s basketball team during his senior year in 1984-85.
That year, the Tar Heels shared the Atlantic Coast conference regular season title and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. He graduated from the N.C. School of Medicine in 1989 and has been practicing medicine in Andrews since 1992.
The Hall of Fame Class of 2023 will feature four track and field state champions in Stephanie Johnson Balthrop, Tiffany McGaha Chandler, Jacob Whitaker and Tiffany Holloway, as well as longtime Wildcats fan David Robinson.
Balthrop, competing as Stephanie Johnson, won the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A state championship in the girls high jump in 2011. Chandler, who competed as Tiffany McGaha, won the 1A girls shot put and discus state championship in 2003, 2005 and 2006. She was the first track and field state champion, boy or girl, in school history.
Whitaker won the 2015 1A men’s state championship in both the shot put and discus to become the first male track and field state champion in school history. Holloway did the same on the women’s side in 2017, becoming the third Lady Wildcat to win a track and field state championship after McGaha and Johnson. Robinson,
a loyal Andrews fan, has not missed a football game in the last 40 years.