National awards. State honors. Local halls of fame. Longstanding records. Wayne Proffitt, perhaps the most decorated basketball player to come out of Lynchburg, is the owner of accolades galore.
On Saturday afternoon, he added another.
With the support of some of his former players and teammates, Proffitt returned to Turner Gym at Lynchburg College, his old stomping grounds, for the official dedication of Wayne Proffitt Court.
Painted in bold black letters near either sideline, the words long will serve as a reminder of Proffitt’s accomplishments as both a player and coach at Lynchburg College.
“This right here is the pinnacle,” Proffitt, 77, said of the honor. “ … Unbelievable. Really, unbelievable.”
Ahead of the LC men’s basketball game Saturday afternoon, dozens of alumni and fans gave Proffitt a standing ovation as he receiveda plaque signifying the honor.
Proffitt, coach of the Hornets from 1970 until he resigned in 1986 to accept a business opportunity in Lynchburg, is the winningest coach in Lynchburg College history with 249 wins. The Lynchburg native coached multiple all-conference players and led the Hornets men’s basketball team to several conference titles.
The longest-tenured coach in program history also is the school’s most decorated player.
Wayne Proffitt at Lynchburg College. The News & Advance file
“He has done so much for me and all of our teammates and all these other guys who are here to support him,” said Chip Berry, who played under Proffitt at LC from 1974 to 1978, “so it’s just awesome to be here to see this happen.
“[It’s] just incredible what he has done, not only as a player, but [also as] a coach.”
Sharpshooting Proffitt, the two-time All-American who played at LC from 1964 to 1967, remains the program’s leading scorer with 1,842 points.
So it’s appropriate, then, that Proffitt was known by many as “Dead-eye Daddy,” a nickname he still carries today.
Among multiple records, Proffitt sits atop the record book for points (857) and scoring average (33 points per game) in a single season and has the single-game scoring record with a 68-point performance that’s stood for more than 50 years.
The 68-point game also marks the highest single-game point total at the collegiate level in the commonwealth.
The scoring outburst was “just one of those things,” Proffitt said Saturday.
“We were playing and everything I threw up went in,” Proffitt said, adding he almost missed the mark when his coach took him out of the game with a few minutes left.
Proffitt was a couple points shy of a new record, but once his coach found out he promptly re-entered, scored and exited with the new accolade.
“It was something else, and something I didn’t know about until it was over,” Proffitt said, adding the game is one of his fondest memories as a player. “… It was pretty awesome.”
Berry and others in attendance at the dedication Saturday also made sure to point out Proffitt accomplished scoring without the aid of the 3-point line, which was implemented decades later in the college game.
“If he had the 3-point shot, oh my gosh, I don’t know what his record would be. It would be incredible,” said Berry, the longtime E.C. Glass athletic director, who retired in 2015.
While he continued to pile on impressive performances each game at LC, Proffitt already had a prolific high school career on his resume.
Wayne Proffitt at E.C. Glass in 1958. The News & Advance file
After being cut from the eighth-grade team at E.C. Glass — and then cut from the freshman team before the varsity coach overruled that decision and gave him a jersey days later — Proffitt wowed audiences as a three-year varsity player.
He put up multiple 30-point games during his career and led the Hilltoppers to a state championship in 1959, when he also was named the Virginia outstanding high school player.
Since leaving his coaching post in 1986, Proffitt has remained in Lynchburg with his wife of nearly 60 years, Betty, and has continued to keep track of Hornets and Hilltoppers basketball. He’s a member of the sports hall of fame at both schools, earning the honor as a member of the inaugural class at E.C. Glass in 2011.
He’s also a member of the Lynchburg Sports Hall of Fame.
Saturday’s dedication, though, will go down as one of the best moments of his sports career, Proffitt said.
He explained he was so surprised when he heard about LC’s decision that “I couldn’t even talk.”
“They set it up as a, ‘Come on, let’s have a cup of coffee,’ one morning,” Proffitt said, “and I came in and there was this whole crew. I just said, ‘What are all these people doing here?’ And that’s when they told me.”
Proffitt was able to trade the surprise for gratitude, a trait on full display Saturday as he laughed and reminisced with all the players who came back to honor him.
“It’s kind of emotional because he was such a good influence … as a coach here,” said Rick Purcell, the longtime William Campbell athletic director who played under Proffitt from 1976 to 1980. “You just kind of get chills talking about him and going through the ceremony.”
The new Wayne Proffitt Court, Proffitt said, should serve as a tribute to each of the players who contributed to his career.
“It’s their award, too,” he said.
