Big South Inducts 2024 Hall of Fame Class
ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – The Big South Conference inducted two former student-athletes and one former head coach into its Hall of Fame Thursday night, May 30, during a ceremony as part of the league’s annual Spring Meeting Awards and Hall of Fame Dinner at the Wild Dunes Resort in Isle of Palms, S.C. The inductions increase the Big South’s Hall of Fame membership to 81 former student-athletes, coaches, administrators and contributors.
The 19th Big South Hall of Fame class consists of
Clayton Almeida (Winthrop men’s tennis),
Justin Bethel (Presbyterian College football) and
Mark Cooke (Winthrop softball head coach). Cooke was inducted posthumously.
CLAYTON ALMEIDA, Winthrop, Men’s Tennis, 2002-05
Almeida was voted Big South Player of the Year four times -- 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, and became just the third Big South student-athlete at the time to be voted a sport’s player of the year all four years. He was a four-time First-Team All-Conference selection in singles, and earned three All-Conference plaudits for his doubles play. Voted to the Big South’s 2000-09 Men’s Tennis All-Decade Team for both singles and doubles, Almeida compiled an impressive career singles record of 113-27 ( =80.7 winning percentage) -- including a 40-1 mark in Big South matches. He was the Big South Freshman of the Year and ITA Region 2 Rookie of the Year in 2002, a season in which he became the first Winthrop player in program history to finish undefeated with a 23-0 record. Almeida led the Eagles to consecutive Big South championships in 2004 and 2005, and finished his senior year ranked among the ITA’s Top 50 players nationally. He battled Georgia’s John Isner in an unfinished three-set match in Winthrop’s 2005 NCAA Tournament appearance, where Almeida was leading, 7-5, 6-7, 4-3. Almeida also excelled in the classroom and was a two-time Big South Conference All-Academic Team selection as well as an ITA Scholar-Athlete in 2004 and 2005. In 2005, he received the Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship Award. Following his time at Winthrop, he played professionally and earned his first professional win capturing the Brazil F39, which was an ATP World Tour event. He is a certified coach by the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) and earned the certification of Master of Tennis - Performance in 2012. Almeida, who was elected 2016 PTR Player of the Year, was inducted into the Winthrop Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.
JUSTIN BETHEL, Presbyterian College, Football, 2008-11
Bethel is the first Big South Hall of Fame member from Presbyterian College. A three-time All-Big South honoree and member of the Big South’s 2010-19 Football All-Decade Team, he was the 2011 Big South Defensive Player of the Year and a finalist for the Buck Buchanan National Defensive Player of the Year award. Bethel received All-America accolades from the Associated Press, College Sporting News, College Sports Journal, Phil Steele Magazine and The Sports Network that season. In 2011, he finished the regular-season fourth in the Big South with a career-high 87 tackles (7.9 per game), in addition to ranking third with 10 passes defended and second with four interceptions -- one of which he ran back for a touchdown at California. Bethel recorded double-digit tackles in four games that year, including a career-high 15 at Furman, and finished the campaign with 3.5 tackles-for-loss and one sack. He also blocked three kicks, including two punts that he returned for touchdowns. Bethel was a two-time Big South Special Teams Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week in 2011, and was the College Football Performance Award National Defensive Performer of the Week in Week 3. Bethel helped the Blue Hose finish first in scoring defense in Big South games and second in total defense against Conference competition. Bethel graduated as the conference’s all-time leader in solo tackles with 199, and remains the league’s record holder for career blocked kicks with nine. He also recorded seven career interceptions for 129 return yards, 279 total tackles, and is still the only player in Big South football history with two career blocked punt return touchdowns. He ranked among the league leaders in tackles in 2009 with 79 (55 solo, 24 assisted) and 2010 with 59 (47 solo, 10 assisted). Bethel was drafted in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals, and completed his second season with the Miami Dolphins in 2023 and 12th overall in the NFL. His NFL career includes time with the Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots, and he was named First-Team All-Pro in 2013 and 2015, and is a three-time Pro Bowler (2013-15).
MARK COOKE, Winthrop, Softball Head Coach, 1990-2018
Cooke spent 29 years as Winthrop’s softball coach before retiring after the 2018 season. A three-time Big South Softball Coach of the Year honoree (2005, 2007, 2008), Cooke is the league’s all-time winningest coach for overall victories (767), Big South wins (218) and Conference Tournament victories (53). He led the Eagles to four Big South titles (1990, 1991, 2007 and 2008) and 11 Conference Championship Game appearances. Cooke directed Winthrop to the Big South’s first-ever berth in an NCAA Regional Final in 2007, and he is just one of two head coaches in league annals to guide a team to a 50-win season (50-18 in 2007). During his time in the Eagle dugout, Cooke coached 91 All-Conference players (48 First-Team honorees), five All-Freshman Team members since the award began in 2013, 54 Big South All-Tournament team selections, 11 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region honorees, six Big South Tournament MVPs, five Big South Players of the Year, four Big South Freshman/Rookies of the Year, four Academic All-Americans and one Division I All-American. He had 14 winning conference seasons, won at least 30 games eight times, and averaged 39.4 victories during a five-year span from 2004-08, in which the Eagles went 47-19 in Big South play. Cooke tallied more than 40 wins against programs from Power 5 conferences -- including a 1-0 victory over Oklahoma in just his fourth game at the helm. Six of Cooke’s former players have been inducted into the Winthrop Hall of Fame -- two of which are Big South Hall of Fame members (
Lisa Kemme and
Janiva Willis). Three of his players (Willis,
Stephanie Reid and
Tessa Thomas) played for Team Canada, and all three were named Arthur Ashe Sports Scholars. In addition, Willis was the Big South’s first-ever national finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year, while his squad earned NFCA All-Academic Team distinction in 2007, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Cooke also coached volleyball at Winthrop from 1990-1996, and finished with 74 overall wins while coaching the 1994 Big South Freshman/Rookie of the Year. After retiring from Winthrop, Cooke was hired by Pinnacle Charter Academies in 2019 to launch the girls high school softball program at Legion Collegiate Academy. He coached the Lancers to the 2021 South Carolina Class AA State Championship and nine of his players received college scholarships. In addition, Cooke traveled to Europe as a representative of Little League Softball to promote the game and conduct clinics in Poland and the Netherlands, in which players from all over Europe and Africa traveled to participate. He was inducted into the Winthrop Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.