In 30 years as a teacher, coach and administrator, Eddie Summerlin impacted the lives of thousands of young people in a positive way … and he remembers almost all of them.
Summerlin (Class of ’69) will be remembered for his countless contributions to the athletic landscape of Wilson County, from the elementary school to college levels.
To say that Eddie Summerlin “made it” would be a grave understatement. All he did was coach and teach for 30 years. He also served as Fike Athletic Director for most of the 90s. He amassed 450 wins while coaching varsity girls basketball at Elm City (142-25) and Fike (308-172) high schools.
He directed the Elm City varsity girls basketball team to the state title in 1977 and was named N.C. High School Athletic Association 2-A Coach of the Year. The Fike girls won the state crown in 1979 and finished runner-up in 1997 and 1998.
In 23 years, he experienced only one losing season with his girls. His Elm City teams captured five conference titles and his Lady Demons at Fike seized seven conference crowns.
While most will remember him for his affable attitude and his success with girls basketball, Summerlin insists that he loved football just as much. He spent nearly 20 years as an offensive coordinator for Fike and served as the Golden Demons’ head coach from 1991-94.
Summerlin rattled off the names of Mo Ruffin, Billy Woodard, Ron McNeil and others, then mentioned some of the excellent quarterbacks he coached — Michael Dunn, Mark Silverthorne, Tom Benson, Sharieff Dew and Brian Harris.
Ironically, it is Harris, now a doctor, that the retired coach credits for saving his life. Summerlin was diagnosed with colon cancer in August of 2005 and has undergone a myriad of treatments for 13 months. Harris was the one who encouraged him to have his colon examined.
Summerlin, who grew up on a 60-acre farm in Wilson County, was a multi-sport star at Elm City, where he played football, basketball and baseball, earning all-conference honors in the latter two. He played on a state 1-A championship baseball team in 1964 for head coach Brantley Aycock.
Summerlin lists Aycock, who coached all of his high school teams, and Barton’s Tom Parham (also a BC Hall of Famer), as his greatest coaching influences.
Summerlin’s first coaching stint was at Elm City Elementary in 1969-70. He was assistant principal and coached several
sports, including girls basketball. He spent two years as a varsity boys basketball assistant coach to the legendary Harvey Reid. In his third year out of school, Aycock turned over the head varsity girls basketball job at Elm City to Summerlin.
That was the beginning of 23 years of fine teams for Coach Summerlin. He coached four all-state players in Lydia Roundtree, Angela Armstrong, Denise Hill and Roc Canady. Hill and Armstrong were both MVPs of the N.C. East-West All-Star Game. He mentioned Shemkia Reid, Kalita Marsh, Laura Battle, Barbara Creech and others.
In track, he said Roundtree was the state 100-yard dash champ, and would have won several more had it not been for Kathy McMillan, who won three herself and went on to capture a bronze medal in the Olympics.
Summerlin retired from Fike in January of 1998, but coached one more year of girls basketball before turning A.D. and coaching duties over to his long-time assistant, John Gay. After taking three years off, he worked at Northern Nash Senior High for one semester and was an assistant girls varsity basketball coach at Smithfield-Selma and Clayton high schools for two years each.
He just couldn’t stand being away from coaching.
“I was lucky,” Summerlin said. “I had some great kids.”
They were lucky. They had a great coach.
