Wake Forest Athletics News
Tal Jobe To Be Inducted Into Mebane Hall of Fame on Saturday Special thanks to Adam Smith and the Burlington Times-News for contributing this story on one of the unsung heros and most beloved people in the Wake Forest athletic department. June 5, 2004 By Adam Smith MEBANE - When Tal Jobe was a Wake Forest freshman basketball player in the 1960s, he frequently dropped by Mickey Walker's room on campus. This usually made for a good stop. Walker was a senior member of the football team and one of his suitemates was Brian Piccolo - who would move on to the Chicago Bears and whose legacy was recounted in the movie "Brian's Song." The older football players were tuned in to plenty of the school's happenings. And if there wasn't much going on, another option was always worth considering. "I could see if Mickey was going home because he'd give me a ride," Jobe said. Home was Mebane, and they will be there this weekend as two of the inductees for the city's Sports Hall of Fame. Jimmy Scoggins, a basketball and baseball standout, and Joe Young, a nationally acclaimed archer, complete this year's class. It's an event with a firm Wake Forest flavor. Demon Deacons football coach Jim Grobe is the night's guest speaker. "It's an honor to be associated with the people that have already gone in and the people that are getting in," Walker said. Jobe, 59, excelled in football and basketball for Mebane High School and then for Eastern Alamance High School when the school opened its doors in 1962-63. He competed on the freshman basketball team at Wake Forest. His defining mark came as a coach. Jobe played a part in the direction of 69 teams during a 31-year career, highlighted by head-coaching stints at Graham (football, 1978-1982) and Eastern Alamance (boys' basketball, 1984-1992). In 1967, his first season on the job, Jobe was the youngest school-system coach in Alamance County. He was the oldest coach in the county in 1999, when he left the business. "It was a tremendous time investment," Jobe said. "When school was out at 3:15, just about every day of my career I had to go to practice somewhere. But I enjoyed it." Jobe's Eastern Alamance basketball teams compiled a noteworthy collection of conference championships and postseason runs, including a span of more than 80 victories in four years. The 1990-91 Eagles squad captured the Class 3-A state title, and it still stands as the only Eastern Alamance team to be crowned a state champion in any sport. That team entered the Mebane Sports Hall of Fame two years ago. Jobe said the many ups and downs from three decades worth of seasons forged unforgettable bonds. "You build a strong friendship and I still feel a really strong friendship about the players that played for me and the coaches that coached with me," he said. "I think the pride I gather is from watching the kids who played for us grow up and become successful in their adult life." Jobe just finished his third year as an operations assistant in the Wake Forest athletics department. He's also the clubhouse manager for the Demon Deacons baseball team. Walker, 64, starred as a prep quarterback at Mebane, earning this newspaper's Outstanding Player of Alamance County award and an East-West All-Star Game selection in 1958. A two-year stay at Wingate brought recognition as an Honorable Mention All-American, prior to his transfer to Wake Forest. Later, Walker served as an assistant football coach at Eastern Alamance from 1967-1975. He performed the school's head-coaching duties from 1981-1984. "I always felt like I could affect the game more as a player than as a coach," Walker said. "As a player I always felt like there was something I could do to change the complexion of the game to make it turn out better." He certainly proved that in 1961. Limited somewhat by a shoulder injury, Walker took on a placekicking role, in addition to his offensive and defensive back positions. He booted field goals in the waning seconds that season to seal victories against Clemson and North Carolina. He connected on five field goals in 1961 and it would be seven years before another Wake Forest kicker converted more in a season. Walker is retired and lives in Calabash with his wife, Bobbi. SCOGGINS DOUBLED UP: Scoggins was an integral piece of Mebane High School's 1956-57 Class 1-A state championship in basketball. He received all-conference and first-team state tournament honors during that season. As a baseball player, Scoggins landed Most Valuable Player recognition and pitched in every game during his last three years of high school. He also participated in American Legion competition. Scoggins posted an undefeated pitching record as a freshman at then-Elon College before a car accident ended his college career. He went on to set a state semi-professional record with 21 strikeouts in one game. YOUNG'S AIM WAS TRUE: Young, a 1960 Mebane graduate, joined Thunderbird Archery Club and soon switched from hunting to competitive archery. He held the North Carolina freestyle championship from 1967-1971 and again in 1973. He won the Southeast Regional title in 1970-1971 and a national freestyle championship in 1970. Once at a Clemson, S.C., meet, Young established a world record for an amateur by scoring 556 points out of a possible 560. He nailed 110 out of 112 bull's-eyes in that event. Adam Smith can be reached at adam_smith@link.freedom.com |