A former baseball standout and longtime track & field coach will be the two newest members of the Providence Bank Jacksonville-Onslow Sports Hall of Fame.
The 2026 class features former Dixon High School baseball star Rookie Davis and veteran Jacksonville High School track & field coach Edward Curtis Dowdy, Sr.
Davis and Dowdy will be inducted on May 21 at Sturgeon City Environmental Center along with the 2025 class of former White Oak standout athlete Doug Banks, former Lejeune and Jacksonville basketball coach Doug Erny and former White Oak Athletic Director and basketball coach Greg Grantham.
Receiving the Heroes Spirit Award will be former Jacksonville Recreation and Parks Director Michael Carter.
The Hall of Fame honors “those who have advanced sport in Onslow County.” Here is a look at the 2026 class. The Daily News will feature all the inductees leading up to the event.
Rookie Davis
Davis was an all-state baseball player and the 2010 North Carolina Player of the Year, four-time all-conference, three-time conference player of the year and two-time area player of the year while also being named all-area four times.
He was also a two-time High School Perfect Game All-American. Davis held a .544 career batting average, hit 37 home runs, had 150 RBIs and was 25-4 on the mound with 422 strikeouts with five no-hitters. He finished with a career 1.67 earned run average.
Davis committed to East Carolina University after his freshman season but was drafted in the 14th round by the New York Yankees. His Dixon No. 24 jersey is retired and the Bulldogs’ field is named in his honor.
Davis retired from playing baseball during the COVID-19 pandemic and opened the Davis Academy in Jacksonville, where he helped young players develop their skills.
Edward Curtis Dowdy, Sr.
Dowdy started his coaching career at Jacksonville in 1980 as the assistant track & field coach, but became head coach in 1985. He also started coaching the JV boys’ basketball team and varsity girls’ basketball team.
Dowdy has led the Jacksonville girls’ track & field squad to 25 conference titles (1985-1998, 2000-2003, 2005-2008, 2013, 2015, 2025), 11 East Regional crowns (1990-1991, 1993, 1996-1998, 2000-2002, 2005, 2008) and state championships in 1991, 1993 and 2008. The Cardinals were also state runners-up in 1990, 1999 and 2007 and indoor state runners-up in 2008.
Dowdy coached the Jacksonville boys’ team to six conference tiles (1997, 2002, 2006, 2019, 2023-2024), two regional titles in 2016 and 2017 and state championships in 2005 and 2016.
Dowdy has coached 82 individual state champions in both outdoor and indoor track & field (43 girls, 39 boys). He started the Jacksonville Express Track Club, which existent from 1983 to 2004.
Dowdy received a Proclamation from the Jacksonville Mayor in 1991. In 2009, he was inducted into the Union Pines Hall of Fame for his contributions to the track & field and football teams as an athlete.
In 2024, the Onslow County Track & Field meet was renamed the Liles-Dowdy Onslow County Track & Field Championships and in 2025 he was inducted into the Jacksonville High School Hall of Fame.
Chris Miller can be contacted via email at cmiller@jdnews.com. Follow him on X @jdnsports.