Basketball Legends Dereck Whittenburg and Al Wood to headline RCC Foundation Golf Tournament
Robeson Community College is excited to announce that Basketball Legends Dereck Whittenburg and Al Wood will be in attendance at RCC Foundation’s 37th Anniversary Clifford Bullard Memorial Golf Tournament. The tournament will be held on Thursday, October 14 with two shotgun starts, the first at 8:00 a.m. and the second at 12:45 p.m. at Pinecrest Golf Course in Lumberton.
The RCC Foundation is still accepting registrations for the tournament. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact RCC Foundation Director Jessica Bullard at jbullard@robeson.edu or 910-272-3235; RCC Major Gifts Officer Adam Hardin at ahardin@robeson.edu or 910-272-3497; or RCC Foundation Administrator Carol Cummings at ccummings@robeson.edu or 910-272-3236.
About Dereck Whittenburg
One of the most revered athletes in North Carolina history, Dereck Whittenburg, is a former collegiate basketball player who played for North Carolina State University, where he was a member of the 1982-83 team that won the NCAA national championship. As a star guard on the men’s basketball team, he helped lead former coach Jim Valvano’s squad to a historic 54-52 victory over heavily-favored University of Houston and clinched the title of game MVP.
Whittenburg was a third-round selection of the Phoenix Suns in the 1983 NBA Draft and earned a degree in business administration from the prestigious Poole College of Management, North Carolina State University in 1984. He has more than 25 years of college basketball coaching experience and has worked as an analyst for ESPN and as a regional NBA scout for the Utah Jazz. Whittenburg was an executive producer for “Survive and Advance,” a 30 for 30 documentary detailing NC State’s 1983 title run. He was also an executive producer for “The Gospel According to Mac,” a 30 for 30 documentary about Colorado football coach Bill McCartney.
Committed to giving back to his community, Whittenburg serves on the Board of Directors for The V Foundation for cancer research. Whittenburg is the co-founder of the Dereck Whittenburg Foundation, with a mission to extend the hands of financial assistance to deserving college students that find themselves facing the hindrance of finance as the barrier to their completion of college degrees. The mantra of The Foundation is “Dream. Believe. Work. Now Finish!”
Whittenburg is currently employed by the athletic department at his alma mater, serving as Associate Athletic Director for Community Relations and Student Support.
Dereck currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Jim Valvano foundation for cancer research, and holds the position of Director of Basketball Operations at North Carolina State in Raleigh, N.C.
About Al Wood
Al Wood is a native of Gray, Georgia, and a 1981 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Growing up, he quickly became successful in basketball, where he earned All-American status in high school and college. Al went on to set scoring records in the ACC and NCAA, was a member of the 1980 U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball team, and became the fourth player picked in the first round of the 1981 NBA draft. At North Carolina, he averaged 16 points a game, averaged 5 rebounds a game and shot 56 percent from the field.
In his NBA career, Wood played in 417 games and scored a total of 4,902 points. His best year as a professional came during the 1985–86 season as a member of the SuperSonics, appearing in 80 games and averaging 15.0 ppg. After the NBA, Al played professional basketball overseas but eventually moved back to the States and traveled around the country as a motivational speaker, trainer and team builder, evangelist, platform guest, sports radio and TV spokesperson, prison minister, and private consultant. He also served five years as Principal, Athletic Director, and Head Basketball Coach at Comenius School of Creative Leadership. Al is currently an ordained minister with MorningStar Ministries. Al met his wife Robin at UNC-Chapel Hill. They have four adult children, all graduates of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
