The 2019 Winthrop Hall of Fame Class was officially inducted last week. Four members were honored in the 15th induction class. The ceremony was held inside the Richardson Ballroom.
The four members include former softball head coach Mark Cooke, former women’s basketball standout Ashley Fann, former baseball player Heath Rollins, and former men’s basketball player Michael Jenkins.
Mark Cooke (2018)
Cooke coached softball in college for 33 years and spent 29 seasons leading the Winthrop program. Cooke was honored Big South Coach of the Year honors three times. He then guided the team to the Big South championship game 11 different times. He also won the Big South Championships four seasons in his career. In 2007, Cooke was the second Big South coach to obtain 50 wins in a single season. Cooke is one out of two coaches to do so.
He ranks first in the Big South Conference history for all-time victories (757) and conference only victories (217). He has coached the Eagles to over 40 wins against programs from the Power 5 Conferences.
Ashley Fann (2009)
Fann graduated from Winthrop in 2009. Her 1,603 career points currently rank fifth all-time in the athletic program. She ranked second all-time in rebounds, second in games started, third in games played, third in minutes played, third in free throws attempted, third in free throws made and third in career points.
Fann is a three-time All-Big South selection. She was also honored as the 2005 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year and a three-time selection to the Big South All-Academic Team. Fann helped guided her team to the programs first-ever 20-win season in the 2007 season.
Heath Rollins (2006)
Rollins spent two successful seasons with the Eagle baseball program. He earned All-Big South honors both years he attended Winthrop and was named the 2006 Big South Conference Player of the Year. In 2006, he won 13 games on the mound and led the team with 143 strikeouts as a pitcher. In just two seasons he made the program’s all-time Top 10 in on-base percentage, triples, stolen bases, lowest opponent batting average, strikeouts per nine innings, wins and strikeouts. Rollins represented the program well as he earned All-American honors in 2006 by three different national publications. When he was on the team, the Eagles made NCAA Regional appearances in 2005 and 2006. In 2006, he was selected in the 11th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Michael Jenkins (2008)
Jenkins was a two-year starter and was a member of four Big South Championship teams. He was the 2008 Big South Conference Tournament MVP. Jenkins was honored with All-Big South honors twice. He earned Big South All-Tournament Team honors twice set both a Big South and Winthrop record for most points in a championship contest in 2008. He became the first Eagle in program history to hit 100 or more threes in a single-season. Jenkins tied the school record for threes in a game with 12 and ranks 5th all-time in made threes. He is one of just five players in the history of the program to score 40 or more points in a single-game. He still holds the program record for most threes in a conference tournament game with six.
Winthrop Athletics Hall of Fame now has a total of 87 members. Their honorable plaque are on the walls of the Winthrop Coliseum with the other inductees.
