PINETOPS — A trio of SouthWest Edgecombe High athletic stars from the early 2000s were added to the list of Cougar legends in the school’s 16th athletic hall of fame induction Monday, May 20, in the school cafeteria.
Linwan Euwell, who was The Wilson Daily Times Athlete of the Year in 2006 before playing football at the University of North Carolina, was joined by former Cougars baseball stars Bobby Hawkins and Allen Letchworth in bringing the SWE athletic hall of fame membership to 40.
Former athletic director Sandra Langley served in her customary role of emceeing the ceremony while her son Shelton — who grew up at SouthWest, graduated from SouthWest, coached at SouthWest and now is the principal at SouthWest — was on hand to see his former teammates Letchworth and Hawkins be enshrined.
Hawkins earned dual accolades from Sandra Langley as the Lady Cougars legendary basketball coach read the list of athletic accomplishments for the 2003 SouthWest graduate who has become a nonfaculty volunteer member of the coaching and facility.
Hawkins played basketball his last two years at SWE but baseball for all four years and spent three years on varsity under hall-of-fame head coach Bruce Rhodes as a pitcher/infielder. Hawkins helped the Cougars reach the NCHSAA playoffs three times, including the 2-A quarterfinals in 2001.
He graduated as the school record-holder with a .494 batting average and is just one of eight Cougars to be named to an North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association all-state team.
But Hawkins didn’t just earn hall-of-fame honors for his play on the field. After signing to play at Methodist College (now University), Hawkins’ baseball career ended with an injury after two years.
He got a job in sales and marketing back home in his community, where he found himself pulled back to SouthWest. Hawkins started working on the Cougars diamond and helping Shelton Langley, who was coaching then.
“I just kind of worked myself back in and it just kind of fell into place and it’s worked out pretty well,” Hawkins said. “It’s been nice. It really has. It was actually weird how it happened. … Principal Langley now, but he came over and was like, ‘Man, I want you back out there,’ and here I am. It’s been good.”
In addition to working with the SWE Babe Ruth Baseball program, Hawkins has continued as the Cougars varsity assistant coach to head coach Spiers Miller. Sandra Langley noted that Hawkins is seemingly always around the school, ready to take care of any facility problem or help in any way needed.
“It’s an honor, man, it really is,” said Hawkins, whose wife, Leslie, and daughter, Kaylin, were there. “Just to come back home and receive something like that in the community back where you graduated from, it’s such an honor just to have folks to see and recognize the hard work. I don’t do it for — I’m a behind-the-scenes guy. I don’t like to talk, I don’t do speeches or anything like that. Don’t do it for glory. Do for the kids. That’s what it’s all about.”
Hawkins’ former teammate Letchworth was a rising mound star with the Cougars from 2000-02, earning all-conference acclaim all three years. Letchworth had the distinction of being the winning pitcher in the first round of the NCHSAA playoffs each of the three years SouthWest Edgecombe made it.
“Each one of those games was definitely an honor to be able to have the opportunity to pitch in the playoffs,” said Letchworth, who signed with Barton College after high school.
He transferred to Pitt Community College for his sophom*ore season in which he went 11-2 and received All-America honorable mention. Letchworth then signed with North Carolina State after graduating from PCC and pitched two seasons for the Wolfpack. Letchworth graduated in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in education.
He met his wife, Brooke, at N.C. State where she was a softball pitcher. They have three children: son, Aaron (age 10), and daughters Farrah (8) and Vivienne (5).
Letchworth, who returned to Barton to obtain his graduate degree, is a senior software engineer for Truist Bank.
He was grateful for the experience of playing baseball at SouthWest, especially for Rhodes, who coached the Cougars for 18 years.
“I will say SouthWest helped me build on those relationships and thoughts that have been a part of my life,” Letchworth said. “Coach Rhodes, he definitely presented us with, not necessarily how to be a good baseball player but how to do things right in life. The things that I’ve taken from my career at SouthWest is not just focusing on sports but just being being successful in life in general.”
Euwell was presented his induction trophy by his former coach and fellow SWE hall-of-famer Raymond Cobb while Euwell’s wife, Tasha, and their 1-year son, Greysen, watched.
“It means a lot, just looking back over my career, all the things I accomplished,” said Euwell, who was a two-time all-state selection in football. “Just a good feeling to be recognized for some of the things that I accomplished in my life. Stuff I can look back and tell my kids and wife that I was inducted to my high school hall of fame. No, it wasn’t just me; it was my coaches, my family. God looked over me and gave me the talent and tools to be in this situation right now.”
Euwell signed to play football at UNC, where he obtained his degree in communications. However, now Euwell is involved in the hospitality industry in Durham. After a stint of more than 10 years as a chef at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill and Empire Eats, Euwell is now in restaurant equipment sales.
A terror at defensive end, Euwell rang up 33 sacks in three varsity seasons while earning Times Defensive Player of the Year acclaim as a senior, when he and Shrine Bowl linebacker Sam Battle led the Cougars to 12 straight wins before a third-round 21-20 loss to Eastern Alamance. A basketball star and even a sprinter for the Cougars relay teams, Euwell was a dynamic performer who became just the fourth SWE to earn Tom Ham Athlete of the Year from the Times in 2007.
However, when he was asked what his most memorable moment as a Cougar was, Euwell didn’t pull one off the gridiron.
“Honestly, everybody’ll probably look at me like I’m crazy, but I would say basketball,” he said before a familiar gleam came to his eye. “Christmas tournament when I dunked on everybody at Tarboro High! I will say that’s still the proudest moment I will ever have!”
Spoken like a true Cougar.
