NORFOLK (WAVY) – Four of the greatest athletes to come out of Hampton Roads and one of the top sportswriters in Virginia history were inducted into the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame on Monday night.
Mark West, BJ Upton, Tom Duquette, Julie Shiflet and David Teel were all honored as the class of 2021.
West is considered one of the best basketball players in Old Dominion history. He twice led the nation in blocked shots, scored 1,308 career points and enjoyed a 17-year NBA career playing for seven different teams.
Upton was selected second overall in the 2002 Major League Baseball draft when he was still at Greenbrier Christian School. Upton played 12 major league seasons, belted 164 home runs, and helped lead the Tampa Bay Rays to the 2008 World Series.
Duquette is considered a lacrosse legend in Hampton Roads. He left the University of Virginia as the school’s all-time leading scorer, and is still ranked in the top 10 on that list. He won a world championship on the U.S. National Team in 1974, and as the head coach of Norfolk Academy, has won more than 300 games. Duquette is now a member of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Shiflet is one of the top tennis talents to come out of Virginia Beach. She was an All-American at William & Mary, won two U.S. Clay Court Championships, and was ranked among the world’s top 200 players during her time as a professional.
Teel is one of the most decorated sports writers in Virginia history. A 2014 inductee into the Virginia S ports Hall of Fame, he spent 35 years writing for the Daily Press in Newport News, and has covered just about every event from Super Bowls and Final Fours to college football national championships. Teel has been recognized as the top sportswriter in Virginia 13 times.
