SC Athlete You Should Know is…

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Commander Ernest Edwin Evans (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on October 25, 1944, on board the USS Johnston. His citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as commanding officer of the U.S.S. Johnston in action against major units of the enemy Japanese fleet during the battle off Samar on 25 October 1944. The first to lay a smokescreen and to open fire as an enemy task force, vastly superior in number, firepower and armor, rapidly approached. Comdr. Evans gallantly diverted the powerful blasts of hostile guns from the lightly armed and armored carriers under his protection, launching the first torpedo attack when the Johnston came under straddling Japanese shellfire. Undaunted by damage sustained under the terrific volume of fire, he unhesitatingly joined others of his group to provide fire support during subsequent torpedo attacks against the Japanese and, outshooting and outmaneuvering the enemy as he consistently interposed his vessel between the hostile fleet units and our carriers despite the crippling loss of engine power and communications with steering aft, shifted command to the fantail, shouted steering orders through an open hatch to men turning the rudder by hand and battled furiously until the Johnston, burning and shuddering from a mortal blow, lay dead in the water after 3 hours of fierce combat. Seriously wounded early in the engagement, Comdr. Evans, by his indomitable courage and brilliant professional skill, aided materially in turning back the enemy during a critical phase of the action. His valiant fighting spirit throughout this historic battle will venture as an inspiration to all who served with him.

Captain Ira H. Evans (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on April 2, 1865, at Hatchers Run, Virginia. His citation reads:

Voluntarily passed between the lines, under a heavy fire from the enemy, and obtained important information.

Private James R. Evans (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 5, 1864, at Wilderness, Virginia. His citation reads:

Went out in front of the line under a fierce fire and, in the face of the rapidly advancing enemy, rescued the regimental flag with which the color bearer had fallen.


Congrats to Stephon Gilmore (Bills) and Melvin Ingram (Chargers) on being selected in the first round of the NFL draft last night. I’m sure all of the schools on the Revolutionary War Heroes’ football schedule are happy those two aren’t going to be playing in college anymore. Congrats also to former Stanford offensive lineman David DeCastro on his first round selection by the Pittsburgh Steelers.


The I’m just sayin… Know Your South Carolina Athlete

The Athlete of the week this week is former Winthrop basketball great James Shuler. Shuler, a 6’6” 220 pound native of Florida, was part of the first class to enter Winthrop after my graduation. He played at Winthrop from 2002 – 2006 and was a huge part of the 2nd Era of Championship basketball for the Eagles. My memory might be a little fuzzy here, but I believe he was one of those guys that played guard/small forward… kind of a wing type player, if you will. I do know he played some point guard his sophomore season (the worst in the Marshall Era), so I’m pretty comfortable in telling you he wasn’t a true PG. He did, however, play with not one, but two of the greatest point guards to ever play at Winthrop (perhaps THE two greatest). As a freshman he played with Pierre Wooten while as a junior and senior he played with Chris Gaynor. I don’t know James Shuler… he might be the nicest guy in the world… but when he played he looked like one scary-bad SOB. Just based off of looks, if I got to pick two Winthrop players that I would want on my side in a fight, I’d pick Greg Lewis and James Shuler. For his career, Shuler played in 116 games shooting an average of 41% from the field for 10 points per game (making him a member of the 1,000 point club with 1,160 total points). In his senior season, James averaged 13.3 points per game, shot 84.4% from the line, averaged 3.5 assists per game with 4.4 rebounds per game and 1.6 steals per game. Shuler is the All-Time Winthrop leader with 420 free throws made. If you look at his stats, you’ll see James shot an average of 30.4% from behind the arc. What that stat doesn’t tell you is that if the game was close and the shot clock (and/or game clock) was about to run out, Shuler was like money in the bank from way behind the three point line. Perhaps the best example of this came his senior season in the ESPN BracketBuster game against Northern Illinois.  Shuler hit a 3 pointer with 1:45 left in the first overtime to tie the game at 85 and then hit another 3 pointer with 3.1 seconds left in the second over time to give Winthrop a 98-97 win.  Later in that same season during the Big South Championship Game, James hit a long distance 3 with about 2 minutes left (and, I believe, the shot clock running down) to tie Winthrop at 47-47 with Coastal Carolina. The Eagles would go on to win the game by 1 point.  Shuler was named to the All-Big South First Team his junior and senior seasons and was also named to the All-Tournament team his junior season. Congrats to James Shuler for being named a SC Athlete You Should Know.

*Thanks to Jeremy for pointing out an error which I've since corrected.