1997 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE | HARRY FRY
The Milligan College Athletics Hall of Fame not only honors outstanding athletes who attended Milligan, but also incredible coaches who have made Milligan proud throughout their lives.
Fry grew up in Pennington Gap, Virginia, and attended Milligan in the late 1940s. While a student, he participated in basketball, football and baseball. In 1948, Fry graduated from Milligan with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education. He went on to earn his master's degree from George Peabody College.
Fry is known in Southeastern Virginia for his 34-year coaching career. In 1949, he coached football, girls’ and boys’ basketball, baseball and track at St. Charles High School. He then went to Saltville High School in Virginia for three years of coaching. In 1953, Fry became head football coach at Gate City High School where he became a coaching legend.
At Gate City, Fry built a Blue Devil legacy based on simple fundamentals: hard work, fair play and good sportsmanship. Fry guided his teams to an overall record of 238 wins, 69 losses and eight ties. He had winning streaks of 26 and 30 games, 16 district championships, four regional titles and two state championships.
The community support for Fry and his teams was phenomenal. Fry clearly inspired the entire community, judging from the unanimous praise he received from the citizens of Gate City. Most home games drew crowds of 6,000 fans to the school's stadium, which only seated 4,500. The drove of people roared when Fry's team took the field.
His success did not go unrecognized by his peers. Fry won Southwest Virginia Coach of the Year honors nine times, the Virginia High School Coaches’ Association Distinguished Service Award and placement in the Virginia Hall of Fame.
At the close of the 1982-83 season, Fry retired after 30 winning years at Gate City. He will forever be remembered as the coach that put Gate City on the map for the state of Virginia.
Harry K Fry dearly deserves the honor of being placed among Milligan's best athletes and coaches in the Hall of Fame.