Lenoir-Rhyne University Athletics

H.C. "Joby" Hawn has been associated with athletics for most of his life. He has experienced sports from many angles - as a player, as a coach, as an official and as a leader in the field of recreation.  Hawn played football, basketball and baseball at Lenoir-Rhyne, and after his graduation in 1926, he enjoyed a brief career as a professional baseball player.  A teacher and coach for 20 years, Hawn developed several championships in various sports, particulary at R.J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, N.C.  The Lenoir-Rhyne graduate also became an outstanding football and basketball official for the Southern and Atlantic Coast Conferences. He officiated in the Sugar, Cotton, Gator and Dixie Bowls, and later assigned and supervised officials for ACC Football.  In 1946, Hawn became Industrial Recreation Director for P.H. Hanes Knitting Company in Winston-Salem, N.C. He served in that position for 16 years and became known as "Mr. Recreation" in the Winston-Salem area.  Taking early retirement for Hanes in 1962, Hawn became the first full-time commissioner of the Carolina Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Following his retirement in 1976, the league began awarding an annual cup in his honor.