Lenoir-Rhyne University Athletics

Lloyd R. Little boasts a standout athletic career which spanned nearly 40 years.  He was a three-sport letterman at Lenoir-Rhyne, and upon his graduation in 1933 he began a coaching career of 35 years - one at Rockwell, three in Newton and 31 at Shelby.  As a college athlete Little played football, basketball and baseball for three years each.  He captained the 1932-33 Lenoir-Rhyne basketball team and the 1932 baseball squad.  He was also president of his senior class and "Best All-Around Male" in 1932-33.  A member of the Greater Shelby Chamber of Commerce Sports and Recreation Hall of Fame since 1967, Little achieved his greatest fame as a basketball coach at Shelby High School.  His teams there compiled 499 victories against only 151 defeats, taking 10 conference championships and three Western North Carolina High School Activities Associational crowns in the process.  Little also coached four all-star teams while at Shelby and led the high school tennis squad to several conference championships.  He retired from teaching and coaching in 1970.  The Shelby standout was also an All-American semi-pro baseball player in 1935 and coached the local American Legion club to a world title 10 years later.