Wayne E. Neese

Class of 1971 / Inducted 1976 / Football

Wayne E. Neese graduated from Emory & Henry in 1971 and was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame four short years later in recognition of his outstanding collegiate career as a fullback on the Wasps’ football team.

Neese was a three-time All-State player and a Little All-American Honorable Mention his junior year. He received out and out Little All-America honors his senior year after leading the team in scoring, with 44 points on the season including seven touchdowns and one two-point conversion. He also amassed 165 yards receiving and 775 yards rushing on the season. In addition to playing fullback, Neese was the team’s punter, putting up 57 punts for a total of 2,208 yards, an average of 38.7 yards per punt that year.

In addition to lettering four years on the football team, Neese lettered two years and was named to the 1971 All-State Team in baseball and was a member of Phi Gamma Phi social fraternity.

After graduating, Neese became a teacher and a coach at Patrick Henry high school in Washington County.