Hartsville’s Hewitt elected to SCACA Hall of Fame

Hartsville girls basketball coach Pat Hewitt has spent nearly 40 years building a Hall-of-Fame rèsumè and legacy in the Pee Dee.

On July 26, the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association will make it official.

Hewitt was one of seven coaches chosen Tuesday for the SCACA Hall of Fame Class of 2009.

“It was a shock and an honor to be nominated for this by your fellow coaches,” Hewitt said. “To have this honor is absolutely unreal.

“For the coaches of this state to feel I deserve this honor, it really brings all the years of work and all the activities I’ve done into perspective.”

Hewitt has earned 472 wins in her career, ranking 11th on the state’s all-time list. She also helped build the Red Foxes into one of the powerhouses of Class 4A.

Hewitt won her first state title at the end of the 1985-86 season. From 1989-92, the Red Foxes went to four straight state championship games, winning two in 1990 and 1992.

In 1991, she was named the Converse National Coach of the Year.

“I love to coach. I love the kids. I love the competition,” Hewitt said. “I love to teach, and that’s what coaching is, either on the basketball court or in the classroom. It’s just been something God has blessed me with and has allowed me to do.”

From tennis to softball to field hockey, Hewitt has coached a number of sports. Basketball, though, was always her first love.

“Athletics has been good to me, and so has basketball,” Hewitt said. “Shannon Johnson took me to the Olympics and took me to China because of basketball. So I feel like I’ve really been blessed to have the success and the experiences that I’ve had.”

Hewitt doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Three years after getting back into coaching, Hewitt led the Red Foxes to the lower state championship game in 2008.

“It was really exciting that year,” Hewitt said. “Those were a lot of the same girls that I had started as seventh-graders who won only two games their first year.”

Other honorees include Barry Atkinson (Laurens), William Ramborger (S.C. School for the Deaf and Blind),  Strother Sligh (Irmo), Dick Smith (T.L. Hanna) and Mac Wier (Barnwell).

The ceremony will be held at the Charleston Area Convention Center. It’s the 17th class of inductees.