Six former athletes and one historic team are part of Norfolk State’s 2024 Hall of Fame class, the school announced Wednesday.
The 2011-12 men’s basketball team that knocked off No. 2 seed Missouri in the NCAA Tournament is joined by Charlotte Armstead (women’s volleyball), Michael Deloach (men’s basketball), David Kemboi (cross country and track and field), Juan Serran (baseball), Nat Warren (tennis) and administrator Shirley Whitaker. The induction ceremony will be Sept. 6.
The 2011-2012 basketball team won the program’s first MEAC title, but is most famous for its March Madness win. Norfolk State, a No. 15 seed, upset No. 2 seed Missouri 86-84 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The win was the school’s first in the NCAA Tournament and just the fifth time a No. 15 seed defeated a No. 2. The Spartans notched 26 wins that season, the most in the program’s Division I history.
Armstead was a two-time All-MEAC honoree (2010 and 2012) in her four years with the volleyball team. She holds several career program records, including 1,777 kills, 1,399.5 points, 445 sets played, 264 total blocks and 211 solo blocks.
Deloach played for the men’s basketball team from 2006 to 2010. He earned All-MEAC first-team honors twice and a MEAC All-Tournament Team selection. He is first in the program’s Division I history with 672 career field goals, 537 free-throw attempts and is second in all-time scoring with 1,796 points. In his junior and senior years, he averaged more than 21 points per game, finishing his career with 15.5 points per game.
Kemboi is a member of the 2022 MEAC Hall of Fame class. He was at Norfolk State from 2005-07 and won MVP honors in all four MEAC events in which he ran. Kemboi was a two-time MEAC cross country champion and in 2006 was the first MEAC athlete to qualify for the NCAA National Cross Country Championships. His 8,000-kilometer time of 23:30 in 2005 is still the best time in MEAC history.
Serrano was a dominant third baseman on the baseball team. He became the Spartans’ only MEAC Rookie of the Year winner in 2004 and was the program’s only player to earn an All-MEAC first-team nod three times.
Warren was NSU’s first tennis head coach. He won two CIAA titles with the Spartans in Division II and helped guide them to Division I. Warren retired in 2009 with a 402-216 record and earlier this year Norfolk State renamed its tennis complex the “Nat Warren Tennis Center” in his honor.
Whitaker served the NSU athletics department as an administrative and program specialist for nearly 40 years before her retirement in 2010.
Michael Sauls, (757) 803-5774, michael.sauls@virginiamedia.com
