With a legacy that continues to grow, Fort Mill High School Athletic Director Dwayne Hartsoe was recently elected to the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Hartsoe was one of four coaches elected into this year’s class along with Sharon Dillon of Broome and Spartanburg High Schools, Tim Morris of Woodmont High School and posthumously Jimmy Towe of Calhoun Falls, Seneca and Woodmont. The inductees were announced on Friday, July 3.
The Class of 2026 will be inducted on Thursday, July 23 in Greenville prior to the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association Annual Coaches Clinic. The banquet will be at Larkin’s Sawmill at 22 Graves Drive in Greenville. For more information or tickets, contact John Combs at schoopcoaches@gmail.com.
Hartsoe was contacted in early May and was told he was a finalist for this year’s class. He was told about three weeks ago that he had been selected.
“It is pretty humbling and surprising,” he said. “When you look at the names in there it is sort of surprising. I don’t consider myself to be in the same category as some of the guys that are in it.”
Hartsoe coached basketball more than 30 years, the last 12 of his coaching career at Fort Mill High where he became the school’s all-time winningest coach. He also had stops at Williston-Elko, Lancaster, and South Pointe High schools before landing at Fort Mill. He retired from coaching with a 444-308 career record and was 186-104 during his time at Fort Mill. He stepped down from coaching to focus on his Athletic Director duties at the school after the 2022-2023 season.
Hartsoe said he would never say never regarding returning to the sidelines as a coach.
“I wouldn’t say no to it, but I like doing what I am doing right now,” he said. “Maybe someday. Maybe one day I can see myself doing it again. I miss it a lot. I still love the game.”
In 1995, he guided Williston-Elko to a 1A state championship. His teams won 10 Region titles and he was named Region Coach of the Year 12 times during his career. He has been named Coach of the Year six times by three different print publications including the Augusta Chronicle and the High School Sports Report. He has also been named State Coach of the Year by the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association. His teams made the playoffs 27 times during his career.
In 2007, he was named as an assistant coach in the North-South All-Star Game and in 2012 was named an assistant coach in the Carolinas Classic. In 2016, he was named head coach of the South Carolina team in the Carolinas Classic.
“I am humbled by the whole thing,” he said. “Somebody thought something good of me to nominate me and then be selected.”
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
