INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State University’s (WVSU) athletic booster organization, the National ‘W’ Club, will induct six new members into the Sports Hall of Fame with a brunch beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8, in the James C. Wilson University Union.
The 2022 Hall of Fame inductees are WVSU Athletic Director Nate Burton, Warren Johnson Breckenridge, Jr.; Dava Kaltenecker Pinney; Jermain King; Jeff Sokolik; and Paul Toombs.
Burton is in his seventh year as the Director of Athletics at WVSU. He is a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College in 2009 where he was a four-year starter on the men’s basketball team. In 2008-09, he helped lead the team to a 20-10 overall record for the program’s second 20-win season. That year ended with Washington and Jefferson College winning the ECAC Division III Championship. Prior to joining WVSU in 2014, Burton served as the Assistant Director for Athletic Development - The Seahawk Club at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington (UNCW). He was responsible for planning, developing, and implementing fundraising initiatives for athletic scholarships. Burton was named the Interim Athletic Director of WVSU in 2016. He made an instant impact as an administrator and swiftly assumed the role on a permanent basis. Under his leadership, artificial turf has been installed at Lady Jackets Field, Calvin L. Bailey Field, and Lakin-Ray Field at Dickerson Stadium. He has also increased the sports offerings by adding Women’s Soccer and Acrobatics & Tumbling. In the classroom, WVSU student-athletes have achieved eight consecutive semesters of a collective 3.0 GPA or higher. Burton has two children, Arabella and Sean, and resides in South Charleston.
Breckenridge, Jr. is a former football player for WVSU. He was born May 21, 1959, in Charleston, West Virginia. He is a 1977 graduate of Charleston High School where he participated and lettered in three sports: football, basketball, and track. After high school, Breckenridge, Jr. continued playing football as a walk-on at WVSU starting and lettering all four years. He earned a West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Honorable Mention in 1978. He was a member of the WVIAC Division Championship team and played in the Coal Bowl in 1979. That year he was honored with WVIAC All-Conference, selected First Team All-Conference Defense and Second Team All-American. In 1980, again he was All-Conference and First Team Defense. Breckenridge, Jr.’s teammates considered him to be a keystone contributor of the Yellow Jackets defense, which was ranked top 10 nationally at the time. He went to work in the chemical industry after leaving WVSU and is now enjoying his retirement after 35 years of service. He has served his community through coaching midget league football for the Kanawha City Colts. He is married to Ruth Adams Breckenridge and has three children – Taveeta, Warren III, and Whitney – with his previous wife, Gail Breckenridge. He is also a proud grandfather of four.
Pinney is a 2007 graduate of WVSU and former volleyball, track, and golf athlete for the university. She was born February 24, 1985, in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and graduated in 2003 from Parkersburg High School. In high school, she was a multi-sport athlete, participating in volleyball, basketball, and track. At WVSU, Pinney and her teammates led the university to its first NCAA Division II WVIAC volleyball regular season and tournament championships in 2006. As a two-year co-captain for the Yellow Jackets, Pinney was WVIAC Honorable Mention Team in 2005; WVIAC First Team; and All-Tournament Team in 2006. As a freshman and sophomore, she pole-vaulted with the indoor track team and was a member of the first women’s golf team her junior and senior years at WVSU. The WVSU National ‘W’ Club presented Pinney with the Outstanding Senior Athlete Award for Women’s Golf and Volleyball in 2007. She lives in Newark, Ohio, with her husband, Wes, and their two daughters, Quinlee and Hadley. Pinney also coaches Division I high school volleyball. She has coached at Newark High School for the last eight years and is currently in her first year as Head Coach.
King is a WVSU class of 2011 graduate who participated in football while at the university. He was born in Wauchula, Florida, and graduated in 2007 from Hardee Senior High School where he played varsity football, basketball, and participated in track and field. At WVSU, he started all 40 career games in which he had at least one reception in each game. King was selected Second Team All WVIAC in 2007, 2008, and 2009. He was also selected First Team All WVIAC in 2010, the same year he was the WVSU team captain. Following his playing career at WVSU, King played indoor football with the Nebraska Danger, Reading Express, and Sioux Falls Red Storm. King earned a master’s degree in Sports Coaching from Ohio University in 2018 and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of West Florida in 2021. He has been in the education system as a teacher since 2013 and has coached football at the youth and high school level for the past 10 years. He lives in Lakeland, Florida, with his wife, Andrea, and daughter, Lyncoln.
Sokolik is a 1977 graduate of WVSU from New Miford, New Jersey. His success started early holding the New Jersey freshman shot put record for 15 years which was one of the top throws for freshmen in the country at that time. Sokolik was a four-year letter winner as offensive tackle in football and a shot putter in track and field earning 12 varsity letters. As a track athlete, he was undefeated as a shot putter for his four years in the WVIAC Conference. He represented WVSU in the National Hall of Fame meet taking second place in the shot put. After graduating at WVSU, Sokolik returned to New Jersey to teach health, physical education and driver’s education as well as coach for the next 30 years. He coached football, wrestling, and the field events in track and field. He is married to MJ and they have four children – Beth Ann, Jeff, Sara, and Allison. They have four grandchildren. He is retired and living in Delaware.
Toombs is a 1976 graduate of WVSU and is from Linden, New Jersey. He served as the co-captain of the men’s basketball team at WVSU in 1975 and captain in 1976. Toombs’ motivation was family, team, and community. He encouraged his teammates to take care of their mental and physical well-being. He is the father of two sons – James and Kammall and the grandfather of 10 children and great-grandfather of six.
The Hall of Fame ceremony brunch will take place at 8:30 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 8, inside the James C. Wilson University Union on the WVSU campus. The event is open to the public. Tickets cost $10 and may be purchased at the door. In addition to the Hall of Fame induction, awards also will be given to current student-athletes. The 2022 ‘W’ Club Inductee Welcoming Ceremony will begin with a bell-ringing at the Canty House immediately after the Homecoming Parade, which begins at 10:30 a.m. that Saturday.
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West Virginia State University is a public, land-grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi-generational institution, located in Institute, W.Va. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service, and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.