Local legends: Tom Whitehurst, Scott Dunlap, Fredd Atkins among 6 to be inducted into Sarasota High Hall of Fame

SARASOTA — Tom Whitehurst accelerated from zero to 100 mph in the time it took him to learn he would be inducted into the Sarasota High School Hall of Fame.

“I had never thought about it,” the 75-year-old former Sailor student-athlete, coach, and teacher said.

But after getting the news?

“I was tremendously excited and very proud,” he said.

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Whitehurst will join Dr. Carl Luer, Cedric Saunders, Scott Dunlap, Fredd Atkins, and Mollie Cardamone in being inducted into the SHS Hall of Fame at a ceremony on October 18 at Michael’s On East starting at 6 p.m. Single tickets, tables, and sponsorships are available at sarasotahalloffame.com.

“Carl Luer was a classmate and a great friend,” Whitehurst said. “So I’m tickled to be going in with him and Cedric.”

Playing tackle on the Sailor football team, the 180-pounder — 199 by his senior year — Whitehurst made first-team all-area, first-team all-conference, and first-team all-south. As a junior and senior, he was named to the Tampa Tribune’s top 50, and earned honorable mention All-American status as a senior. Playing baseball for the Sailors, he made first-team all-area as a junior and senior.

Following a football career at Florida cut short by injury, Whitehurst returned to Sarasota in 1970 to start a teaching and coaching career which lasted until 2010.

But events had to transpire to get Whitehurst to Sarasota in the first place, and then to return following his time at Florida.

What got the Ohio-born Whitehurst and his parents to move to Florida in 1959 was the snow of Erie, Penn. The family settled in Winter Park, but after having vacationed one winter in Venice, it eventually moved to Sarasota. Whitehurst enrolled, and joined the Sailor football team in 1963 for two-a-day practices, coinciding with the first year of head coach Charlie Cleland.

Thus, was the start of a most excellent adventure for Tom Whitehurst.

“I don’t think a kid could have had a better high-school experience than I did,” he said. Whitehurst played on the 1965 Sarasota football team, the only one in school history to finish a regular-season undefeated. He then earned a scholarship to Florida at a time student-athletes weren’t obsessed with getting one.

“No one thought about playing college football,” he said. “You were recruited your senior year. It just didn’t happen. There was one All-American team, and that was the Sunday Parade (magazine).”

After a foot injury ended his career at Florida prematurely, Whitehurst was prepared to enter law school. Then, two events converged to get him back wearing the orange and black.

The first involved securing a loan for law school. Whitehurst knew the president of the bank, but the connection didn’t get him the money he needed. So, suddenly unsure of his future, about a week later, he was studying in the Florida library when Whitehurst’s second life-altering event happened.

A couple of tables down, studying for his doctorate, was Gene Pillot, Whitehurst’s principal at Sarasota. The two spoke, and when Whitehurst told him about the loan for law school falling through, Pillot uttered the sentence that would change Whitehurst’s life forever.

“Have you ever thought about teaching and coaching?” Pillot asked. Whitehurst said he never had, but was open to the idea. Pillot made a few calls and got Whitehurst an interview for a job at a new school, Booker Middle.

Whitehurst went to the interview and got the job. But he always wanted to return to Sarasota High. After two years at Booker Middle, Whitehurst transferred to his alma mater, becoming an assistant in 1970 under Cleland. The next year, he became an assistant on the Sailor baseball team, remaining in that position until 1999. In 1984, he succeeded Cleland, leading Sarasota to eight straight winning seasons and five playoff appearances, at a time when only the district champ advanced.

Whitehurst retired in 2010, having taught everything from math to driver’s ed to honors economics. He said he didn’t think a kid could have a better high-school experience than he did. That could extend to Tom Whitehurst’s high-school experience as a coach and educator.

Scott Dunlap

He won’t be the first Dunlap to gain entrance into the Sarasota High School Hall of Fame. That distinction belongs to his sister, Page, inducted in the inaugural class of 2017.

“I’m not arrogant enough to think I belong in anyone’s Hall of Fame,” the 60-year-old said. When told he’ll get in before another Sarasota High golfer, Paul Azinger, Dunlap reacted accordingly. “Hell, I’m feeling really good about myself if I’m in before he is,” he said.

The 7-year-old, who moved with his family from Pittsburgh to a house across the street from Bobby Jones Golf Course, quickly began inhaling the sport. “It made golf very accessible, and that was home away from home,” Dunlap said. “Thirty yards out my back door.”

He became Sarasota High’s No. 1 golfer, qualifying for the state tournament as a 10th grader. Earning a scholarship to the University of Florida, Dunlap’s dream was to turn pro, then join the PGA Tour. It took him 10 years.

But since Dunlap joined the Tour in 1996, golf has been very, very good to him. He’s the only PGA player to win on five different continents and four different tours. He has 22 worldwide victories, earning more than $12 million in career earnings.

Now on the PGA Champions Tour, Dunlap admits the competition is getting tougher. “In the last 10 years, guys have turned 50 who were better than I was,” he said. He’s moved up from 70th to 47th on the Tour money list, but still isn’t fully exempt.

“I’ve had to prove myself year in and year out,” he said, “for a spot the last 10 years.” At Sarasota, Dunlap was the homecoming king, valedictorian, and starting point guard on the Sailor basketball team. “It was the start of team golf,” he said. “I think very highly of my time at Sarasota High School, and golf was a part of that.”

Golf is still a part of Scott Dunlap, for as long as he’s able. “If you would have told me I would have 10 years on the Tour, 10 years ago, I’d say, man, that’s amazing,” he said. “I was hoping for five. It’s all gravy from here.”

Fredd Atkins

Fredd Atkins wasn’t born in Sarasota. The 71-year-old has been around so long, it just seems that way.

But the first black mayor of Sarasota, a city commissioner for 18 years, Atkins was born in Overtown. As a kid, he played football and baseball on sandlots and dirt courts. In 1958, Atkins’ family built a three-bedroom home in Newtown for $7,000 after his aunt won a jackpot playing Bolita, a Cuban numbers game.

“It was a weird kind of experience,” he said years ago. “The middle class of Newtown lived in public housing. Most of the working class lived in the projects, even some teachers, before they built homes.”

Atkins participated in the desegregation of Sarasota schools. Along with Sailor classmates Johnny Smith, Walt Gilbert and others, he boycotted, picketed, and held protests. At Sarasota, he played football, ran track, and played in the chorus band.

And to this day, Fredd Atkins remains a visible face around Sarasota.

Cedric Saunders

He’s on the other side now, part owner and certified agent for Goal Line Football Sports Agency. Cedric Saunders represents more than 100 NFL coaches and players.

But it all started at Sarasota High, where Saunders earned first team All-Florida honors as a senior. A tight end with speed, Saunders caught 35 passes for 800 yards and 10 touchdowns. For his career as a Sailor, Saunders caught 54 passes for 1,700 yards and 24 touchdowns. As a senior, he also played linebacker, registering 72 tackles and six interceptions.

As captain of the Ohio State football team, Saunders played four years, catching 64 passes for 800 yards. Undrafted, Saunders appeared in three games for the Tampa Bay Bucs in 1995. But he found his niche working in the front offices of the Kansas City Chiefs, Bucs, and Detroit Lions, for whom Saunders eventually rose as assistant general manager.

Dr. Carl Luer

Joining Mote Marine Laboratory in 1979, Dr. Carl Luer, who rose to senior scientist, initiated and managed a marine biomedical research program. A member of the Sarasota High Class of 1967, Dr. Luer has been involved with studies using sharks, skates, and rays as model systems and sources of research material.

His name has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed publications. The holder of a bachelor of arts degree in German from Duke University, a master of arts degree in zoology from the University of South Florida, and a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Kansas Medical Center, Luer also is the secretary for Sarasota Babe Ruth, which has been in operation since 1955.

Mollie Cardamone

A standout student at Sarasota High, who attended Florida State, Cardamone earned her bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1958. She returned to Sarasota and taught school for a number of years before launching, with her husband, the retail business Children World.

The two ran the Sarasota store for 37 years and the one in Bradenton for 19. Following that, Cardamone became a neighborhood activist, which she used as a springboard to run for Sarasota City Commission in 1993, earning re-election in 1997. She served eight years as commissioner and two as mayor of Sarasota. Cardamone currently operates his own consulting business dealing in land use and neighborhood issues.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota High School Hall of Fame to induct longtime local leaders