Will Harvin

Years of playing and coaching football, basketball, baseball and tennis propelled Will Harvin into the Clarendon County Hall of Fame.

 “It’s an honor to be a part of this group,” Harvin said.

Harvin was a three-sport athlete at Manning High School from 1938 through 1941.

He lettered all three years in football, basketball and baseball and was voted most athletic and most popular his senior year.

Harvin was a sport’s fanatic for whatever sport was in season.

He said football might be his slight favorite, but he is a fan of any sport.

“Coaching was not as vast and complex as it is today,” Harvin said. “There was one coach for each sport who taught each position.” Harvin played under coaches Dwight Cathcart and C.W. Weidman at MHS.

Harvin lived and breathed sports ever since he understood the concept of competition he said.  He would constantly go to the school campus and watch football, basketball and baseball practices and games.

“It was an outlet,” he said. “There was no movie house and of course there was no television. There was a canteen and that’s about all we could do. It gave us a way to release some energy.”

After graduating from Manning High School, Harvin attended Presbyterian College in Clinton.

He played first base in baseball and lettered from 1942 until 1943 and played under legendary coach Chick Galloway, who played for the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1920s.

“I played under Galloway and learned a whole lot,” Harvin said. “He was a pro man and knew what to tell us and what we had to do.”

Harvin played baseball for Galloway and Presbyterian before he joined the armed forces.

He joined the Navy in an effort to finish the year of school. He chose the Navy because he would be only called off to serve if it was not during school.

He served in the Navy for three and a half years before returning and enrolling at the University of South Carolina in 1946.

Upon his return, he was a walk on for the football team. He later earned a scholarship and started every game in 1948 as an offensive and defensive end.

There were no athletic scholarships for baseball at that time, so he was a walk on for the baseball team and continued his career on the diamond.

 “I came back from the service and was very excited about returning to sports,” said Harvin. “It was something I really looked forward to.”

When his collegiate career was over, Harvin was not done with sports. He decided to move to the other end of the spectrum and be the one giving instruction.

Harvin returned to Manning High School in the late 1970s at the age of 35.  He brought to and popularized tennis in Clarendon County and became the head coach of the boys’ team.

Later, Harvin moved to Turbeville and became the head coach of the girls’ tennis team at Salem Academy.  His team went to the state championship, but was defeated by Hilton Head.

“That was a lot of fun,” he said. “To coach them really was fun. We all learned a lot.”