CLINTON, S.C. — Two names tied to Presbyterian College football in Clinton, former All-America defensive back Justin Bethel and the late Blue Hose quarterback Bob Waters, are up for induction into the state’s football hall of fame with its Class of 2026.
The hall has started first-round fan voting, and this year its nomination ballot lists 60 modern-era candidates plus 14 legacy candidates, all with ties to the state. The legacy group covers people from outside the modern era and those who have died. Waters is listed as a legacy nominee, and Presbyterian is one of 10 South Carolina college programs on the list.
Bethel graduated from Presbyterian in 2012 after a college career that ended with him named the Big South’s top defensive player in 2011. His nine blocked kicks are still the Big South career record, and he went on to three Pro Bowl selections in the NFL. In 2023 the league picked him as the first Blue Hose athlete from any sport for its own Hall of Fame, part of the Class of 2024.
Waters was an All-American quarterback who led Presbyterian into the Tangerine Bowl and graduated in 1960. He spent five years in the NFL before turning to coaching, and in 20 seasons running the Western Carolina program his teams won 116 games. He died of Lou Gehrig’s disease on May 29, 1989, at 50. Presbyterian and its Scotsman Club created an award in his name in 1987 for alumni who coach.
Laurens County has two more names on the ballot. Rickey Foggie of Laurens appears among South Carolina natives who played college football in other states, and King Dixon, also from Laurens, is a legacy nominee from the University of South Carolina group.
Anyone can vote online through Dec. 14, picking as many as four modern-era names plus one legacy name, or adding a write-in. A final round with the top vote-getters comes next, and Greenville’s Hotel Hartness will host the enshrinement of the new class on April 15, 2027.
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