Photos courtesy of Paul Craft
By Brian Hoffman – Sports Editor
The Lord Botetourt community lost one of its greatest supporters in December when Wayne Craft passed at the age of 82. He was not only a great fan of Cavalier sports, but one of the best athletes the school has ever produced.
A member of the Class of 1963, Wayne was a standout in football, basketball and track. He was an Honorable Mention All-American for Coach and Athlete Magazine in football, All-District in basketball and took three first places in the State track meet in 1962. He’s a member of the Lord Botetourt Athletic Hall of Fame.
What’s more, Wayne was a big supporter of LB athletics for all his life.
“Wayne was the ultimate fan of LB sports,” said Cavalier football coach Jamie Harless.
Former LB athletic director Chuck Pound remembers him fondly.
“Wayne and Collins (Wayne’s older brother) were always the first to come buy their season passes for LB athletics,” said Pound. “They had ‘their seats’ on the top row in the stadium and the gym. Wayne was a top supporter of all the LB athletic teams, I even remember them coming to watch football practice in August. He also enjoyed coming to Greenfield to watch a group of us fly remote control airplanes.”
Wayne is the great-uncle of Paul Craft, the current wrestling coach and a former athlete himself at LB. Paul fondly remembers his grandfather’s brother and submitted the following in tribute to one of LB’s best ever.
“Anyone who has been around Lord Botetourt football for any amount of time knows Wayne Craft and where he was sitting during the games. You could count on your hands and feet the number of games he missed since the school opened in ‘59.
“He was a huge supporter of the program through the good times and bad. He was always asking me how good the football team was going to be in the upcoming season. Even when his health got bad the last few years and he was unable to make it into the stands at LB, he would sit in his truck under the scoreboard and watch from the other side of the fence.
“When LB had away games I would text him after each quarter to give him updates and my granddad would call him at halftime and give him a rundown. But Wayne didn’t just support the football team. He attended baseball and softball games. You’d always see him in the stands at boys and girls basketball games. He would even come out to some wrestling matches now and then.
“Growing up I had always heard my granddad talk about Wayne and how good he was at sports. How he dominated in everything he did. I heard that from all of Wayne’s brothers and sisters. But you know how older folks are with their stories. Over the years everyone gets a little bigger, faster, and better. I knew Wayne was an athlete. But it wasn’t really until I started working at Lord Botetourt five years ago as a school counselor and wrestling coach that I had access to the old yearbooks and records. What I learned was that my granddad and his brothers and sisters were not only telling the truth about Wayne, they even left some things out.
“When Wayne graduated in the spring of ’63, the average height and weight of an American male at 18 years of age was five feet nine inches and 160 pounds. Wayne stood six-foot, four and weighed 225 pounds. He never saw a weight room. One didn’t exist at LB. Instead, he worked around the small family farm and for other farmers in the area.
“Wayne was a four-year starter on the football team at LB. He played tackle and even carried the ball. By the time he was a senior he had earned first team District 5 twice and first team All-State twice. His senior year he was listed as a member of the All-America Team for Coach and Athlete Magazine. When they handed the ball to him he averaged over seven yards per carry at fullback. That’s seven-plus yards per carry without a lead blocker. He was so good the Baltimore Colts sent a scout down to see him in the fall of ’62.
“He was a member of the only undefeated season for LB in school history. But he wouldn’t just run over you. He could outrun you as well. Wayne set the 440 record at LB in track in ’63 and it was never broken. He went on to win the state championship twice in the 440. He also won state titles in the shot put and the discus. Wayne threw the disc 146’ 6” in ’63 and that record stood at the high school until 2023 when LB alumni and Wake Forest football player Kendyl Howard broke it.
“Wayne didn’t even know how to do the spin technique for discus. I asked him one time how he threw it. He said, ‘I didn’t really have any practice at it. I just stood at the front of the circle and slung it.’
“Wayne helped Lord Botetourt win two state track championships in ’62 and ’63. He won three state titles in ’62 alone. He also played basketball as a center and forward. He was all-district his junior and senior years and averaged 16 points per game going 50 percent from the field.
“Wayne’s academics were the only thing holding him back. He admitted in a Roanoke Times article in the early ‘60s that he wished he would have studied more. Had he done so, he would have been a DI college athlete and likely played in the NFL. He would’ve been too big, strong and fast not to draft him. Which is probably why when I was a kid playing sports he would always tell me to keep my grades up.
“Years ago I had the pleasure of meeting two former LB graduates that played football with Wayne. They were laughing and joking around about the old times. On account of all the stories I had heard over the years, I asked them what it was like playing football, basketball or running track with Wayne. They both got quiet for a second and one looked me dead in the eye with a seriousness that caught me off guard and said, ‘He was a wild man.’
“Wayne wasn’t just a supporter of the kids and the sports programs at Lord Botetourt his whole life he, himself, was a product of it. He was certainly the best athlete the county had ever seen. And a strong case could be made that he still is. Lord Botetourt football has placed second in the state on three different occasions. On one of those dates Coach Harless gave Wayne and my granddad a couple medals. Wayne never got second place in anything. But the smile on his face when I handed him that medal would’ve made you think it was the highest honor he’d ever seen.
“Wayne was inducted into the LBHS Hall of Fame in 2008. His picture hangs in the lower lobby by the basketball court and overlooks the track and football field – a fitting place indeed.
“Although Wayne is no longer with us, his legacy and stories will live on. For all those kids, and the ones to come, putting on that scarlet and gray, play like a wild man. Get one for Wayne.”
