Skip to main content

Jerry Gaines

  • Gaines is the only student-athlete in school history to have lettered in three different sports
    • Was also the only student-athlete to be named All-American in all the sports
    • One of the best overall athletes who ever wore a Western Carolina Jersey 
  • The sports that Gaines played were: football, track and field, and baseball
  • Gaines' football jersey #23 is retired and can be seen at the E.J. Whitmire Stadium
  • Gaines has multiple school records from all three sports that would remain untouched for about 20 years
  • As a senior, Gaines played baseball for the first and only time and was named All-American
  • He also set the single season batting average record
  • "Jerry Gaines was also drafted by the Texas Rangers after only playing one season" (Steve White)
  • The other records he set was the wide-receiver record in football and the multiple records for the long jump and the high jump in track and field
  • Was inducted in the Western Carolina Hall of Fame in 1991
Jerry Gaines