Top 50 Hokies: Dell Curry
1982 McDonald’s All-American Dell Curry is one of the most well-known Hokie Hoopers of all time. He was born in Harrisonburg and played basketball and baseball for Fort Defiance High school. He famously used his basketball coaches barn hoop to shoot almost every day. He helped Fort Defiance to state championships in both sports as well and was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 1982 MLB draft. He obviously decided to pass on professional baseball and play collegiate basketball in Blacksburg.
Curry was a four-year starter for the Hokies from ’83-’86 while the Hokies were in the Metro Conference. During his tenure there the Hokies saw moderate success with post-season bids every year. The first two they played in the NIT and the last two they were awarded at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. However, the Hokies were sent packing early, losing in the first round in both trips. Curry was known as a marksman shooter, but at the time there was no 3-point line in the college game. He also played baseball at Tech as well and was again drafted by the Orioles in the 1985 MLB draft. On the hardwood Curry sits at second all-time in points and first all-time in steals. He was selected as the 15thpick in the 1986 by the Utah Jazz and played there for a year. He went on to be a bit of a journeyman and play in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and the Charlotte Hornets.
Dell met his wife Sonya at Virginia Tech where she was a member of the volleyball team (perhaps a candidate for most athletic couple in Hokie history as well). We all know the botched recruitment of his son Stephen where we did not offer him a scholarship but just a preferred walk-on spot. His son Seth played for Duke basketball and daughter Sydel played volleyball at Elon. Dell currently works for the Charlotte Hornets as a color commentator and resides in Charlotte full time. He lives out Ut Prosim in the form of the Dell Curry Foundation where he dedicates time to building learning centers and educating the youth in the Charlotte area. Dell is perhaps the most well-known Hokie basketball player of all time and went on to have great success as a professional.
