Over his career, New Hanover County’s Eugene Ashley High School Coach Wells Gulledge has seen five of his players move on to play professionally; three in the National Basketball Association and two in the National Football League.
National Basketball Association
Brandon Ingram
NBA Forward • 6’8”, 190 lbs.
“Brandon went to Duke, and was the number two overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. Brandon’s with the Pelicans. [When] Brandon was a freshman you knew he was going to be a pro, no doubt. His brother Beau Ingram was with Reggie Bullock in 2008 and Beau was a Co-Gatorade Player of the Year in North Carolina. Beau was a Gatorade Player of the Year. Brandon was a Gatorade Player of the Year. He was an assassin, he hit so many big shots for us. Beau had a really good career, played some years overseas.
When Beau was playing, Brandon was 11 or 12, he would come in, he is as skinny as a rail, he could outshoot everyone on the team. He followed in his brother’s footsteps and absolutely catapulted to one of the top players in the NBA now. We took our team this year, went back to Kinston, and Kinston High School put on the Brandon Ingram Classic.”
Herbert Hill
NBA Forward • 6’10”, 240 lbs.
“Herbert did not play varsity basketball until he was a senior. The summer after his junior year … he caught up with his body, started getting his stride. He had a great senior year. He ended up going to Providence. By the time he was a senior, Herbert was all Big East, he led the Big East in scoring his senior year and was a second-round draft pick by the Philadelphia 76ers.”
Reggie Bullock
NBA Guard-Forward • 6’6”, 205 lbs.
“Kinston is a small town, but you better know the kids by the time they are going into middle school. There is such a basketball tradition there that I needed to know who was going to be some of the top kids. I saw a young man that was in the seventh grade, and everybody had been talking about Reggie. I saw him play several times, and said this kid right here is another pro. Now he’s like my son. Everybody said, ‘Coach you are going to have to go talk to his grandma. She doesn’t let him do anything on Wednesdays because she’s a pastor and she is going to have him in church.’
I go down and meet Ms. Williams — she really didn’t care about basketball, she just wanted to make sure Reggie knew all the books of the Bible, and he could spit them out to this day. I just told her that he had so much potential, and let her know that he will be there on Sundays, and any Wednesdays we had early practice, I would bring him and drop him off at the front door.
He committed to Carolina verbally as a sophomore — he didn’t have to worry about any of that, the biggest thing was making sure his grades were on point and he was continuing to work hard. We actually moved him into college, and that was a great experience. He blossomed there, and left after his junior year and was drafted by the LA Clippers. He is still in the league today, playing with the Dallas Mavericks. My son and his oldest son are best friends, I mean they are like two peas in a pod. Last summer Reggie spent a week here, and we put on a basketball camp at Carolina Beach Rec Center. He flew us out to the Western Conference finals against the Warriors last year and we got a chance to spend some time with him there. He won the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Award while we were there, which was amazing, that was an amazing honor for him… this is his 10th or 11th year in the NBA. We’re still in every week communication, that’s special to me, that relationship.”
“Coach Gulledge knows how to get the most from his players and there is a genuine level of mutual respect among the players and coaches.”
— Coach Kelly G. Lewis, NFHS Level 3 Coach, New Hanover County Schools Athletic Director
National Football League
Coach Gulledge also coached two basketball players that went on to play in the NFL.
Quinton Coples NFL
Former Defensive End • 6’6”, 284 lbs.
“Quinton played at Carolina, and was the 17th overall pick to the New York Jets.”
Derrick Rivers NFL
Defensive End • 6’5”, 249 lbs.
“Derrick and Brandon Ingram are standing side by side in our state championship picture, which is really neat. Derrick is playing for the Texans right now. He is a defensive end. He went to the Patriots first. He has a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots.”