David Snow was everywhere as a Wilmington High athlete in the 1970s.
Racing up and down football fields and basketball courts and around tracks, Snow made headlines as much as any high school athlete.
His professional career has been equally all-encompassing and successful.
“I’m still enjoying the challenge of what I do and getting to take on different roles. There’s a lot of variety to what I do,” Snow, now 61, said, sounding like the three-sport scholastic standout he was.
Snow’s success in sports will be recognized Saturday when he’s one of 11 former athletes, coaches and officials inducted into the Delaware Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame at the Modern Maturity Center in Dover.
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Because his family, coaches and teachers had instilled an academics-first attitude in Snow at a young age, he didn’t need to rely on his athletic exploits as a path to adult success.
After spending his first year of college at Pitt — with a brief foray to Brown University as well — Snow transferred to Duke. He sat out the required year for transferring in 1979, then immediately showed starting potential in his first spring practice at Duke in 1980.
Snow’s football career was ultimately undermined by frequent knee injuries, however. He was limited to eight games with the Blue Devils in 1980 and 1981. More injuries foiled subsequent USFL and NFL tryouts.
But Snow earned a degree in pre-health science at Duke and his determination to make something of himself continues to pay off.
His professional career began with positions at Traveler’s and CitiGroup insurance in which he worked with employers to develop opportunities for workers who suffered catastrophic injuries, including designing workplaces and developing equipment to help facilitate their return to work.
Snow continues to advise engineering companies with facility operations and logistics and “to assist them with their growth and their workplace and staffing needs,” he said.
He is presently involved in projects at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
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As where-are-they-now stories go, Snow’s has been quite satisfying, as his career has taken him throughout the U.S. and for projects overseas as well.
“It’s been rewarding,” Snow said. “It’s helping companies with their continuous growth and providing opportunities for staff and students to move into fields that are rewarding for them, and provides an impetus for professional development and growth and long-standing careers.”
Snow didn’t stray completely from sports though. He coached at several Delaware high schools after college and presently coaches Drexel students on a track and field club team.
Snow also worked on campaign staffs for President Joe Biden when he was a U.S. senator from Delaware and for present U.S. Sen. Thomas Carper when he was Delaware’s representative to the U.S. Congress and in his subsequent Senate runs as well.
Wilmington High closed at the end of the 1998-99 school year and its building now houses the Charter School of Wilmington and Cab Calloway School of the Arts. Snow graduated in 1978, but not before adding to the school’s long sports legacy.
He was first-team All-State in football his last two seasons, rushing for more than 2,700 yards and 26 touchdowns as a halfback.
In basketball, Snow was first-team All-State as a senior. His 15.8 points and 14.5 rebounds per game sparked the Red Devils, who won their last 23 games, to the third of their five state championships.
The versatile Snow was also a sprinter, jumper and weight-thrower on Wilmington High track and field teams that won Division I state titles his junior, when separate North and South championships were handed out, and senior years.
But equally important to Snow, who lived on West Sixth Street in Wilmington, and a major measure of his future success was that he also graduated with the second high grade-point average in his senior class of 171.
“It started at home with my parents [Mary and Willie] and having an older brother [James] and older sister [Rosa] and observing them,” Snow said. “The teachers in the old Wilmington School District, they supported us and guided us and let us know the importance of education.
“We were fortunate to have teammates who really bought into working hard to develop your skills to perform as a team and being a cohesive unit and that started with the coaches. Same thing in the classroom. We had teachers who pushed us and believed in us. If we worked hard we could achieve what we wanted to do.”
Delaware Afro-American Hall of Fame inductees
The other Delaware Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame inductees:
Carlton E. Adams, Sr. – Adams was a first-team all-conference defensive back as a Milford senior in 1970 and also starred for the Buccaneers’ basketball team that became the first downstate school to win the state championship in 1971. Adams led Milford with 16 points in its 50-43 win over P.S. du Pont. Adams continued playing basketball at Delaware Technical & Community College in Georgetown and for U. S. Army teams. He was later a basketball referee.
Steven Timothy Davis – The Lexington, Virginia, native excelled as a running back at Delaware State from 1967-1970, gaining 2,654 career rushing yards. Davis rushed for a school record 980 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior in 1970 and was first team All-CIAA and a New Pittsburgh Courier Black College All-American. He then played three years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning a Super Bowl, and two with the New York Jets, rushing for 1,305 rushing yards with nine touchdowns in 65 career games.
Jeffery Fleming – The first Black referee to be a crew chief for high school football in Kent and Sussex counties, in the DIAA playoffs, DIAA title game and DFRC Blue-Gold game during a 31-year career. Fleming also trained officials and developed and maintained the first officials’ association website.
Charles H. Holley, Jr. – Holley was the starting center as a junior on Wilmington High’s 1978 state championship basketball team. He also threw the discus and put the shot for the Red Devils’ state championship track and field teams. He attended Claymont as a senior due to the new school desegregation plan. Holley then attended Hampton University.
Michael S. Irby – The 6-foot-5 Irby played on De la Warr’s 1969 and 1970 state championship basketball teams, averaging 20 rebounds a game as a senior. He then played at Delaware Tech and Maryland Eastern Shore.
Andre Matthews – The 1999 Seaford High grad was first-team All-State in football and basketball for the Blue Jays. He had 32 points and 16 rebounds to spark Seaford to its lone state basketball title win over Newark in 1997. He was a 1,000-point scorer in basketball and earned a scholarship to Delaware State. He was MEAC Rookie of the Year and a three-time All-MEAC selection for the Hornets while surpassing 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. He played two seasons professionally with the Oklahoma Storm in the United States Basketball League and also spent time in the NBA Developmental League with the Roanoke Dazzles.
LaTisha R. Moulds – The Delaware State University sprinter was a MEAC finalist in the 100-meter dash and 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays. She then joined the U.S. Air Force and, competing for the Air Force Europe International Track & Field Team, won nine international championships, three World Military Games championships and was 2011 Air Force Female Athlete of the Year. She won U.S. and worlds masters championships and set records at 60, 100 and 200 meters and in the long jump and has continued to excel and a competitor and coach.
Emma J. Trammell – The high-scoring 5-foot-7 forward culminated her stellar basketball career at Seaford by being named second-team All-Henlopen Conference as a senior in 1984.
Vaughn N. Trammell – Trammell excelled in football, wrestled and starred on the baseball and track and field teams at Cape Henlopen.
William West – The 1972 Seaford grad lettered in football and basketball and captained both teams. West was a first-team All-State as a tight end in 1971. He then starred in basketball at Delaware Technical & Community College, making the All-Region team.
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