The Ohio Valley Athletic Conference has announced that West Liberty University Hall of Famer Bob Roe will be inducted into the OVAC Hall of Fame this summer.
Roe, who passed away in 1984 after a legendary coaching career at the high school and collegiate levels, will be honored along with the rest of this year’s inductees at the 11th annual OVAC Hall of Fame Banquet on Aug. 16 at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling.
This will be the sixth Hall of Fame induction for Roe, who is also a member of the West Liberty, City of Wheeling, West Virginia Sports, Upper Ohio Valley Dapper Dan and Bethany College Halls of Fame.
An outstanding high school athlete at Warwood who played his college football at Bethany, Roe compiled a 182-122-31 record in 34 seasons as a high school football coach at Warwood and Wheeling High Schools. He was also a successful track coach, leading Wheeling High to the 1946 state championship, and served as director of the Ohio-West Virginia All-Star Football Game from 1946-62.
Roe left the high school football ranks in the mid-1960s to take the head coaching job at West Liberty and wasted little time leading the Hilltoppers into the national spotlight
Roe’s sparkling 50-24-7 record in his 9 seasons on the hilltop was highlighted by a pair of NAIA post-season runs.
After a scoreless tie with Salem in the 1970 season opener, Roe’s Hilltoppers reeled off 8 straight wins to earn an NAIA playoff invitation. West Liberty dropped a 12-6 heartbreaker to Wofford (S.C.) in a national semifinal at Greensboro, N.C.
The Hilltoppers rolled to their second straight West Virginia Conference title in 1971 and earned another NAIA playoff berth. This time, West Liberty came out on the short end of a 25-2 count against eventual NAIA champion Livingston (Ala.) in a national semifinal played at Harding Stadium in Steubenville.
In addition to his coaching exploits, Roe also served as a basketball official for 20 years and was a three-time president of the Ohio Valley Board of Approved Basketball Officials.
The OVAC Hall of Fame and the OVAC Sports Museum are located inside WesBanco Arena.