Hall of Fame
Baseball standout Bruce Shelley was inducted into the Campbell Athletics Hall of Fame in October 1992. A native of Lumberton, Shelley graduated from Campbell in 1957 and was a member of the baseball team that included fellow Hall of Fame members Marion Hargrove and Danny Roberts.
After graduating in 1957, Shelley went on to earn his B.S. in physical education in 1958 from East Carolina and a master’s in physical education from the University of North Carolina in 1961.
A National Honor Society member at Campbell, Shelley began his coaching career in 1959 at Angier High School. He joined the Methodist College staff in 1966 as a physical education instructor, cross country coach and an assistant men’s basketball coach.
Shelley founded the Methodist baseball program in 1969 and coached its first nine teams. He also designed and built the Monarchs’ baseball field, which is now known as Armstrong-Shelley Field.
While at the helm of the Monarch baseball team, Shelley guided Methodist to its first winning season (15-10 in 1972), its first four Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles (1972, 1974, 1976, 1977) and its first two NCAA Division-III tournament appearances (1976, 1977). His teams compiled a 153-118 record (.564). He was honored four times as DIAC Coach of the Year and tabbed once as NAIA District Coach of the Year and by the American Association of Baseball Coaches.
After leaving the coaching profession, Shelley owned and operated Shelley Construction of Angier as well as Shelley Apartments in Angier and Fayetteville. Shelley died, at the age of 60, on May 10, 1997 after a brief battle with cancer.
