Fansided

Picking the Sports Mount Rushmore for all 50 states

By Dave Stevenson

PHOENIX, AZ - APRIL 02: Detail of baseballs during batting practice to the MLB opening day game between the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on April 2, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ - APRIL 02: Detail of baseballs during batting practice to the MLB opening day game between the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on April 2, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
48 of 50
Next

Virginia

Frank Beamer spent 28 seasons as the head coach for the Virginia Tech football team. During his tenure, the Hokies won three Big East titles and four ACC titles. He had a 238-121-2 record with the team. Beamer currently serves as a special assistant to the athletic director. He put Virginia Tech on the map in football.

Arthur Ashe is one of America’s greatest men’s tennis players ever. A native of Richmond, Ashe won 33 career titles, including the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. He was elected into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1979. Ashe is one of only two African-American men to win a Grand Slam title.

Bruce Smith is a native of Norfolk and an alum of Virginia Tech. He spent four years of his career with the Washington Redskins. Smith is their career sacks leader with 200 sacks. His accolades include three Defensive Player of the Year awards, 11 Pro Bowls and nine first-team All-Pro appearances. On top of all that, he made it on to two different All-Decade teams.

Gabrielle Douglass has won three Olympic gold medals in gymnastics. She won the team and all-around competitions in London at the 2012 Olympics and the team competition in the 2016 Olympics. Douglass is a native of Newport News.

Next: West Virginia