Tracy McCall-Gholston
Class of 2020
Tracy McCall made a memorable first impression when she arrived in Huntsville during the 1986-87 school year. A 16-year-old senior transferring to Butler High School, she quickly proved herself one of the most dynamic athletes to pass through the Lady Rebels program.
Born in November 1969 in Mobile, McCall was the oldest of Abraham and Sandra McCall’s three children. As the daughter of a U.S. Army serviceman, she grew up moving from place to place, living in locations including Fort Knox, Fort Benning, Fort Hood, Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, Redstone Arsenal in Alabama and Kitzingen, Germany. Those experiences shaped her discipline, resilience and appreciation for opportunity.
In her lone season at Butler, McCall immediately stood out. Playing for coach Lewis Patterson, she led the Lady Rebels in scoring and rebounding and earned team MVP honors. One of her most memorable performances came when she scored 33 points in just three quarters before a sprained ankle sidelined her. After basketball season, she turned to softball and delivered one of the most remarkable hitting seasons in school history, batting over .800 while playing shortstop for Hall of Fame coach Pat Cavender and helping lead Butler to the state tournament.
Her success earned her a basketball scholarship to the University of North Alabama, where she developed into one of the program’s all-time great players. McCall lettered four seasons from 1988-91, becoming the Lady Lions’ career scoring leader with 1,420 points. She earned first-team All-Gulf South Conference honors in 1990 and 1991 and helped lead UNA to the NCAA Division II national tournament as a senior. During her freshman season, she also set a school record by making 19 of 19 free throws in a game against Freed-Hardeman.
McCall’s accomplishments were recognized in 2003 with induction into the University of North Alabama Athletic Hall of Fame.
Today, Tracy McCall-Gholston continues to influence young lives as a Collaborative Education teacher and Student Services Coordinator at Sparkman High School, where she has worked for more than two decades. She and her husband, Dr. Sampson Gholston Sr., a professor at UAH, share a blended family that includes children Kendal, Alexis, Sampson Jr., Shayla and Danielle.
This content has been generated by an artificial intelligence language model, based on original stories written the year of the honoree's induction by Board members and other contributors. While we strive for accuracy and quality, please note that the information provided may not be entirely error-free or up-to-date. Please contact the Hall of Fame with corrections.
