HILTON HEAD, S.C. – Former Gardner-Webb star Harold Wells made history on Thursday night, as he became the first Runnin' Bulldog student-athlete to be officially inducted into the Big South Conference Hall of Fame.

The ceremony was held in conjunction with the Big South's annual spring meetings at the Westin Resort on Hilton Head Island.

Wells (Lilburn, Ga. / Berkmar HS) is only the second Big South football product to earn a spot in the Hall of Fame. The league started playing football in 2002 and the Hall of Fame's first class was inducted in 2003.

The defensive tackle played three of his four years in the Big South (2002-04) and helped GWU to a Top 20 national ranking in 2002 as well as the first two Big South football championships in 2002 and 2003.  

He also was one of seven players at the time to receive three All-Conference nods (2002, 2003, 2004).  Wells capped his career as the league's 2004 Defensive Player of the Year and was a consensus All-American that season after leading the FCS (then I-AA) with a Big South-record 22.5 tackles-for-loss (now second-most in a season in the conference record book).  He was named the 2004 I-AA National Defensive Lineman of the Year by the Football Gazette, was an All-American in 2003 and a two-time Football Gazette All-Region selection.  

Wells was the first player in Big South annals to record at least 3.0 TFL in three consecutive games (2004).
 
Named by USA Today as one of the top two-way players in college football midway through the 2003 season, Wells was also a short-yardage fullback for the Runnin' Bulldogs and rushed for 12 touchdowns during his time in the backfield -- including eight on just 17 carries in 2004.  

Voted to the Big South's Football 2002-09 All-Decade Team, Wells concluded his three years in the Big South with 162 total tackles (82 solo stops) from his defensive tackle position, along with 31.5 TFL, 13.0 quarterback sacks and four forced fumbles.  Wells played professionally in the Arena Football League with the Columbus Destroyers, and finished his time as the franchise's all-time leading rusher.  

Wells was inducted into Gardner-Webb's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.