Stotler (Gainous)

PEMBROKE, N.C. — Altoona Area High School graduate Natasha (Stotler) Gainous was recently inducted into the UNC Pembroke Athletics Hall of Fame.

Gainous, a standout basketball player who was an Altoona Mirror first-team high school all-star as a senior for the 2001-02 season, was part of the UNC Pembroke’s 46th Hall of Fame class in a ceremony at the school on Oct. 10.

“It means a lot to be inducted,” Gainous said. “I loved my time at UNCP. I’m still really close with my coaches and my teammates, and we worked really hard and I enjoyed my career there a lot, so it means a lot to me to get this honor.”

A three-time all-Peach Belt Conference honoree, Gainous ranks 14th on Division II UNC Pembroke’s all-time scoring list with 1,275 points. A 2007 graduate, she recorded more than 650 rebounds and more than 150 assists in her career.

“She’s just an outstanding young lady,” Gainous’ coach, John Haskins, said. “Tasha is a first-class person. She was a good student. She was a hard worker. But just her competitiveness — I mean she was a very aggressive player, and I think she did a great job of utilizing the skills that she had.”

Gainous was named the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week during the 2003-2004 season. She is one of just three players in the history of the program to be named all-Peach Belt Conference in at least three seasons.

Gainous currently lives in Milledgeville, Ga., and is a physical education teacher. She and her husband, Mark, are both basketball coaches and have two children, Abram, 15, and Annie Grove, 11.

Much of her family still lives in the Altoona area, including her dad Lucky Stotler, her mom and step-dad, Kim and Jerry Koehle, and her siblings, Nicole, Sydney and Buddy.