Jim Sumner specializes in southern sports. He is a columnist for Blue Devil Weekly/Go Duke: The Magazine, theacc.com, and Inside Carolina magazine. Sumner is a regular contributor to The ACC Handbook. He also has written for the ACC Area Sports Journal, Baseball America, Duke Magazine, Basketball America, Tar Heel Tipoff, Blue Devil Tipoff, accsports.com, Duke Basketball Report, goduke.com, The Wolfpacker, Our State, Metro Magazine, and numerous other magazines, journals, and websites.

A North Carolina native, Sumner grew up in Robeson County. He graduated from Duke University in 1972 with a B.A. in American History. He received an M.A. in American History from North Carolina State University in 1976.

Sumner was a public historian for the North Carolina Division of Archives and History from 1976 until his retirement in 2006, including a 14-year stint at the North Carolina Museum of History, where he helped establish and curate the permanent North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame exhibit. His scholarly articles have appeared in the Journal of Sport History, the North Carolina Historical Review, the Maryland Historical Magazine and Nine: A Journal of Baseball History, among others.

His books include “A History of Sports in North Carolina,” “Separating the Men From the Boys: The First Half Century of the Carolina League” and “Tales From the Duke Blue Devils Hardwood.”

Sumner was named a member of the Order of the Long-Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor available to citizens of North Carolina.

Sumner is on the board of directors of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the Raleigh Hot Stove League and has provided expert commentary to HBO’s Battle for Tobacco Road and ESPN’s Between the Lines. He is a member of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association, the United States Basketball Writers Association, and the Football Writers of America.

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tar heel of the week

The Raleigh News and Observer named Sumner Tar Heel of the Week August 12, 2007. Click here to read the article.