The five Class of 2026 inductees into the Arlington Sports Hall of Fame include a lacrosse player/coach for the first time.
Brian Rosenberger, a standout player at two Arlington schools when he attended Bishop O’Connell High then Marymount University, will be the first representative of the sport enshrined. He will be joined by Robert Asher, Tony Bentley, Clayton Deskins and Marcus Ginyard.
The induction banquet dinner is the night of Wednesday, Oct. 14 at Arlington’s Knights of Columbus Main Hall on Little Falls Road. After the ceremony, the Arlington Hall of Fame, co-sponsored with the Better Sports Club of Arlington, will have grown to 79 inductees since its founding in 1958.
Bentley is the current and longtime head boys basketball coach at Arlington’s Wakefield High School. He has won 407 games as a head coach, all at Wakefield.
“I am surprised and thrilled. It is an outstanding honor to be included in this Hall of Fame with so many great athletes and coaches and others,” Bentley said.
Of the five Class of 2026 members, Bentley is the only one still active full-time in his sport. He took over as Wakefield’s coach in the 2002-03 season.
Bentley’s teams have won multiple district and region tournament championships, advancing to Virginia High School League state competitions. Bentley’s 2017-18 Warriors finished second in the Class 5 state tournament, losing by just four points to Varina in the title game.
Bentley has been chosen seven times as district Coach of the Year and is a three-time region Coach of the Year.
In addition, Bentley is the founder and longtime director of the annual eight-team George Long Holiday Tournament, a highly-regarded event throughout the D.C. region that has a waiting list of teams to gain entry. Bentley also runs offseason camps and high-school basketball leagues.
Many of his former players and assistant coaches have enjoyed success in college or at other high schools.
Bentley is a graduate of what then was Washington-Lee High School (now Washington-Liberty), where he was a standout multiple-sport athlete, including basketball and football.
As for Rosenberger, accounting for the time he spent playing and coaching at two different Arlington schools, he is one of the most accomplished lacrosse participants in Arlington history.
“I am honored to be accepted into the Arlington Sports Hall of Fame,” Rosenberger said. “I was fortunate enough to have great coaches and teammates throughout my playing career. I would not be in this position without their effort and dedication.”
Rosenberger is a 1994 O’Connell graduate and one of the best lacrosse players in the program’s history. He was a four-year starter and two-time Washington Catholic Athletic Conference all-conference selection.
Rosenberger played in a prestigious metro-area all-star lacrosse game for seniors, and after college became O’Connell’s head lacrosse coach for a number of seasons. He also played other sports at the school.
In college as a freshman, Rosenberger started at nationally-ranked Lynchburg College. He then transferred to Marymount University, where he earned two first-team all-conference selections, was chosen Player of the Year in 1998 and is one of the program’s most accomplished players.
Rosenberger was inducted into Marymount’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010. After graduation, he played club lacrosse for Team Reebok for four years. Currently, he continues to be involved in coaching lacrosse on different levels.
Asher is a 1966 O’Connell graduate where he was a multi-sport athlete, including a football standout, and is a member of O’Connell’s Athletic Hall of Fame. The offensive lineman played college football at Vanderbilt University and later in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys, participating in the 1971 Super Bowl for the team, and Chicago Bears.
At Vanderbilt, Asher was an Associated Press first-team All-American, is a member of the Division I school’s Athletic Hall of Fame and in 1995 was designated as an SEC Legend.
Deskins is a 1968 Washington-Lee High School graduate and one of Arlington’s premier multi-sport athletes, especially in track-and-field. Deskins was a state champion in the triple and long jumps and a 1967 all-region football player as a running back.
In college, he was the first African-American football player at Appalachian State University. Deskins set many school records as a running back, receiver and return specialist and was inducted into the Appalachian State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.
After college, Deskins served 28 years as an Arlington firefighter and paramedic.
Ginyard is a 2005 O’Connell graduate where he was one of the best boys basketball players in school history.
A four-year starter, Ginyard played on multiple Division I state private-school championship teams. He was chosen first-team all-conference and all-met by The Washington Post, was a Gatorade Player of the Year, was chosen Mr. Basketball in Virginia and was honored by the National Merit Scholar Program.
In college, Ginyard was a standout at the University of North Carolina, playing on the 2009 national-championship team. For the Tar Heels, Ginyard was a team captain and was chosen to Atlantic Coast Conference all-defensive teams. After college, he played professionally overseas for 11 years.
Tickets for the induction ceremony will be available by early fall; for information or sponsorship opportunities, contact [email protected].
