Gerald Fitch honored by Westside with jersey retirement; next day, a wedding
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Gerald Fitch stood in a far back corner of the gym, behind what constitutes the DJ table for basketball games at Westside.
He shook hands, exchanged hugs, caught up old friends, and just kept smiling.
Finally, it was his time to return to the court he all but owned nearly two decades ago with Westside retiring his jersey and honoring him Tuesday night before the Seminoles took on Central.
As nice as that was, it’s not the biggest thing happening this week as 2019 gets off to quite the start.
“Actually, I’m getting married (Wednesday),” Fitch said, laughing. “It’s pretty busy, but I’m thankful for it.”
Gerald Fitch taps his heart as he walks to halfcourt for the ceremony retiring his jersey Tuesday night at Westside.
Photo: Michael A. Lough/The Sports Report of Central Georgia, www.centralgasports.com
And he chuckles a slightly nervous “yeah, this is kinda funky” laugh when he’s asked the name of the woman who’s his fiancé for the next 12 hours or so.
“It just hit me the way you said that,” he said. “The next 12 hours.”
The Fitches will live at a house they recently bought in Juliette. Fitch has been doing a fair amount of work on the house, mostly painting lately.
Yes, at some point, there will be a basketball court somewhere on those 13 acres.
The fairly sedate crowd reaction was something of a sign that the hopes of a basketball resurgence in Bibb County after Fitch led the Seminoles to the Class AAAA semifinals in 1999-2000 and then went onto a quality career at Kentucky hadn’t developed.
Of course, Westside hadn’t developed much of a reputation in anything back then, the great postseason run coming in the program’s third season, and it was followed by a postseason drought in seven of the next eight seasons.
Westside is all but a lock for its fourth straight 20-win season, but the Seminoles would have to go deep to match that 28-5 mark of 1999-2000.
Spoon Risper was an assistant on the 1999-2000 team that Gerald Fitch led to the Class 4A semifinals.
Video: Michael A. Lough/The Sports Report of Central Georgia, www.centralgasports.com
Fitch didn’t just go to Kentucky and get lost in the shuffle at one of college basketball’s blue bloods.
He made the All-Freshman team after averaging 68 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals. Fitch earned All-SEC honors in 2003-04 while getting 16.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists, helping the Wildcats to a 27-5 record and the double-killing of winning the SEC’s regular season and tournament.
Fitch went on to be named the SEC Tournament MVP, thanks to an average of 19 points and by hitting eight 3s in three wins at the Georgia Dome.
Kentucky won three SEC regular seasons and three tournament titles while going 105-29 during Fitch’s career.
An injury interrupted plans to get drafted by an NBA team, and Fitch played in Europe for two years, and then got a shot with the Miami Heat, and soon enough suited up with Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal in 2005-06. He was traded to Houston, and then released.
Fitch played in the NBA’s development league, and soon was signed by Detroit but released in the preseason.
The 36-year-old returned to international basketball, in Europe and South America.
Fitch graduated from Kentucky a year ago December, and is pursuing graduate work, taking courses at GMC and Central Georgia Tech, with perhaps some classes at Mercer in his future.
Fitch founded a youth help group, KOKOS=Keeping Our Kids Off Streets, in Macon, but it’s been somewhat dormant while he played ball far away. He’s restarted it now that he’s retired.
Or so he says. For now.
For now. He’s still continuing his education, but there’s a gap in classes he’s taking that’s just long enough to give it another year. And he’s still always working out and playing
“I have from March to July where I have some open space,” he said. “And I’ve been talking to this agent. ‘You wanna come play?’ I don’t know, let me see how I feel.”
Tuesday night’s ceremony was awhile in coming. Athletics director Spoon Risper was an assistant coach on that 1999-2000 team, and had stayed in touch with Fitch over the years.
But basketball – and it’s hard to make a quick trip back home from Argentina, Venezuela, or Puerto Rico, Fitch’s last three employment locations – kept getting in the way.
“Coach Spoon, he actually reached out to me a couple years ago,” said Fitch, who had a knee surgery a few years ago and rehabbed some at Westside. “At the time, I wasn’t in the best of forms as far as (mentally). II was having the surgery, trying to get back. And I just didn’t want to do it at the time.”
Risper kept after Fitch, whose outlook was brightening. And Fitch couldn’t keep saying no to Risper.
“Man, he’s an amazing guy,” Fitch said. “He’s a great guy. There’s a few guys that … A lot of people say some guy’s a great guy, but he’s a great guy.”
Who was mighty enthusiastic during the presentation, trying to work up the crowd a bit after reeling off Fitch’s long list of basketball accomplishments.
“I’m just so proud that Gerald Fitch walked through those doors of Westside, and he was one of us,” Risper said. “He will always be a Seminole, and we love him so much.”