By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame was able to induct last year’s class on schedule, doing so in February of 2020 before the world changed with the onslaught of COVID-19.

          A change in the schedule of about three months has the Hall of Fame – which has held ceremonies around this time of year on schedule as it adds eight more to the Hall’s halls.

          The public gets an up-close look at inductees Brian Jordan, Tom Glavine, Janet Harris, Joe Hamilton, Matt Stinchcomb, Ray Lamb, and Tony Barnhart at Saturday afternoon’s FanFest, inductee Maya Moore unable to attend.

          All will be dressed up at the induction ceremony Saturday night at the Macon City Auditorium.

          This year, the Hall begins to honor major contributors mostly worthy of induction consideration but deserving of statewide recognition, as Legends. This year: Maconite Al Lucas, Dr. Hervey M. Cleckley, Robert Montag, and Escue Rodgers.

          Former longtime Georgia Military College head football coach Bert Williams will be honored as the recipient of the J.B. Hawkins Humanitarian Award, given to “Georgians whose life and legacy has made a lasting impact on their community, the state of Georgia, and the lives of countless Georgians.” It is named after the longtime Crawford County basketball coach.

          Williams, a Westside-Augusta grad, went 156-58 at GMC with a national junior college title and two more trips to the championship game. He was inducted into the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2010.

          Williams and GMC dealt often with young athletes who ended up in Milledgeville because of discipline problems in high school or at a major college. Upon having their world clarified a bit, more than 430 players went on to four-year schools, and 37 former Bulldogs made the NFL.

          The Bulldogs’ athletics director emeritus retired in October of 2020 to focus on his battle against mantle cell lymphoma, diagnosed just after the end of the 2019 season.

          He departed the Emory Winship Cancer Center a year ago today, May 22, 2020, in remission.

          Williams is a former lineman who had basically a former lineman’s physique, but he has lost a lot of weight. Still, he visited plenty of GMC’s spring practices, under successor and longtime former assistant Rob Manchester.

          He and family and friends will be on hand Saturday night.

           The Hall held its jacket ceremony on Friday night.