By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Brett Hardy’s four seasons as head boys basketball coach at Veterans were the best in Warhawks’ history.

By far.

Veterans won two Region 1-5A titles, overcoming the stranglehold of Warner Robins in those four years. The Warhawks won two region titles, and averaged 21 wins a year.

**Brett Hardy spent 16 years at Perry and four years at Veterans before taking over at Westfield.**
*Photo: Veterans basketball*

Family strings, though, have pulled Hardy from Kathleen, but he’ll be roaming sidelines not too far away. Hardy has taken over at Westfield.

Not that the challenge of continuing building Veterans wasn’t enticing, it just didn’t quite provide the same interest for Hardy as coaching his son.

Hayden Hardy will be a sophomore for the Hornets, and it’s been in the plans for Brett to hopefully coach him. Initially, Hardy was looking for one more year at Veterans to get his full 30 years in the state public school system.

A conversation here with athletics director – and well-extended basketball coach – Chip Champion and another one with head of school William Carroll later …

“They made me an offer,” said Hardy, a 1988 Westfield graduate. “I wanted to be there while (Hayden) was playing. Just to get out there with him was the big deal.”

Hardy won’t lose out financially too much initially with the early move, regarding the complicated state pension system. And after his son graduates, there’s always a chance he could return to the public system.

The decision was clear yet difficult.

Editor’s note: More coaching updates are to come within the next week, covering many sports and ranging from Peach County to Bleckley County to West Laurens, and around Central Georgia, as well as moves with Central Georgia connections and highlighting some state moves.

Carousel Coverage, the past year
April 20: From Eagles to Gryphons, Farriba to ACE (with more ACE moves)
April 17: The carousel has spun - unexpectedly - at Stratford, where it's complicated, with Mark Farriba's unexpected departure from his alma mater as AD
April 17: Longtime Jones County coach and AD Veal to take over at Stratford
April 12: Major changes at Tattnall: Hiller to be replaced as baseball coach, AD, Chambless in as boys basketball coach and AD
March 31: West Laurens picks Mary Persons assistant Burdette
March 31: From the military to law enforcement to coach and teaching, Perry’s Reggie West handing over the Panthers’ keys
March 31: Gainous resigns at Georgia College, ready to take over Perry boys basketball and rejoin family full time
March 21: Lockhart returning to Upson-Lee
March 10: Veterans’ Turner retiring
March 2: West Laurens’ McClain announces resignation
Feb.15: FPD girls basketball coach Griffin retiring
Feb. 4: Very familiar name taking over at Washington County: Robert Edwards III
Feb. 4: Adding Joel Ingram part of busy offseason for Dublin’s Holmes
Jan. 7: Stratford doesn’t go far for new head football coach
Jan. 5: Jasper County hires a new coach with winning pedigree
Dec. 14, 2021: Jeremy Edwards heading south, from Warner Robins to Houston County
Dec. 9, 2021: Ingram out at Washington County after 22 years
Dec. 6, 2021: Hatcher to ACE,
Dec. 2, 2021; Stratford’s Farriba retires, ‘would love to help people’
June 11: Westfield adds Robinson, plus Georgia College+Tattnall+Perry+John Milledge+Peach County; Northside BKB
June 8: There’s a new Indian – but not so new – leading Dodge County football; Houston County softball stays home
June 5: Bryan Way/Tattnall; Dooly County; Westfield softball; Tommy Howell/GMC; Southwest/Hardnett; John Milledge; Bleckley County
June 2: Tattnall taps Greene for girls hoops; and Northside, Houston County, Dooly County, GMC, John Milledge
May 24: Rutland hires a football coach, Mount de Sales has new basketball and wrestling coaches
May 19: Rutland’s Easom heading to Griffin
April 26 Coaching Carousel: Westfield/Stratford; Hawkinsville; Harden/Fullington
April 26: Veterans’ Miranda moving on

“It’s hard to leave Veterans,” Hardy said. “Great school, great administration, we won two region championships in a row, had a real good freshman class.”

Hardy said books he’s read by John Wooden and Don Meyer, among others, noted the importance of leaving a job situation better than you got it.

“They always say to leave it better than you found it. I think we did that.”

Hardy has spent pretty much his whole life in Central Georgia, and mostly in Houston County. His father Percy coached boys and girls basketball at Westfield for about 15 years - with a 9-3 season as head football coach in 1975 – and won more than 400 games.

Brett, who was a first-grader at Westfield with former Veterans head coach Chris Kothe - was a placekicker at West Georgia for a season, then transferred to Georgia College.

The 52-year-old spent three years at Byron Middle School and one at Northside before making his head coaching debut at Echols County. But family concerns – as in a growing family – led him back to Houston County as an assistant for two years at Perry.

Then he took over, and went 262-188 in 16 years, leaving after a change in contract language and time frames. After a year back at Perry Middle, he moved to the other side of the southern part of Houston County.

The Warhawks went 17-11, 25-4, 23-1, and 18-11 overall in those four years – 83-27- and 5-3, 7-1,8-0, and 6-2 in region play – 26-6. They won the program’s first playoff game, and had an Elite 8 season as well.

His challenge at Westfield grows with the return to the GISA – the newly-formed athletics arm, branded the Georgia Independent Athletic Association - of the four Macon private schools as well as several others, from the GHSA.

“It got tough, with everybody coming back,” Hardy said. “It’s gonna be a challenge.”

And Hardy’s replacement …

Veterans’ fourth head boys basketball coach was announced by the school two weeks ago.

Chip Flemmer returns to Georgia after a 5-19 year in Indiana. He was the first head coach for Cambridge in Milton –which has been a 5A and then 6A program from the start - for its first nine seasons, and has also coached at West Forsyth as well as in Washington, California, and Texas.

Former Cambridge standout Kamar Robertson is currently at Mercer.

Flemmer spent the 2021-22 season as head coach – and graduation coach - at Sheridan High in Indiana, whose 12-11 record the year before Flemmer arrived was its first winning record in nine years.

According to information posted by Cambridge to Maxpreps, Flemmer went 117-124, with a four-year run of 82-32.

He also went 49-14 as softball coach at Cambridge, and has also coached football, track, lacrosse, and baseball.

Mary Persons’ Nix now at FPD; girls coach hired

From six degrees of separation comes another change of note.

Mary Persons’ Greg Nix was the first head boys basketball coach at Veterans, which is where Hardy has left. Then two battled when Hardy was at Perry and the Panthers and Bulldogs were region rivals.

Now, Hardy is in the GIAA at Westfield, and he’ll again start facing Nix, who is taking over the boys program at FPD.

The school made the announcement Friday.

The Alabama native took over at Mary Persons in 2012, after having started programs at Veterans and Schley County. The Bulldogs went 13-14 last year, Nix’s 10th with the program. He went 130-135 at Mary Persons, with the Bulldogs setting program records, including wins, and reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1968.

He graduated from Jacksonville State and did graduate work at Georgia College and Piedmont before starting a coaching and teaching career of nearly three decades.

Doug Wasden from Sugar Hill Christian Academy, a member of the Georgia Association of Christian Schools, is the Vikings’ new girls head coach. John Griffith announced his retirement in February, effective at the end of the school year.

The GCAA, with less than 40 schools, is based in Athens, and its website contains no information on athletics.

Wasden has coached at Westminster, in Texas, and Curtis Baptist. He was the boys and girls coach at Curtis Baptist, and has more than 200 career wins.

The Brewton-Parker grad will be an assistant with the FPD volleyball program.

Both Nix and Wasden will teach history.

From Tattnall and around, Smith’s now at Stratford

A year and six weeks after being hired as Deerfield-Windsor’s head boys basketball coach, Jarvis Smith was introduced as Stratford’s new head boys basketball coach last week.

Sean Sweeney resigned in April after six seasons, and is already on the job as head coach at Middleburg, just southwest of Jacksonville. Sweeney went 86-66 after succeeding Jamie Dickey, now at Brentwood in football and administrative roles.

The Knights went 20-6 in Smith’s only season in Albany, which followed two years at East Jackson. He also coached at Robert Toombs Christian Academy. Deerfield-Windsor competed in GHSA Region 1-A Private, with Stratford, Tattnall, FPD, and Mount de Sales.

All are moving to the GIAA, but Deerfield won’t be in a district with the Macon schools.

Stratford will go against Smith’s old Tattnall team, as well as the Cavs and FPD, as well as John Milledge.

Smith was hired in May of 2014 at Tattnall from his college alma mater, Brewton-Parker, and led the Trojans to a pair of GHSA Sweet 16 trips in five seasons.

He went 17-26 in two seasons at Class AAA East Jackson.

And at Washington County …

The Golden Hawks’ girls program has been one of the top programs in Central Georgia and in Class AA for awhile, and now it’s in a major transition.

Sug Parker resigned in late March to take over in Bacon County as athletics director and head girls basketball coach.

Bacon County is in southeast Georgia, between Brunswick and Tifton, and will be in Region 1-AA in 2022-24.

Parker played at Brewton-Parker and left as the program’s all-time leading scorer with more than 2,000 points. He also coached the women’s team there briefly and was a men’s assistant.

He developed the Golden Hawks – and the likes of WNBA standout Allisha Gray – into a state contender in AAA and then in AA, winning one state title and finishing second once, with seven region titles.

Parker went 318-70 in 14 years at Washington County.