Georgia Sports Hall of Fame's 68th class - versatile and sterling - is a few weeks from being inducted. Who's in? A Vol, Brave, Bulldogs, Eagle/Jacket, among others

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          Beloved Bulldogs, a bulldog-like Brave, a legendary college football coach, and high school stars are among the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024.

          The ceremony is Feb. 24 at the Macon City Auditorium, a day after the golf tournament and jacket ceremony, and hours after the Fan Fest at the Hall.

          Tickets are available from the Hall, at 478-752-1585 or https://www.georgiasportshalloffame.com.

          Former Georgia football standout Thomas Davis and football/baseball ace Cris Carpenter, former Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech head football coach Paul Johnson, ex-Brave catcher Brian McCann, longtime Georgia sports information director Claude Felton, high school basketball standout Sharif-Abdur-Rahim, football standout Eric Berry, and tennis whiz Wendy White-Prausa will become the newest members in the 68th induction ceremony.

          Felton announced his retirement Tuesday after 45 years at Georgia.

          Here are the inductees’ biographies, as per the Hall of Fame, with editing:

Sharif Abdur-Rahim

          Growing up in East Point, Abdur-Rahim started playing basketball after seeing a flyer from a local community center. He led Joseph Wheeler High School to a state title in 1994 and was named "Mr. Georgia Basketball" in consecutive seasons by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

          Abdur-Rahim played one season of college basketball at UC Berkeley, being named Pac-10 Player of the Year and then entering the 1996 NBA Draft, when he was selected third overall by the Vancouver Grizzlies. He quickly became the team’s leading scorer and was named to the All-Rookie team.

          Abdur-Rahim went on to play for the Atlanta Hawks in 2001 and was selected to the All-Star Game in 2002. He also had stints in Portland and Sacramento before retiring in 2008. Sharif won gold with Team USA in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. His career field goal percentage was .472, with 18.1 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game.

          He is the president of the NBA G League and is active in community outreach in Atlanta.

Eric Berry

          Born in Fairburn, Berry played football and ran track at Creekside High, excelling at both before picking football and signing with Tennessee.

          Berry was a two-time first-team All-SEC defensive back and was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2008. He also received the Jim Thorpe Award in 2009 as the nation’s best defensive.

          Berry was drafted fifth by Kansas City in 2010. He was selected to five Pro Bowls, named first-team All-Pro three times, and was honored as the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year in 2015 after successfully battling Hodgkin's lymphoma.

          Berry was named to the NFL's 2010s All-Decade team at safety. The 35-year-old retired after being released in 2019, having played his entire nine-year pro career with Kansas City.

Cris Carpenter

          Gainesville’s Carpenter was Class AAA All-State in baseball, football, and basketball in high school, and was named Georgia’s High School Athlete of the year in 1984, before spending his college years at Georgia.

          He set records as a standout punter for the football team, while also excelling as a relief pitcher for the baseball team. He was named All-American and All-SEC, as well as being named a UGA SEC Baseball Legend in 2016.

          He remains fourth in career punting average at Georgia, and is fifth all time at UGA in career wins as a pitcher. After being drafted in the MLB’s first round in 1987, Carpenter picked baseball over football, and joined the St. Louis Cardinals where he spent five seasons, his best in 1991 when he went 10-4 with a 4.23 ERA in 59 games for the Cards.

          Carpenter spent another four seasons between Florida, Texas, and Milwaukee before retiring, with a 27-22 record and 3.91 ERA. He is a social studies teacher at Gainesville High, where he’s a member of the school’s athletics Hall of Fame.

Thomas Davis, Sr.

          Davis was a four-sport athlete at Randolph-Clay High in Cuthbert, signing to play football at Georgia. His exceptional play at linebacker and defensive back earned him a consensus All-American and first-team All-SEC in 2004.

          Davis was picked 14th overall by Carolina in 2005. He spent 14 seasons at linebacker with the Panthers and is the only NFL player to overcome three ACL tears in a career. He was a three-time Pro Bowl selection, as well as a first-team All-Pro in 2015. He finished his last two seasons in the NFL playing for the LA Chargers and the Washington Football Team (now Commanders).

          Davis retired after the 2020 season, averaging 81 tackles over 15 seasons. He has been acknowledged for his off-the-field contributions by being awarded the Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2014 and the Bart Starr Award in 2016.  He is cousin to former Northside standout Robert Davis, who spent four seasons in the NFL.

Claude Felton

          Savannah native Felton has served the Georgia Athletic Association since 1979 in legendary fashion in positions including Senior Associate Athletic Director, Associate Athletic Director, and Sports Communications Director, among others.

          He served as media coordinator in 17 NCAA national championship events and was the chairman of the Ethics Committee of the College Sports Information Directors of America from 1985-91, receiving the organizations Arch Ward Award in 2004.

          Regarded as the “best of the best” by his peers, Felton has mountains of awards during his career, including The Football Writers Association of America’s prestigious Bert McGrane Award. He was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 and continues to serve as the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Sports Communications at UGA.

          Under Felton, the department is regularly honored by the Football Writers Association of America as one of the “Super 11” departments in the NCAA FBS.

          Scores of former UGA sports information employees have gone on to work in professional sports as well as newspapers, broadcasting, and other entities, and his reputation among media from coast to coast is remarkable.

Paul Johnson

          A North Carolina native, Johnson's coaching career truly started at Georgia Southern in 1983 under legendary head coach Erk Russell. There, he was offensive coordinator for the Eagles during their NCAA I-AA (now FCS) national championships in 1985 and 1986.

          He left Statesboro in 1987 to serve as offensive coordinator at the University of Hawaii. After success there, he took another OC position at Navy in 1995. In 1997, Johnson returned to Statesboro, this time as head coach.

          He led the Eagles to five Southern Conference titles and two NCAA I-AA championships in 1999 and 2000. He returned to Navy in 2002, then left to take over at Georgia Tech in 2008, where he finished his career after 11 seasons with the Yellow Jackets.

          He was awarded the Eddie Robinson Award in 1998 as the nation's top coach in I-AA and was also a Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year recipient in 2004. Johnson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2023.

          The 66-year-old Western Carolina grad retired after the 2018 season with a career record of 189-100, including 14-3 in the I-AA playoffs and 5-8 in bowls. He had only four losing seasons in 22.

Brian McCann

          A top-ranked high school baseball catcher from Duluth, McCann was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2002, making his MLB debut in 2005. In the next nine seasons, McCann garnered seven All-Star Game appearances and earned five Silver Slugger honors. He was named All-Star MVP in 2010.

          From 2014-16, Brian played for the New York Yankees, and racked up a sixth Silver Slugger in 2015. He joined Houston in 2017 and won a World Series with the Astros.

          McCann returned to Atlanta for a final season in 2019. In 15 years, he batted .262 with 1,018 RBI, 282 home runs, a .337 on-base percentage, a .993 fielding percentage, and 12,048 putouts.

Wendy White-Prausa

          A dominating junior tennis player in Georgia, White-Prausa earned a No. 1 ranking in the 16-under and 18-under categories, as well as a No. 1 Southern ranking and a No. 8 national ranking in the 18-under.

          She also won or was a finalist in more than 30 junior and amateur tournaments in 1977-78, earning state player of the year honors in 1978, then going on to play at Rollins College, winning the Broderick Award (now Honda Sports Award) in tennis as the nation's best collegiate female athlete.

          White-Prausa turned pro and played on the WTA tour from 1978-90, competing in all of the grand slams, earning a top-100 singles ranking for 12 straight years, topped at 19th in 1982. She was inducted in the Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame in 2001. She retired in 1992, and currently teaches tennis in Atlanta.