State 🏀 coaches association Hall of Famers: Northeast's Copeland, Wilkinson County's Geter, Taylor County's Troutman, McDuffie of Washington County, Bradley of Piedmont & Trinity Christian

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          Three men who established long legacies in Central Georgia as well as two who made a mark in a short time in the area made up part of the first Hall of Fame class recently for the Georgia Basketball Coaches Association recently.

          Northeast’s Alvin Copeland, Taylor County’s Matt Troutman, and Wilkinson County’s Aaron Geter as well as Ron Bradley, who coached at Piedmont and Trinity Christian, and Rufus McDuffie, who coached at Washington County, were among the 10 members of the first class. See bios below.

          They’re joined by:

          Charles Cooper: Morven, Brooks County, Suwanee, and Lowndes girls; career mark of 1,009-428, with four straight state titles at Lowndes in the late 1970s

          Angie Hembree: Collins Hill and Norcross, winner of three titles and 529 games; former coach of WNBA stars Diamond DeShields and Maya Moore

          Eddie Martin: Norcross, Greater Atlanta Christian, Buford; only coach to win two boys state titles at three schools; 852-263, nine state titles

          Jesse McLeod: Seminole County; 589-216, three state titles at Seminole County in the 1980s

          Joe Williams: Clay County, Randolph-Clay; 1,015-204, had a 90-game winning streak from 2004-06; state titles at both schools, back to back at Randolph-Clay in 2004-05

          Copeland spent 39 years at Northeast, winning five state girls basketball titles while also building a top-flight track program.

          Geter won 10 titles in 20 years at Wilkinson County, and Troutman coached at Taylor County for 40 years, racking up six state titles and 911 wins.

          Bradley coached boys and girls basketball – as well as football at Trinity Christian from 1989-94 and at Piedmont from 1997-99. He won  1,019 games as a boys coach and 353 as a girls coach at eight schools (also Newton County twice, George Walton, Loganville, Port St. Joe, Greater Atlanta Christian, and Heritage).

          McDuffie sandwiched four successful seasons at Washington County in between a big 20-year run at Mitchell-Baker and Valdosta. He served in administration at all three schools, becoming principal at Valdosta, then returning to coaching at Dougherty in 2016, and three years later at Appling County, his alma mater, for a few seasons.

See “contribute” up top for more options to chip in and help keep Central Georgia’s best coverage rolling along.