Southwest GA Elite...Where Are They Now?

Teresa Edwards

Southwest GA & USA basketball most decorated athlete, Teresa Edwards is the only American basketball player to ever compete in the Olympic Games five times.  Teresa began her noted career in Southwest GA at Cairo High School as a Syrupmaid.  Scoring 1,982 points in her high school career, Teresa was named Georgia High School Player of the Year in 1982.

Edwards played collegiate basketball at the University of Georgia where she helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to two Final Four appearances, three SEC titles and was selected to the All-SEC 1st Team three times in a row.  Teresa's #5 jersey was retired in 1996, making her one of three Lady Bulldogs to have their jerseys retired.

Having participated in the Olympic Games five times & winning gold medals as the youngest & oldest U.S. Olympic basketball player, Teresa continued to play basketball overseas, having spent 9 years playing in Europe & Asia.  Teresa has been named the USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year 4 times.  Edwards is #22 on the Sports Illustrated 100 Greatest Female Athletes of the 20th Century list.

Inducted into numerous hall of fames, Teresa biggest accomplishment besides winning 4 Olympic Gold Medals & one Bronze, was being inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.  Today Teresa can be seen on various television networks commentating on women college basketball games.

UPDATE: Teresa Edwads is now the new head coach of the WNBA Tulsa Shock after taking over for Hall of Fame coach Nolan Richardson.  On August 12, 2011, Teresa Edwards was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame.

The Resurgence of the Pelham High Lady Hornets

The Pelham High Lady Hornets basketball team hasn't had much to celebrate over the last 14 years, but things seem to have changed.  This past Saturday, February 19, 2011, the Lady Hornets won their first region championship since 1997.  They not only won the region championship, the Lady Hornets will host the first round of the state playoffs as a number one seed.  The Lady Hornets dominated the regular season and the region tournament, and they are looking forward to dominating Emanuel County Institute (ECI) Bulldogs in the first round of the state playoffs.

The success of the Lady Hornets has brought their fans smiles and memories of the former Lady Hornets basketball team, who won the state championship in 1997.  Just like the 1997 Lady Hornets, the 2011 Lady Hornets are small, quick and fast.  Both teams were led by a superstar point guard that knew how to handle the basketball.  Both Lady Hornets teams were small in statue but were aggressive against their opponents.

The only difference between the 1997 Lady Hornets and the 2011 Lady Hornets is the supporting cast.  The 1997 Lady Hornets bench players were just as valuable as the starting five, whereas, the 2011 Lady Hornets bench players are not much of a factor.  The 2011 Lady Hornets have made it to the state playoffs on the backs of three key players.  It amazes everyone how far the Lady Hornets have gotten without the production play of the bench. 

Even though the Lady Hornets relies heavily on their three key players, Hornet Nation is looking for the Lady Hornets to repeat history as an undersized, aggressive team to shock the state of GA again and win the state championship.  I can see the Lady Hornets hoisting up a state championship trophy, but I am just one person stating my opinion. State your opinion and tell me, what do you think?

Southwest GA Elite...Where Are They Now?

Charlie Ward, Jr.

An athlete that excelled in every sport he participated in, Charlie Ward, Jr. was a star standout at Thomas County Central High School in Thomasville, GA.  Ward played basketball, baseball and was a star quarterback all throughout high school and later took his skilled talents thirty minutes down the road to Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL.  Charlie not only played football for Florida State, he also played basketball for the Seminoles as well.

In 1993, during his senior season, Ward won the Heisman Trophy, college football most prestigious award and he led the Seminoles to their first ever national championship.  After a stellar college career in two sports, Ward was selected by the top three major sports in the United States; Football - 2nd round, Basketball - 1st round & Baseball as a free agent twice, even though he did not play baseball in college.  Charlie chose basketball over football due to the fact that he was selected in the first round instead of the second.  The New York Knicks selected Charlie in the first round of the NBA Draft with the 26th overall pick. 

After 11 seasons and 3 different teams (New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs & Houston Rockets), Charlie Ward retired from the NBA and settled in Houston, TX to become an assistant coach with the Rockets.  Ward later became an assistant coach for the Westbury Christian School varsity boys basketball team.  Later that year, Charlie became the head football coach for Westbury Christian School for the varsity boys.

Winning Records, Limited Facilities

To have a winning record, an athlete or team needs to work out in the best facilities one would think, right?  No that is not true.  There are plenty of teams and athletes with winning records that have very dismal practice facilities or little to no facilities at all.  You might ask, how could that be?  The answer is simple.  It could be a number of reasons but the top two are, funding or an administration that doesn't care.  This past football season, I saw first hand how a team went 9-1 during the regular season without the steady use of a weight room.  How did they do it?  One word, SPEED!  The majority of the offensive and defensive linemen looked like wide receivers.  It amazed me how they overcame the odds to win every game with the exception of one during the regular season.

This was not the first time I have seen this happen.  I was a member of a dominant track team in high school.  The boys won the region title four years in a row and the girls won three years straight.  People were amazed at how this small school could beat out major powerhouses with no track of their own.  Yes, I said it, no track.  We did not have a track of our own, so we had to travel everyday after school to the neighboring town to use our nemesis' track facilities.  The powerhouses were shocked to find out that we didn't have a track of our own, yet we were able to upset schools known for having the best track teams in the area.

Even though the football team that went 9-1 and the track team that I was a member of didn't have the true  facilities they needed to better themselves, they both showed what they were capable of and fought for the top spot.  So my question is this, what needs to be done to make sure athletes have the practice facilities they need to better themselves, when there is no funding or their administrators could care less about the athletic program?  Tell me, what do you think?

Small Town Athlete

Are you from a small town?  Know an athlete that could have gone pro?  I’m sure your answer is yes.  There are a lot of playground and small school athletes that could have made it to the next level; whether it was on a college, semi-pro or professional level.  Very few athletes from small, not heavily populated areas make it to the big leagues.  Sure, there are some athletes from small towns that make it to the top of the ranks of their preferred sport; for example, Deion Branch-New England Patriots, Phillip Daniels-Washington Redskins, Willie Harris-Washington Nationals & Buster Posey-San Francisco Giants.  Those are just a few of athletes that are on a very small list of talented small town athletes that have made it big.  So my one true question is; what should talented small town athletes, coaches & schools do to garner more attention?  Tell me, what do you think.