GEORGIA SPORTS HALL OF FAME HONORS COURT SELECTS EIGHT FOR INDUCTION
Induction Ceremony to take place Saturday, February 27th at Macon City Auditorium
MACON, GA – The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Honors Court has selected eight new members for the state’s athletic Hall of Fame. Members of the Class of 2016 are basketball player/contributor Michael Glenn, baseball player Chipper Jones, basketball player Patricia Roberts, football player Jimmy Robinson, sports broadcaster/journalist Phil Schaefer, football player Hines Ward, football coach Luther Welsh, and basketball coach/contributor Glenn Wilkes. The inductees were chosen from a starting pool of 195 nominees that were narrowed through a three-tiered screening process culminating with the Honors Court meeting.
An outstanding basketball player at Coosa High School in Rome, Georgia, Michael Glenn became an Academic All-American at Southern Illinois University where he finished his collegiate basketball career as the school’s second all-time leading scorer. After playing ten seasons in the NBA, including four seasons with the Atlanta Hawks (1981-85), Glenn organized the Mike Glenn All-Star Basketball Camp for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the country’s first basketball camp for deaf and hard of hearing teenagers.
A baseball, football, and basketball player at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, Chipper Jones was selected as the first overall pick by the Atlanta Braves in the 1990 Major League Baseball Draft. In eighteen full seasons with the Braves (1995-2012), Jones accumulated 2,726 hits, 468 home runs, and a lifetime batting average of .303. The 1999 National League MVP, Jones was also an eight-time All-Star and a member of the Braves’ 1995 World Series Championship team.
A native of Monroe, Georgia, Patricia Roberts began her collegiate basketball career at North Georgia College in Dahlonega, Georgia, before playing her final season at the University of Tennessee. As an All-American forward with the Lady Volunteers, Roberts set numerous school records including most points in a game (51), most rebounds in a game (24), and most points in a season (987). A member of the silver medal-winning 1976 Olympic U.S. Women’s Basketball team, Roberts spent several seasons playing professional basketball before becoming a basketball coach.
Born in New York, New York, Jimmy Robinson played football, basketball, baseball, and track & field as a multiple-sport athlete at Atlanta’s Ridgeview High School. As a wide receiver at Georgia Tech, Robinson led the Yellow Jackets in receiving for three straight seasons (1972-74) and accumulated 1,633 yards, 101 receptions, and 13 touchdowns during his collegiate career. After being selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1975 NFL Draft, Robinson spent five seasons in the NFL with the New York Giants (1976-79) and the San Francisco 49ers (1980) before becoming a wide receiver coach with several NFL teams.
A native of North Augusta, South Carolina, Phil Schaefer began his sports broadcasting career as a student at Ohio State University where he called games for the school’s basketball and baseball teams. After joining Atlanta’s WSB Radio in 1963, Schaefer went on to cover sports in Georgia for the next four decades and provided commentary for numerous sporting events including University of Georgia football and basketball games, Atlanta Hawks games, The Masters golf tournament, and the NCAA Basketball Tournament. A three-time Georgia Sportscaster of the Year, Schaefer also served as the public address announcer for the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta Hawks.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Hines Ward moved to the Atlanta area at the age of one. An exceptional football and baseball player at Forest Park High School, Ward enrolled at the University of Georgia where he tallied 4,762 total yards and 20 touchdowns in four seasons (1994-97) as a wide receiver, running back, and quarterback for the Bulldogs. Selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1998 NFL Draft, Ward spent fourteen seasons (1998-2011) with the Steelers and accumulated 12,511 all-purpose yards, 1,000 receptions, and 86 total touchdowns. A four-time Pro Bowler, Ward led Pittsburgh to two Super Bowl victories and was named the MVP of Super Bowl XL.
A standout baseball and football player at South Carolina’s Maywood High School, high school football coach Luther Welsh began his coaching career in Georgia at Warrenton High School in 1955. Named the football coach at Albany’s Dougherty High School in 1968, Welsh led the Trojans to a regional championship in 1976 before taking over at Thomson High School in 1984. After bringing Thomson back-to-back state titles in 1984 and 1985, Welsh made successful head coaching stops at Camden County, Greene County, and Screven County, before returning to Thomson and leading the Bulldogs to another state title in 2002. A three-time Georgia Coach of the Year, Welsh retired in 2010 with a career coaching record of 333-181-6.
Born in Mansfield, Georgia, Glenn Wilkes was an all-district basketball player at Eatonton High School before joining the basketball team at Mercer University. After averaging 25 points per game in his senior year, Wilkes was selected by the Syracuse Nationals in the 1950 NBA Draft. In 1957, Wilkes was named the head basketball coach at Stetson University where, for the next thirty-six years, he built the Hatters program from an NAIA school to its current Division I status. The author of several books on basketball fundamentals, Wilkes also created the Glenn Wilkes Basketball Camp, the premier basketball clinic for aspiring basketball players in the southeast.
The 2016 Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held on Saturday, February 27th at the Macon City Auditorium. For ticket information, please visit gshf.org or call the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame at (478) 752-1585.