The Oconee Leader

For hundreds of photos and constant updates about Oconee events and people, go to theoconeeleader.com

This Week:

Sports Issue 9

Volume 11

From the Oconee to the Apalachee

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Baseball

Fricks honored Page 4

Online

Artist Joni Younkins-Herzog installs her sculpture Scopa on Main Street in downtown Watkinsville.

BY ROB PEECHER

Youth Art show

Gallery

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Schools

The Oconee Leader

Two pieces of sculpture went up on Main Street in downtown Watkinsville over the weekend, continuing the city’s commitment to being the “Artland of Georgia.”

Cindy Farley, the director at the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation, said the sculptures are part of the 2016 Pop-Up Sculpture Exhibit, which is partially funded by a Georgia Council for the Arts grant. The exhibit will see fie sculptures erected in downtown Watkinsville.

“What we thought was that for years we have had all these artists working in their studios all around Oconee County,” Farley explained.

“That’s why Watkinsville is the Artland of Georgia. Our thinking was that we should bring this

art out into the community.”

Farley, who serves on the city’s Arts Advisory Council, said that group initiated the campaign.

A total of five sculptures will go up around town.

Saturday afternoon, Joni Younkins-Herzog was putting up her sculpture Scopa in front of the AT&T building on Main Street. The piece is made with a Styrofoam core, metal and stucco.

“Someone driving by recognized what it is, so that was nice,” Younkins-Herzog said as she applied stucco to the piece. “They asked me if it was an angel trumpet flower.”

The sculpture is called “Scopa,” a medicinal extract from the angel trumpet.

Younkins-Herzog said she hopes people will stop and spend some time looking at her sculp-

ROB PEECHER/Oconee Leader

ture. The inside of the flower is painted, and includes a “surprise” if you get down and look inside it.

Also Saturday afternoon, artist William Massey installed his sculpture “Object of Wo(man)” on the property across from the Courthouse and next to the Eagle Tavern.

All of the sculptures are expected to be installed in the next couple of weeks.

The city’s Arts Advisory Council has also commissioned new art boards from eight artists and is restoring – and in some cases, relocating – already standing art boards from five other artists in the coming weeks.

The new art boards are also being partially funded by a grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts.

Road to open opportunities for commercial development

BY MIKE SPRAYBERRY The Oconee Leader

PACS

Speaker Page 3

Online

Plans for a new road in the Epps Bridge area moved forward last week with hopes of eventually opening more land in the area to commercial development.

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners reached an agreement with the Oconee County Industrial Development Authority to extend Parkway Boulevard from Epps Bridge Parkway, behind existing developments, to Oconee Connector. The county was also expected to move forward with

amendments to the Unified Development Code and Water and Wastewater Standards Ordinance this week.

“The Development Authority and the Board of Commissioners did agree last Tuesday to a $4.2 million intergovernmental agreement to build Parkway Boulevard, a new road that will go from Kohl’s, behind Wal-Mart and Lowe’s to the Oconee Connector,” said Oconee County Commission Chairman Melvin Davis.

Davis expanded on the design and purpose for the road as well as

OCAF displays student art at March exhibit

how the county would pay for it. “(The Development Authority) will be issuing bonds soon. It will be a three-lane road with turn lanes and acceleration and deceleration lanes to open up that area back there for commercial retail development.”

According to Davis, the county would make payment on the bonds out of the general fund and the expected development would be undertaken by Frank Bishop, the Atlanta developer whose company built Epps Bridge Centre following the construction of the Oconee

Connector.

“Mr. Bishop is the guy doing that development,” said Davis. “He owns or has contracts on the land.”

Davis pointed out a benefit to the county of the road’s construction and its likely development.

“The potential of retail there adds to the tax base for Oconee County.”

Construction is expected to begin soon and move swiftly, said Davis.

“I expect the notice to proceed to go out fairly quickly,” he said. “I ‘Development’ Page 2

Please see

BY ROB PEECHER

The Oconee Leader

Photo Gallery

NOHS soccer

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The Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation this weekend hosted an opening reception for a special art exhibit featuring the works of some of Oconee County’s youngest artists, and the exhibit is just one of several events coming up at OCAF in the next month.

Through March 22, works from dozens of students at both public and private elementary, middle and high schools in Oconee County will be on display in OCAF’s Main Gallery.

The annual Youth Art Month exhibit coincides with the opening of registration for OCAF’s Summer Art Camp. The camp begins June 6 and is for students ages 5-12. It runs from 9 a.m. to noon for two weeks and is $240.

‘Exhibits’ Page 2

Please see

ROB PEECHER/Oconee Leader

Amy Allen lifts her 6-year-old son Aiden so that he can better see the 3D art piece “Words Can Hurt” by Athens Academy student Lillian Glushka. Aiden’s older brother Blake, a third grader at Rocky Branch Elementary School, also has a piece in OCAF’s Student Art Month exhibit.

Page 2

Thursday, March 3, 2016

‘Exhibits’

Students advance in spelling bee

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Continued from the Front

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Athens Academy eighth grader Charlotte Luke and seventh grader Edward Nichols have both advanced to the state level of the Georgia Independent Schools Association (GISA) Middle School Spelling Bee. After winning the school spelling bee on January 22, they were among the top spellers at the Atlanta District Spelling Bee on February 11 at Woodward Academy. Edward is the son of Matt and Ashley Nichols of Madison. Charlotte is the daughter of Haven and Natalie Luke of Athens.

Meyer advances in geography bee ROB PEECHER/Oconee Leader

Blake Allen was among those students selected to display work in OCAF’s annual Youth Art Month show. The show will be at the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation through March 22 during regular hours. For more photos of the work from the show, visit theoconeeleader.com.

OCAF Director Cindy Farley said registrations are accepted until the camp is full, but she said it has a history of filling quickly.

OCAF is also offering summer art workshops for teens called Relate & Create.

That camp, for ages 12-18, begins June 27. The cost is $110 per week plus $20 for materials and features three weeks of camp with each week focused on a specific medium: drawing, painting and pottery.

Registration information is available on OCAF’s website, ocaf.com.

Later this month, OCAF will host one of its largest fundraisers, the annual thrift sale. For weeks OCAF has accepted donations of items for the thrift sale. On Friday, March 18 from 7 to 9 p.m. there will be a preview sale where, for $5, shoppers can get an early look and buy items for

sale in the thrift sale. The thrift sale will then be held on Saturday, March 19 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. with no charge for admission.

On April 1, one of OCAF’s biggest shows of the year will open. Southworks this year had nearly 200 artists submit more than 520 pieces of work to the national juried exhibit. Only 80 pieces were selected.

Farley said each year Southworks includes a Director’s Choice Exhibit, and this year the pieces featured in the exhibit will not come from one artist but from several artists who have won Director’s Choice in past years.

“So we will have artists such as Margaret Morrison, Otto Long and Terry Rowlett in the Director’s Choice exhibit this year,” Farley said.

‘Development’

Athens Academy fifth grader Thomas Meyer advanced to the state level of the National Geographic Bee. Thomas will represent Athens Academy at the state bee on Friday, April 1, at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville. In order to advance to the state level, Thomas completed a written exam, finishing in the top 100. These 100 students will compete at Georgia College, and then one champion will represent the state at the national competition, May 22-25 at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C.

suspect with the final engineering, we’ll probably be breaking ground in the next two months. I think they told us nine to twelve months (to complete the road).”

The Board of Commissioners was also scheduled to have second readings and public hearings on amendments to both the county’s Unified Development Code, including the Mars Hill Overlay District, and its Water and Wastewater Standards Ordinance.

“One thing we’re doing is we are putting into the UDC the opportunity for folks to put a solar farm into an agricultural area if

Continued from the Front

they want,” said Davis. “Another one is an opportunity for folks to put an RV storage unit in an agricultural area. Those are the two major things dealing with the UDC. Other things related to that are basically some modifications giving more clarity on what is required.

Davis said that the changes to the Water and Wastewater Standards Ordinance would modify how the county allocates wastewater capacity.

Mike Sprayberry is a reporter for The Oconee Leader.

Driving lessons

Scott speaks at PACS

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I will never forget the awful pit in my stomach as I watched Harrison drive away for the first time with both of his brothers in the car. He was a newly minted driver, and he had in his inexperienced driving hands the safety of almost everything I care about on this earth.

I stood at our front door, watching the car approach the stop sign and wondering why he wasn’t yet braking.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” Jean confessed.

I tried to say something, but that pit in my stomach was clinched so tight I couldn’t speak.

I suppose I did not stand there at the door the entire time they were gone. Probably, I paced up and down the hall, but when the car finally rounded the bend to return home, I was standing at the door and saw them come into sight.

A couple of months later Harrison was driving Robert to school one morning. Nathan had ridden the bus. I was coming down the stairs when I heard Jean’s phone ring. I knew right away by the tone of her voice that Harrison had wrecked the car.

“Everybody’s fine,” Harrison said before he said anything else. “But I wrecked the car.”

Jean got the details of where they were and I went and found them. The car was totaled and had to be towed, but the wreck hadn’t been nearly as bad as it might have been. Harrison missed his turn, drove through a ditch and over a stone wall and parked the car up against a tree.

Robert, who was just in sixth grade at the time, was a little

freaked out by the whole thing and refused to ride with Harrison for some number of months.

Although I firmly believe the wreck was caused not so much by Harrison missing his turn as by Harrison driving too fast, they have both stuck to their story over the years that Harrison was traveling at a reasonable rate of speed.

All of this is fresh in my memory as I prepare for my middle son to start driving.

Nate turned 16 last month and is just weeks away from being eligible to get his driver’s license.

It’s also fresh in my mind because Harrison just bought himself a car.

When Harrison wrecked our car, we had just become a twocar family. Because Jean and I worked together at the time, we didn’t need two cars. Sometimes it was an inconvenience having only one car, but the money we saved from not having two cars made the inconvenience pretty convenient.

We never replaced the car Harrison wrecked, and even though there were three drivers in the family, we still managed with just the one car.

When Harrison graduated from high school, he took some of his own money and I chipped in a little, and we went to find him a car. What he really wanted was a Jeep.

I encouraged him instead to get a Honda or a Toyota or a Volkswagen or something that was good on gas and would be dependable.

Harrison, though, really wanted a Jeep.

For the money he had to spend, he could have bought a pretty nice little Honda or something.

But he really wanted a Jeep.

So when we found a Jeep that was built six years before Harrison was born and priced within his price range, we bought the Jeep. And I’ll admit, it was so much fun to drive that I never argued with him about getting it.

And Harrison has loved his Jeep. It’s fun to drive, especially in the summer with the canvas top off and the doors out. The times I’ve taken Harrison’s Jeep out, I’ve loved driving it.

But it gets about 9 miles to the gallon. And he’s spent a small fortune on repairs.

It’s taken almost two years, but now all of the advice I gave Harrison before he bought the Jeep has started to make sense to him.

So when his girlfriend’s father offered to sell him a used Toyota Camry at an unbelievably good price, Harrison jumped at the chance.

He had just started a new job, so he felt good about spending the money on the car, and he reasoned that what he would save in gas and auto repairs would make the car a wise investment sooner rather than later.

As for the Jeep, Harrison has opted to keep it, but he’s going to let Nathan drive it to school when Nathan gets his license.

What remains to be seen is whether or not Robert will ride to school with Nate, or if we will even let him.

Rob Peecher is author of the book “Four Things My Wife Hates About Mornings,” available at amazon.com.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Page 3

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Rev. Franklin Scott recently spoke to students at Prince Avenue Christian School.

Rev. Franklin Scott, senior campus minister of the University of Georgia Baptist Collegiate Ministry, was the winter quarter Distinguished Speaker for the Prince Avenue Christian School Christian Character Development Program series.

Rev. Scott addressed PACS middle and high school students about the importance of knowing who they are and whose they are.

From Exodus 19:2-6, students were reminded that the people of Israel were God’s people and that God loved them and would fight for them. This knowledge of God and their relationship with Him is

what guided their lives.

Rev. Scott encouraged PACS students to likewise remember that the foundation of their lives is the Lord and His great love for them. Rev. Scott suggested that students apply his teaching by thinking about and discussing with their families how they have seen God’s love and grace manifested in their lives individually and as a family.

With each Distinguished Speaker, students, guided by faculty members, will have follow up discussions in small groups at the next chapel.

Zhuang finalist in National Merit

Oconee County High School student Louise Zhuang has been named a Finalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Louise has advanced in a group of 15,000 Finalists nationwide who took the 2014 PSAT.

For hundreds of photos and constant updates about Oconee events and people, go to theoconeeleader.com

This Week:

Warriors Thursday, March 3, 2016

WARRIORS TITANS SPARTANS WOLVERINES LIONS

Fricks honored by team at Diamond Day Oconee County baseball

BY MATTHEW CALDWELL The Oconee Leader

Football

Signings Page 5

Upcoming

Several athletes signed to play college athletics. Their stories will be featured in upcoming editions of The Oconee Leader.

Online

Five games into last season, Oconee County head baseball coach Stan Fricks had to leave the dugout due to medical reasons.

The Warriors were 3-2 at the time but behind a uniting focus of wanting to win for Coach Fricks, they won 16 of their next 18 games, captured their first region championship since 2010 and advanced to the Elite Eight for the fifth time since 2002.

At last Saturday’s Diamond Day at Arrowhead Park, where four baseball games took place, the Warriors took on Veterans in the first game of the afternoon.

Following the game, won

by Veterans 3-0, Oconee County took a moment to recognize Fricks for the accomplishments of the program both on and off the field.

“He is the one that has built this program from the ground up, both athletically and facilities-wise,” said Tom Gooch, who took over as head coach over the summer. “He has made a great deal in what we are doing here. He needed to be honored and he needed to be honored right. He has been a mentor for me and I wanted to make sure it was done right.

Photo gallery

OCHS baseball

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MATTHEW CALDWELL/Oconee Leader

Above, former head coach Stan Fricks is presented his jersey and region championship plaque by current head coach Tom Gooch (left) and assistant coach Phillip Faulkner during a ceremony at Arrowhead Park last Saturday.

Below, Fricks and the Warriors pose for photos. For more photos of the ceremony, see theoconeeleader.com.

“When I planned Diamond Day in the fall, this was the perfect time to do it. We got out on social media and a lot of former players who loved Coach Fricks were here and they were watching. They appreciate everything he has done.”

On the field, Fricks led his teams to more than 300 wins as a head coach in a career that started at Rockdale County.

He was hired by Oconee County in 2001 to be head coach of the freshman team. In 2003, he was named varsity head coach.

“It was a lot of sweet memories,” Fricks said.

“The relationships with the parents, the coaches, Coach Gooch, Coach Bailey, certainly (Veterans) Coach (David) Coffey, the relationships with the players are pretty nice. Today is a nice day for high school

baseball. It felt very good.

“I feel blessed to be here.

I enjoyed it.”

During the ceremony, Gooch pointed to the crowd and mentioned how the area where the fans were sitting was just a grassy area when Fricks hired Gooch 13 years ago.

The program made several improvements to the ball field over the years, such as the indoor hitting facility and the addition of the building behind home plate that houses the bathrooms, concession stand, grill area and press box, and it has been recognized by the Georgia Dugout Club as Class AAA Field of the Year on two different occasions in the last 10 years.

“It was a process. A lot of Please see ‘OCHS Fricks’ Page 6

Basketball

Schedule: James Banks transitions to new roles at Athens Academy

Athens Academy Tennis – 4 p.m., March 7 Baseball – 5:30 p.m., March 15 Soccer – 5:30 p.m., March 18 Baseball – 5:30 p.m., March 18 Baseball – 5 p.m., March 21 Soccer – 5:30 p.m., March 21 North Oconee Tennis – 4 p.m., March 7 Baseball – 5:55 p.m., March 7 Tennis – 4 p.m., March 8 Soccer – 5:30 p.m., March 8 Baseball – 5:55 p.m., March 11 Tennis – 4 p.m., March 15 Tennis – 4 p.m., March 17 Tennis – 4 p.m., March 21 Oconee County Tennis – 4 p.m., March 3 Soccer – 5:55 p.m., March 8 Baseball – 5:55 p.m., March 8 Tennis – 4 p.m., March 10 Soccer – 5:30 p.m., March 15 Baseball – 5:55 p.m., March 15 Soccer – 2 p.m., March 19 Prince Avenue Christian Tennis – 4 p.m., March 3 Soccer – 5:30 p.m., March 3 Tennis – 4 p.m., March 7 Tennis – 4 p.m., March 8 Baseball – 5:55 p.m., March 8 Baseball – 5:55 p.m., March 11 Baseball – 5:55 p.m., March 18 Westminster Christian Baseball – 4 p.m., March 7 Soccer – 4 p.m., March 10 Baseball – 4 p.m., March 11 Soccer – 6 p.m., March 15

FROM STAFF REPORTS The Oconee Leader

Athens Academy has released James Banks from his duties as head coach of the varsity boys’ basketball team. James met with the team this past Friday afternoon to share the news. The school has begun a search for a new head coach.

Banks will continue in his longtime role as physical education teacher in the Lower and Middle Schools, where he has been and continues to be a valued faculty member. While details are still being worked out, it is likely that Banks will serve in additional roles within the athletic department during the 2016-2017 school year.

Banks has developed a solid program and is handing off a talented core ‘Banks’ Page 6

Please see

MATTHEW CALDWELL/Oconee Leader Head coach James Banks looks on during the Athens Academy basketball game against Washington-Wilkes in December. The school announced last week Banks would not return as head coach of the boys’ varsity basketball team.

Page 5

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Oconee County football’s Davis signs with Butler Community College, Laguins with Georgia, Noland with Iowa State

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Region champions sending three to play college football

BY MATTHEW CALDWELL The Oconee Leader

Even though high school football season ended in November for the Oconee County Warriors, the good news kept coming for the Region 8-AAA champions.

Quarterback Zeb Noland, who committed to Appalachian State originally, graduated from Oconee in December and enrolled at Iowa State to play on the Cyclones’ football team.

Linebacker Jaleel Laguins, who originally committed to the University of Georgia in August, reaffirmed his commitment to UGA on National Signing Day. In mid-February, running back Tyler Davis signed with Butler Community College, a junior college with a long history of sending players to the Division I level.

“It is an honor for this program and this community to be able to have that caliber of players. Football games are won by a lot of teamwork and togetherness.

These guys did a good job of using their ability to give the other guys confidence in how they can play,” said head coach Travis Noland.

Davis isn’t the first Warrior to end up at Butler. Zach Mettenberger led the Grizzlies to an 111 record in 2010 before transferring to LSU. He is now in the NFL. “People don’t realize this is a huge stepping stone to get an opportunity to play in that program.

There are a lot of SEC players, Big Ten players, Big 12 players that come out of Butler. We are excited for (Davis) and we know he will represent our program well,” Noland said. “He has worked hard and done a lot to give himself this opportunity. He was a little behind academically

Tyler Davis with family

when he came here but he is not far off from qualifying. Since he didn’t qualify, this is the best opportunity for him. This is, in my mind, the same as signing a Division I when you get to go to a program that has the tradition and pedigree that they do out there.”

Davis said this was his first year playing at the running back position in high school. He said at first he was a little surprised he was going to be playing the position in college but credits Coach Noland for putting him in the position.

“I always had athletic ability.

Now that I have the chance, I can believe it because Coach Noland put me in a position where I could prove myself,” Davis said. “It is a big relief (to sign) but then again, I feel accomplished because I am going to college. Not everyone has this opportunity.

“I’ve got a good relationship with (offensive coordinator) Coach (Zach) Rampy. We talk every now and then. He checks in so I felt like that was the best fit.”

He said it has always been a

goal to play college football. He said his goal at Butler is to keep up the success he had.

“I was always ready for the big stage but now, I am at Butler to have an opportunity to play at the big stage,” Davis said. “I’ll probably transfer to a bigger school and get to the league from there.

“Thank you to Oconee County community for supporting us. I am thankful for my mom and God.” Laguins described National Signing Day as “crazy.” He said most of it was spent on Twitter following who was signing where. He officially signed with UGA soon after 5 p.m.

“I kind of had a good idea of who we were brining in as a class and I knew that class would be special,” Laguins said. “I knew if we could get one more key player in this class, this could be one of the top recruiting classes.”

Laguins said he was just as happy for Zeb Noland and Davis as he was for himself.

“It means so much for Zeb to

Jaleel Laguins with family

Zeb Noland

continue his college career. It means a lot to me that Tyler is getting to continue his because I knew how hungry he was and he wanted a chance. When he finally got it, I felt like I got my first offer all over again,” Laguins said. “I felt the same way for Zeb.

I felt so good for these boys so they can continue their career. I can see how much they work for it and how much time and dedication they put into it. It means so much to me that they are getting to continue their football career.”

Thursday, March 3, 2016

‘OCHS Fricks’

parents and players who have gone on made the contribution,” Fricks said. “It is a lot of work from people who have contributed in the past. Some of them are sitting over there in the stands and they keep coming back.

This has been a process to get this park the way it is. It has been fun to see it happen over the years.”

Following the ceremony, Fricks got to spend some time talking with Veterans head coach David Coffey, now the head coach at Veterans and who got his coaching career started at Oconee County in 2005.

“It was a very emotional day for a lot of people, myself included. This is where I cut my teeth as a young coach. I will always be very appreciative to Coach Fricks for that opportunity,” Coffey said. “I am originally from Perry. I went to Georgia and played at Georgia. Coach Fricks said, ‘Hey, if you want, come out and coach with us.’ The next thing you know, I am a Warrior.”

Veterans was one of the schools invited to play in Diamond Day because of Coffey’s connection to Fricks. Coffey said it meant “the world to me” to be able to attend.

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Continued from Page 4

Titans take down Gladiators, Lady Titans tie to remain unbeaten

Page 6

MATTHEW CALDWELL/Oconeee Leader

Stan Fricks visits with head coach Tom Gooch and Veterans head coach David Coffey following the Warriors’ game against Veterans last Saturday. Coffey was an assistant coach at Oconee County in 2005.

“I think the world of Coach Fricks,” Coffey said. “He is a great man, a great educator, a great person. Everybody has been blessed to have the opportunity to know him. To have the opportunity to see him and hug him and tell him what everybody thinks, it means a lot to everybody.”

Coffey said Arrowhead Park “looks amazing” because of the changes it has gone through since Coffey coached at the school.

“This whole place has changed dramatically,” Coffey said. “I tip my hat to Coach Fricks and the school system. Everything looks awesome. It looks amazing.”

Fricks was presented his jersey, now framed, as well as the plaque for last year’s Region 8-AAA championship and jersey patches for the team advancing to the Elite Eight.

Fricks, who was in attendance when the Warriors clinched the region championship last season, knew

‘Banks’

going into last season they had a group capable of doing special things.

“We knew last year was going to be a very good team,” Fricks said. “We had several college signees. A lot of people have forgotten that one of the players we were counting on to have a really good year was Noah Mejias’s brother. He had labrum surgery and he batted, but the year before he was our best pitcher. We knew even though we had a lot of sophomores playing, we had enough seniors that we were going to be pretty good. Unfortunately we ran into Blessed Trinity. You just can’t beat the private schools or city schools. It is not a level playing field for public schools like us.”

Said Gooch, “I wanted to make sure he got his region plaque and region patches.

Our focus last year was a rallying cry to do it for Coach Fricks. It meant a lot for him to be here and get what he deserved.”

group of young players. According to Head of School John Thorsen, “James is looking forward to his continued work with all of us and very much appreciates the support of his colleagues.”

Banks joined Athens Academy in 1999 and initially served as head coach of the JV girls’ basketball team. He assumed the role of head

MATTHEW CALDWELL/Oconee Leader

The North Oconee Titans handed Clarke Central its first loss of the season last Friday night with a 2-0 victory. The Titans improved to 4-3 overall this season and Clarke Central dropped to 3-1-1. Brooks Reeves (pictured above, No. 9) had a goal in the first half and Jack Rinkowski (pictured above, No. 10) had a goal in the second half. The Lady Titans ended their game with Clarke Central in a 0-0 tie. They entered this week with a 5-0-1 overall record. Pictured below is Lady Titan junior Claire Booz. North Oconee opened region play earlier this week against Chestatee.

They will host Buford on March 8.

coach of the varsity boys’ team in 2006 and was named Northeast Georgia Boys’ High School Basketball Coach of the Year by the Athens Banner-Herald in 2009.

“The Boys Basketball program is transitioning its leadership,” said athletic director Kevin Petroski.

“We are all proud of the work that James has done and continues to do

with students at Athens Academy.

We look forward to the continued growth and development of our program and appreciate the support of the Spartan Community.”

Banks was a star player under Coach Hugh Durham at UGA from 1981-84 and was instrumental in the program’s trip to the Final Four in 1983. Along the way he was

Continued from Page 4

named the NCAA East Regional MVP as a result of UGA’s 82-77 victory over Michael Jordan and the University of North Carolina.

Banks was a third-round draft pick by the Philadelphia 76ers, and he went on to play 11 successful professional basketball seasons in Europe before returning to the U.S. in 1998.

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PR OFESSIONAL

Serving Athens since 1989

Oconee County’s trusted source for plumbers, handymen, and more!

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LOADER WORK & BOBCAT WORK Underbrush Cutting, Gravel and Asphalt Driveways, Lot Clearing, Backyard Grading, Bush-hogging, Landscaping-Seed, Drainage Fill Dirt, Top-Soil, Sink Hole Fill In, Tree Removal, Retaining Walls, Demolition & Backhoe Work 770-945-2488

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Thursday, March 3, 2016

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