Macon Sports Hall of Fame set to induct a class covering a wide spectrum

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          From a softball player at FPD in her mid 30s to a Lanier grad still getting after it in his 90s, the Macon Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025 certainly covers a spectrum.

          Five high schools – four current, one past – and representatives of football, basketball, baseball, softball, target shooting, and officiating, as well as a college football national champion and former basketball players at Kentucky and Mississippi State will join some former teammates and coaches and rivals at the latest induction ceremony.

          The 10-member class will be inducted Tuesday in a ceremony that begins at 6 p.m. at the Macon Coliseum. For ticket information, contact Hall chairman Theron Ussery at 478-747-8544.

          Longtime Bibb County schools facilities supervisor Hezekiah Jackson – and father of Westside grad and NFL safety Kareem Jackson – is the Bobby Pope Service to Sports Award winner. The former football player at Ballard-Hudson, Central and Savannah State has worked in the county school system since 1982, while also working as a personal trainer and at the Well Ministry at Greater Bellevue Baptist Church.

          The 1979 Northeast girls track team will be honored. Led by legendary head coach Alvin Copeland (Macon SHOF inductee 2004), the 1979 title started a run, led by Brenda Cliette-Thomas (Georgia Sports Hall of Fame inductee 2019). Northeast won titles in 1982, 1986, 2002-2004.

          Here are the bios, as provided by the Hall (with editing):

Marty Allman

          Allman excelled in both football and basketball at Lanier, receiving scholarship offers for both. He chose basketball and played alongside the legendary Pistol Pete Maravich at LSU. Once his playing days ended, he turned his talents to coaching and spent many years teaching on the court and in the classroom. He dove head-first into coaching profession and led teams to several championships.

He spent more than 25 years on the sidelines at several schools, including River North, Tattnall, Barnesville Academy and John Milledge. During his career, he coached teams to nine region titles, five Final Four berths, and a state championship at Barnesville Academy in 1982, earning a Coach of the Year honor six times during his career.

          He joins his sister Janet Allman and brother-in-law Jeff Battcher as inductees in the Macon Sports Hall of Fame.

Johnny Crawford

          Crawford started his athletic career as a member of the Central Chargers football team, earning three varsity letters, including as a member of the Chargers’ GHSA Class AAA state championship team under head coach Gene Brodie that defeated Douglas High in 1975.

          Once his playing days ended, Crawford headed to the sidelines as a referee. His journey started on the high school field after an invitation from Rusty Wynn. Crawford spent 12 seasons on the high school level as a head line judge before transitioning to college.

          Crawford started his climb up the collegiate ladder with four seasons in the Gulf South Conference before moving up to the Southern Conference. He caught the eye of the Southeastern Conference, and spent 22 years working for the nation’s top conference before retiring a few years ago. Crawford was part of the crew working the very first BCS semifinal, with Oregon and Florida State in the Rose Bowl, also doing a Clemson-Texas Cotton Bowl semifinal.

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Randy Crawford

          Crawford drew the attention of legendary coach Alvin Copeland while Copeland was just starting his coaching career and Crawford was a student at Appling Junior High. Copeland was a father figure to Crawford and started taking him to coaching clinics. He eventually joined Copeland on the bench for the Northeast girls basketball team and was a part of five state title teams, starting in 1975 and running through 2002.

          He found he enjoyed working with young people and started coaching in the Middle Georgia Youth League at Memorial Park Gym where he won several championships during a 15-year career. He also coached girls cross country at Northeast and helped guide the boys and girls golf teams to four region championships.

          In addition to his coaching duties and holding down a full-time job at Brown and Williamson, Crawford also found time to earn his referee certification and spent 15 years refereeing in the Middle Georgia Basketball Association, frequently sharing the court with his twin brother Ricky.

Kevin DeMichiel

          A keen eye and a steady hand helped guide DeMichiel to the top of his field. He was introduced to hunting and a love of the outdoors by his father at an early age. He was 22 when a friend introduced him to skeet shooting, and he soon excelled. DeMichiel piled up many awards, including: Georgia state champion, U.S. Open champion, South Central Regional and Western Regional champion, national 12 gauge all-around champion, and National FITASC Champion. That type of marksmanship earned DeMichiel All- America status along with a spot in the Georgia Sporting Clays Hall of Fame and membership on Team USA where he became captain.

Morgan Johnson Faulk

          Johnson dominated on the high school and college softball diamond, first helping lead FPD to the 2007 GISA state championship under head coach Jimmy Turner, earning All-Region and All-State honors.

          Her performance earned her a scholarship to Valdosta State. She helped the Blazers win consecutive Gulf Coast Conference championships, and a national championship in 2012. Helping cement her VSU legacy: two-time All-Gulf South, two-time academic All-Gulf South, and 2013 All-America, as well as the Valdosta State Community Service Student-Athlete Award for her work in the community.. She also won the Gulf South Commissioner’s Trophy twice, one of only a handful of players to be so honored.

          The 2009 FPD graduate, married to 2007 FPD grad Logan Faulk, was also inducted into the Valdosta State Hall of Fame and the Gulf South Conference Hall of Fame.

Marcus Grant

          Macon has produced many outstanding basketball players and Marcus Grant’s name certainly belongs among the city’s shining stars.

          Grant first made a name for himself on the Central boys basketball team, earning a scholarship to Mississippi State to play for the Bulldogs as one of head coach Richard Williams’ first notable signees. Grant started for three seasons at Mississippi State and was valuable in all phases. He scored nearly 1,000 points, grabbed nearly 400 rebounds and dished out almost 300 assists.  He was a co-captain his final two seasons with the Bulldogs and earned All-SEC Academic honors three times.

          He helped the Bulldogs win two games in the 1995 NCAA Tournament, earning a spot in the Sweet Sixteen. He also won the prestigious Babe McCarthy Memorial Award for his all-around contributions to the Mississippi State Bulldog basketball program.

          Grant continued playing after finishing at MSU in 1995, in the United States Basketball League and then with teams in Finland, Germany, Portugal, and France, for nearly a decade. He then started a coaching career that has included stops at Mississippi State (2004-12), Troy (2012-19) and Western Kentucky (2019-23). Grant is currently associate director for The Bulldog Initiative, an NIL-related business in Starkville helping MSU athletes and NIL opportunities.

Eric Manuel

          Manuel grew up in a basketball-crazy community, where his part of town bled Southwest red and blue, led by Don “Duck” Richardson. Manuel was among the list of elite players who went through Southwest.  At 6-6, he played forward, but was versatile enough to play guard, where was extremely unselfish and made sure his teammates were involved in the offense.

          He played substantial minutes on the Patriots’ 1985 state championship team, elevating his game drastically as a senior, averaging 24 points and 11 rebounds, earning honors galore, including Mr. Georgia Basketball, Gatorade State Player of the Year, Parade All-American, McDonald’s All-American, and USA Today All-American.

          Manuel went on to earn All-SEC freshman honors at the Kentucky, but became involved in an academic issue and transferred to Hiwassee College in Tennessee before finishing his collegiate career leading Oklahoma City University to consecutive NAIA national championships in 1991 and 1992, earning tournament MVP honors in 1991 and joining that school’s hall of fame in 1999.. He works at a notable mental health clinic in Oklahoma City.

Gene Pollard

          Pollard’s love of sports and competition started early and led him to the baseball diamond, where he earned all-state honors while helping Lanier to a state championship in his senior season. That led to a six-year minor-league career that included two seasons with the hometown Macon Peaches when he was 17. He batted over .340 in the Georgia State League and followed that up with a .312 average a year later in the Florida State League.

          He transitioned into coaching, with several successful seasons at Shurlington-Cross Keys Little League. An off-the-field highlight of his career was when then-Vice-President Al Gore flew to Macon to honor him with an American Flag when he retired from the federal government.

          Pollard’s desire to continue competing resulted in his quest to remain physically active, and he still does hundreds of pushups every day into his 90s.

Jimmy Seward

          Seward earned legendary status as one of the finest athletes to come out of Lanier, starting on the Poets football team as a sophomore in 1959, then serving as captain. He also lettered in basketball and track at Lanier, but it was on the football field where he really stood out, racking up All-State and All-South honors his senior year, as well as honorable mention All-American.

          He earned a scholarship to Georgia Tech and played next to future Tech head coach Bill Curry and under legendary Bobby Dodd. The Jackets won at least seven games all three seasons Seward started, including 7-3 his senior year.

          Seward also enjoyed playing golf and was known for his ability to hit the ball a long way off the tee. In 1983 he won the longest drive at a golf tournament in Alabama, reportedly outdriving PGA champ John Daly for the long drive trophy.

Jeremy Wiggins

          Wiggins combined talent with hard work and determination to earn varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball and track at Northeast. Wiggins’ forte was in football, where he lettered all four years while racking up over 200 tackles and 17 interceptions from his spot in the secondary. He was equally proficient on offense, scoring 36 touchdowns and piling up over 2,500 all-purpose yards. Those numbers helped Jeremy earn multiple honors including All-Middle Georgia, All-Region and All-State accolades.

          He became a defender in college at Appalachian State, and was a dominant force, piling up 380 tackles with eight interceptions for the two-time Division I-AA national champions earning All-Southern Conference honors three times and All-America honors in 2005 and 2006.

          His love of football led Wiggins into coaching where he learned under Carror Wright and Bruce Mullen. In seven seasons as head coach at Northeast, he has elevated the Raiders to one of the top teams in the state in their classification, reaching the GHSA Class A/Division I championship game in 2024, the first time a Bibb County public high school has gone that far since the 1975 Central state champ.