The calls start at daybreak and don’t end until Dan Maehlman goes to bed. The Jonesboro High basketball coach is never too far from a phone call from someone asking about M.J. Walker, the Cardinals’ McDonald’s All-American guard.

Maehlman said he gets calls daily from coaches of the five schools that Walker has on his list — Georgia Tech, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Ohio State and UCLA.

“The infamous question is, ‘Hey, what’s going on down there in Jonesboro?’” Maehlman said. “And you know they’re not asking, ‘How’s school going?’ or all that stuff. They’re basically saying in a nice way, ‘What’s M.J. going to do?’”

About the Author

Keep Reading

South Carolina State University head football coach Chennis Berry joined the team in 2023 after coaching at Benedict College, a historically Black college in Columbia, South Carolina. Last year, Berry's team saw its season end in heartbreak in the Celebration Bowl and this time, it ended in triumph with a 40-38 win. (Courtesy of South Carolina State Athletics)

Credit: South Carolina State University Athletics

Featured

A migrant farmworker harvests Vidalia onions at a farm in Collins, in 2011. A coalition of farmworkers, including one based in Georgia, filed suit last month in federal court arguing that cuts to H-2A wages will trigger a cut in the pay and standard of living of U.S. agricultural workers. (Bita Honarvar/AJC)

Credit: Bita Honarvar