58 years later, Georgia high school basketball team receives state championship rings

The surviving members from a 1965 high school basketball state championship team in Alpharetta are receiving new praise — and rings.

The former Bailey-Johnson School was segregated 58 years ago when the basketball team defeated then-Ralph J. Bunche High School, a Black school in Canton, to win the championship game, 67-64.

Seven players from the team were surrounded by a boisterous, standing-room crowd of family and friends during a presentation of the rings at Monday’s Alpharetta City Council meeting.

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Credit: Jenni Girtman

“I will point out that this is Alpharetta’s first state champions in basketball,” said Recreation, Parks & Cultural Services director Morgan Rodgers, with the enthusiasm of a sports broadcaster. “Now understand, I didn’t say this is the first Black basketball team in Alpharetta to win a championship. I said, the first team to win a championship!”

The men receiving rings — James Emerson, Charles Leroy Grogan, Larry Strickland, Jimmy Taylor, Almond Martin, Melvin Peters and David Tayler — are now in their 70s. Eugene Snow, 79, who played for Bailey-Johnson but was not on the championship team, also received a ring for his role as a mentor.

Credit: Courtesy Charles Leroy Grogan

Five former players and Coach Jerry D. Hobbs have passed away. The deceased players are Arthur Manning, Aubrey Manning, Claude McCann, Willie Brown and Larry Wells.

“I want people to understand that we’re not owed this but we’re deserving of it,” Martin, 75, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Rings were not given for high school championships in 1965, the players have said.

Lamar Jones, John Coen and Tom Bower gifted the rings. The three are lifelong friends who grew up with Bailey-Johnson team members and attended Roswell High School, a school of all white students during segregation.

Jones said Martin, and other members of the team, taught him basketball skills as a kid on the playground of the former Roswell Elementary School.

“We bonded on and off the courts,” Jones said. “...These are some special guys ... To see them enjoy this, it means a lot.”

More than 100 supporters turned out at the meeting to celebrate the men. Ann Strickland, 92, the mother of Larry Strickland, was recognized by Rodgers as the most longtime, dedicated fan.

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Bailey-Johnson School started in 1950 as the Alpharetta Colored School on Kimball Bridge Road, and served Black students in north Fulton.

Pat Miller, president emeritus of the Alpharetta and Old Milton Historical Society, told the crowd that before 1950 Black students in north Fulton didn’t have easy options for education after 7th grade. Parents had to either enroll their children in private school or an Atlanta school — which was logistically difficult since most people had limited transportation options.

The Alpharetta Colored School’s name was changed to Bailey-Johnson School in 1953. The school was named after George Bailey, a blacksmith and shop owner, and Warren Johnson, a former slave and advocate for the education of Black children.

The 4.4-acre school campus closed in 1968, and in recent years was used as a maintenance facility for Fulton County Public Schools.

It’s now being redeveloped into a $75 million, 160,000 square-foot modern office space. Builder KB Ventures plans to honor the property’s previous use as a historic Black school.

Last year Grogan, a 76-year-old historian, provided the developer with more than 600 photos of students engaging in activities. The photos will be used to honor the site’s history. And “Garren,” the moniker of the new office complex, is a nod to the first names of Bailey and Johnson.

At the conclusion of Monday’s presentation, Mayor Jim Gilvin said Alpharetta wants to remember its history, the good and the bad, and celebrate such accomplishments as the championship win of the 1964-1965 Bailey-Johnson basketball team.

“This is a special night,” Gilvin said. “It’s not often we get to celebrate like this in these chambers.”