Former Southwest DeKalb football coach Buck Godfrey and former Greater Atlanta Christian basketball coach Jackie Bradford are among the eight selectees for the 2023 Georgia Sports Hall of Fame announced Tuesday.
Others are former Georgia football coach Mark Richt, former Braves players Andruw Jones and Ron Reed, former Georgia Tech football player Shawn Jones, former Braves and Hawks executive Stan Kasten and former Georgia tennis player Al Parker.
Godfrey won 273 games, the most in DeKalb County Schools history, while at Southwest DeKalb from 1983 to 2012. His 1995 team featuring Quincy Carter won a Class 4A championship. Godfrey also has the most victories among African American football coaches in state history.
Bradford was GAC’s coach from 1968 to 1982 and compiled a 253-82 record with three state championships. Bradford has been heavily involved with the Atlanta Tipoff Club, joining its board of directors in 1971 and serving as president and executive director from 1975 to 2004. He was instrumental in bringing notoriety to the Naismith Awards that have honored men’s college players of the year since 1969 and women’s players of the year since 1983.
Shawn Jones also made the hall of fame partly based on his high school career. He was a first-team all-state quarterback at Thomasville in 1987 and the starting quarterback on Georgia Tech’s 1990 UPI national championship team.
The induction will take place Feb. 24-25 with ceremonies at the Hall of Fame site and the Macon City Auditorium.
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