Hall of Fame basketball coach A.C. McCullers dies at 76

Funeral services will be held Friday in McDonough for A.C. McCullers, a GACA Hall of Fame basketball coach who won more than 900 games and led Morrow’s girls team to four state championships. McCullers died Tuesday after suffering a stroke. He was 76.

McCullers is best known for his time at Morrow from 1974-99. His teams captured state titles in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1993, all in the GHSA’s highest classification, and once won 86 consecutive games.

A.C. McCullers died June 20, 2023, at age 76. The Hall of Fame coach, best known for his time at Morrow High in Clayton County, won more than 900 games and four state titles.

McCullers coached eight high school All-Americans and 62 players who played in college on scholarship.

Among those was Mary Beth Lycett, the AJC’s 1999 all-classification girls player of the year who played at Georgia and is the wife of Georgia football coach Kirby Smart. Others were Stephanie Lawrence, the AJC’s 1991 all-class player of the year, and Dawn Smith, both part of the 1989-93 dynasty at Georgia Tech.

McCullers left Morrow to coach Clayton State’s women’s team from 1999-2004. He finished his career at Strong Rock Christian. He also coached at Union Grove and North Whitfield.

An Alabama native, McCullers played football at Tennessee-Chattanooga in the 1960s. He was a basketball floor marshal for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He also coached football, track and field and golf during his high school career.