17 former UGA, Tech stars headline 2024 high school hall of fame class

Nine former Georgia players and eight from Georgia Tech are among the 30 selected for this year’s Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame inductions. Voting results among the hall’s 40 board members were released Wednesday morning.

From Georgia, Hutson Mason of Lassiter, Alec Ogletree of Newnan, David Greene of South Gwinnett, Leonard Pope of Americus and Thomas Davis of Randolph-Clay – all from the coach Mark Richt era – made the cut.

Other former Georgia players elected were Mount de Sales’ Ben Zambiasi and Cedartown’s Edgar Chandler, who played for Vince Dooley, and Wayne County’s Len Hauss and Fitzgerald’s Lauren Hargrove from the 1940s and 1950s. Each led their high school teams to state championships.

Headlining Georgia Tech’s contingent are Jonathan Dwyer of Kell and the late Demaryius Thomas of West Laurens, who were teammates on coach Paul Johnson’s 2009 ACC championship team.

Also from Tech are Thomas County Central’s Joe Burns from the 1990s, Thomson’s Jerry Mays and Cartersville’s Robert Lavette from the 1980s, Americus’s Kent Hill from the 1970s, Decatur’s Frank Broyles from the 1940s and Riverside Military’s Everett Strupper, the star runner of Tech’s 1917 national championship team. Broyles, better known as the College Football Hall of Famer for his time at Arkansas, was perhaps the state’s best three-sport high school athlete when he graduated in 1942. He chose a coaching career over professional football and basketball opportunities.

Another state school, Morris Brown, which shut down its football program in 2003, remarkably had three former players make it, all high school stars from the 1960s. They are Johnson-Savannah’s George Atkinson, Ballard-Hudson’s Tommy Hart and Hogansville’s Alfred Jenkins. Each had long NFL careers. Jenkins went on to become the Falcons’ all-time leading receiver as Steve Bartkowski’s favorite target.

Atkinson and Hart were among four selections who played in the Georgia Interscholastic Association, the governing body for African-American schools during segregation. The other two were quarterbacks Silas Jamison of Washington and Jack Pitts of Trinity in Decatur. Both led teams to state titles. Pitts, who signed with Michigan State in 1966, was called a catalyst for SEC football integration.

Other members of the 2024 class are LaGrange’s Tray Blackmon, Dacula’s Terry Harvey, Fulton’s David Rocker, Griffin’s Jessie Tuggle, Dalton’s Bill Mayo, Cedar Shoals’ Homer Jordan, Chamblee’s Andy Spiva and Roswell’s Jeff Bower.

Though pro and college accomplishments seem to boost players’ chances, their high school careers are primary. Thirteen of this year’s 30 picks won high school state championships. Mason, Blackmon and Burns were all-classification high school players of the year. Mason was the first Georgia high school quarterback to throw for more than 4,000 yards in a season.

Induction will take place Oct. 26 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Score Atlanta, a sports marketing company, administers the high school hall of fame, which inducted a 45-player class in 2022 and a 40-player class in 2023.

Everett Strupper ... Riverside Military ... Georgia Tech ... B ... 1913

Frank Broyles ... Decatur ... Georgia Tech ... B ... 1941

Lauren Hargrove ... Fitzgerald ... Georgia ... B ... 1948

Len Hauss ... Wayne County ... Georgia ... RB/LB ... 1959

Alfred Jenkins ... Hogansville ... Morris Brown ... QB ... 1963

Edgar Chandler ... Cedartown ... Georgia ... L ... 1963

Silas Jamison ... Washington ... N/A ... QB ... 1959

George Atkinson ... Johnson-Savannah ... Morris Brown ... B ... 1963

Tommy Hart ... Ballad-Hudson ... Morris Brown ... L ... 1963

Jack Pitts ... Trinity ... Michigan State ... QB ... 1965

Jeff Bower ... Roswell ... Southern Miss ... QB ... 1970

Andy Spiva ... Chamblee ... Tennessee ... LB ... 1972

Ben Zambiasi ... Mount de Sales ... Georgia ... RB/LB ... 1973

Kent Hill ... Americus ... Georgia Tech ... L ... 1974

Homer Jordan ... Cedar Shoals ... Clemson ... QB ... 1978

Bill Mayo ... Dalton ... Tennessee ... L ... 1980

Robert Lavette ... Cartersville ... Georgia Tech ... QB ... 1980

Jessie Tuggle ... Griffin ... Valdosta State ... LB ... 1982

Jerry Mays ... Thomson ... Georgia Tech ... RB ... 1984

David Rocker ... Fulton ... Auburn ... DL ... 1986

Terry Harvey ... Dacula ... N.C. State ... QB ... 1990

Joe Burns ... Thomas County Central ... Georgia Tech ... RB ... 1997

David Greene ... South Gwinnett ... Georgia ... QB ... 1999

Thomas Davis ... Randolph-Clay ... Georgia ... RB/DB ... 2000

Leonard Pope ... Americus ... Georgia ... TE ... 2001

Tray Blackmon ... LaGrange ... Auburn ... LB ... 2004

Demaryius Thomas ... West Laurens ... Georgia Tech ... WR ... 2005

Jonathan Dwyer ... Kell ... Georgia Tech ... RB ... 2006

Alec Ogletree ... Newnan ... Georgia ... DB/TE ... 2009

Hutson Mason ... Lassiter ... Georgia ... QB ... 2009