Frazier, Smart, Newton among 30 additions to Hall of Fame ballot
NBA legend Walt Frazier, Georgia football coach Kirby Smart and former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL MVP Cam Newton were among the 30 players added to the ballot for the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame last week.
Frazier, a two-time NBA champion and a 1987 inductee into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, was a star quarterback for Atlanta’s Howard High in the early 1960s before the Georgia High School Association was integrated.
The Atlanta World, a Black-owned newspaper, called Frazier the city’s best quarterback his 1962 senior season and reported that he had signed to play football for Indiana. Frazier said that he instead chose to play college basketball because there were no Black quarterbacks in the NFL or AFL.
Frazier went to Southern Illinois and became a seven-time All-Star, with NBA titles in 1970 and 1973 with the New York Knicks. Frazier, who turned 80 this year, remains a color commentator on Knicks telecasts.
Smart was the best player on a Bainbridge High football team that reached the state semifinals in the highest class in 1993. Smart was a first-team all-state defensive back credited with eight interceptions in his junior and senior seasons. He became an All-SEC safety at Georgia.
Newton was a five-star quarterback recruit who led Westlake to playoff victories in 2005 and 2006. He took Auburn to the 2010 national title and the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2016.
To be eligible for the Georgia Hall of Fame, players can no longer be playing. Though inactive since 2021, Newton only recently indicated he would not play football again.
The 30 additions refreshed the ballot to 100 players after 30 were inducted last year.
Other notable ballot additions are former Georgia Tech stars Josh Nesbitt (Greene County) and Keith Brooking (East Coweta) and former Georgia stars Lindsay Scott (Wayne County) and Freddie Gilbert (Griffin).
Below are the 30 additions and the 70 returning members of the ballot.
New on the ballot (senior season in parentheses):
L Ray Beck, Cedartown (1947)
E Jack Rudolph, Grady (1954)
RB Jimmy Barefield, Waynesboro (1955)
WR/DB Willie Williams, Archer (1960)
QB Walt Frazier, Howard (1963)
QB Walt Sumner, Irwin County (1964)
QB Paul Gilbert, Athens (1965)
LB/RB Keith Harris, Woodward Academy (1970)
WR Danny Buggs, Avondale (1970)
RB Ed Guthrie, Wheeler (1975)
OL Ben Utt, Vidalia (1976)
WR Lindsay Scott, Wayne County (1977)
WR Willie Gault, Griffin (1978)
DL Freddie Gilbert, Griffin (1979)
RB Ben Logue, North Springs (1981)
OL Steve Wallace, Chamblee (1981)
OL Harris Barton, Dunwoody (1981)
DL Henry Harris, Columbia (1982)
P Chris Gardocki, Redan (1987)
RB Robert Edwards, Washington County (1992)
DB Kirby Smart, Bainbridge (1993)
LB Keith Brooking, East Coweta (1993)
DB Carlos Rogers, Butler (1999)
LB Daryl Smith, Dougherty (1999)
QB Chansi Stuckey, Northside-Warner Robins (2001)
LB Wesley Woodyard, LaGrange (2003)
QB Cam Newton, Westlake (2006)
QB Josh Nesbitt, Greene County (2006)
DB/RB Greg Reid, Lowndes (2008)
QB Blake Sims, Gainesville (2009)
Returning to ballot:
E Tom Nash, Washington-Wilkes (1922)
FB Johnny “Stumpy” Thomason, Tech (Atlanta) (1924)
RB Jack “The Ripper” Roberts, Albany (1927)
HB Bill Paschal, Tech (Atlanta) (1939)
B Jack Peek, Tech (Atlanta) (1945)
B Bobby North, Tech (Atlanta) (1946)
E John Carson, Roosevelt (1948)
B Max Mason, Rockmart (1950)
B Milton Byard, Risley (Brunswick) (1950)
HB Johnny Menger, Richmond Academy (1952)
L Ken Rice, Bainbridge (1956)
L Phil Ashe, Stone Mountain (1956)
L Pete Case, Decatur (1957)
QB John Henry Jackson, Spencer (1957)
RB Jimmy Burson, LaGrange (1958)
WR/DB Frank Pitts, Archer (1960)
RB Marvin Hurst, Waycross (1961)
QB Kim King, Brown (1962)
RB Giles Smith, Valdosta (1962)
G/LB Wallace Davis, Spencer (1962)
DB Ken Ellis, Bunche (Camden County) (1965)
WR Billy Brice, Avondale (1966)
QB Bobby Scott, Rossville (1966)
RB Brent Cunningham, Putnam County (1967)
QB/RB Dennis Chadwick, Decatur (1967)
RB Doyle Orange, Waycross (1969)
RB Isaac Jackson, Lanier-Macon (1969)
L Henry Childs, Douglass-Thomasville (1969)
QB Stan Bounds, Valdosta (1971)
DE Reggie Wilkes, Southwest Atlanta (1973)
RB Runt Moon, Commerce (1973)
L Mack Guest, Central (Macon) (1974)
OL Robert Shaw, Wheeler (1974)
LB Chip Banks, Laney (1977)
QB Jim Bob Harris, Clark Central (1977)
L Lee North, Shamrock (1977)
QB Gordon Beckham Jr., Westminster (1978)
DB Joey Browner, Southwest Atlanta (1978)
RB Ricky Williams, Griffin (1978)
RB Cedric Jones, Lowndes (1980)
LB/RB Knox Culpepper, Lovett (1980)
RB David McCluskey, West Rome (1982)
QB James Jackson, Mitchell-Baker (1983)
QB Vince Sutton, LaGrange (1983)
RB Terry Allen, Banks County (1985)
DL John Johnson, LaGrange (1986)
LB Curt Douglas, Lincoln County (1987)
LB/DL Coleman Rudolph, Valdosta (1988)
OL Clay Shiver, Tift County (1990)
LB Dexter Daniels, Valdosta (1991)
RB Robert Toomer, Worth County (1991)
QB Rodney Hudson, LaGrange (1992)
DL Travis Stroud, Dunwoody (1993)
OL Cosey Coleman, Southwest DeKalb (1995)
RB Patrick Pass, Tucker (1995)
L Curt McGill, Brookwood (1996)
RB Jasper Sanks, Carver-Columbus (1996)
QB Fabian Walker, Americus (1998)
RB Daccus Turman, Washington-Wilkes (2000)
DL Kedric Golston, Sandy Creek (2001)
LB Sam Olajubutu, LaGrange (2001)
OL Chris Scott, Lovejoy (2004)
OL Duke Robinson, Washington (2004)
DL Jermaine Cunningham, Stephenson (2005)
DB Reshad Jones, Washington (2005)
WR Tavarres King, Habersham Central (2007)
DL Abry Jones, Northside-Warner Robins (2008)
RB/LB Jonathan Davis, Tucker (2008)
RB Isaiah Crowell, Carver-Columbus (2010)
OL Mitch Hyatt, North Gwinnett (2014)