CLASS OF 2001
TERESA EDWARDS
Teresa Edwards grew up in Cairo and was a star basketball player for the Cairo High School Syrupmakers. She was the Atlanta Journal & Constitution’s female player of the year in her senior year in 1982. She played basketball collegiately at the University of Georgia where she was a three-time All-SEC selection and a two time All-American while leading the Lady Bulldogs to three SEC titles and two final four appearances. She was one of the greatest players in Georgia Women’s basketball history and her number 5 was retired. Edwards made make 5 trips to the Olympics as a member of the U.S. Women’s basketball team, winning 4 Gold Medals. After college she played professionally in the ABA and the WNBA, as well as internationally. She has also served as a coach for multiple professional teams.
KENT HILL
Kent Angelo Hill was raised in Americus where he was a dominating high school athlete. He signed a scholarship to play football at Georgia Tech and continued his football domination as a lineman for the Yellow Jackets. He was selected Los Angeles Rams in the first round of the 1979 NFL draft. He started as a rookie at guard for the NFC Champion Rams and played in Super Bowl XIV after the 1979 season. Hill played for nine seasons in the NFL for the Rams and the Houston Oilers. He was selected to play in the Pro Bowl five times. After his playing career, he served as Director of Student-Athlete Development at Tech from 1989 to 1998. He also pursued his love of cooking and created Kent’s Country Cookies which were an all-natural gourmet cookie.
EVANDER HOLYFIELD
Evander Holyfield was born in Atmore, Alabama and raised in the Atlanta area. He took up boxing a teenager, and as an amateur, he won the National Golden Gloves Championship and a Bronze Medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics as Heavyweight. He reigned as undisputed cruiserweight championship in the 1980s and then decided to bulk up and challenge the heavyweight division in 1988. He defeated Buster Douglas in 1990 to claim the unified WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles and the undisputed heavyweight championship. He successfully defended his titles three times, scoring victories over former champions George Foreman and Larry Holmes, before suffering his first professional loss to Riddick Bowe in 1992. Holyfield regained the crown in a rematch one year later, defeating Bowe. He claimed two heavily publicized bouts against Mike Tyson, who was disqualified in the second fight for biting off part of Holyfield's ear. Evander finished his professional career with 44 wins, 10 losses, two draws, and one no contest. His 44 wins included 29 knockouts.
ANGEL MYERS MARTINO
Angel Myers-Martino was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and grew up in Americus. She attended Furman University where she swam for the Furman Paladins swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition. Angel was a seven-time NCAA Champion and four-time All-American. She was a standout in international competition. In two Summer Olympic Games (1992 & 1996), she captured three Gold and 3 Bronze Medals. In addition to her six Olympic medals, she won twelve Pan Pacific medals and seven Goodwill Games Gold Medals. She was a captain of the 1996 U.S. Olympic women’s swim team. She is considered one of the greatest women swimmers of all time and has been a successful coach and promoter of the sport of swimming since her competitive swimming career ended.
JIM WILSON
Gwen James “Big Jim” Wilson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and played football at the University of Georgia. He made All-SEC and was a consensus All-American for the Georgia Bulldogs in 1964. That same year, he was named the Most Valuable Lineman in the 1964 Sun Bowl game and played in the 1965 College All-Star game and the Senior Bowl. Coach Vince Dooley gave Wilson credit for reestablishing Georgia as a winning program in 1964. Wilson was drafted in the 1965 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers and made the NFL All-Rookie team that same year. He also played professionally for the Atlanta Falcons in 1967 before spending three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams.
MIKE WILSON
Mike “Moon Pie” Wilson grew up in Norfolk, Virginia and made his way to the University of Georgia, where he was an All-SEC and All-American at offensive tackle and help lead the Bulldogs to the 1976 SEC Championship. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1977 NFL Draft but instead signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian league where he was a CFL All-Star in his rookie season. But the following season he would sign with Cincinnati. For each of his next seven seasons with the Bengals, he did not miss a game, starting all but one. He was a key member of the 1982 Bengals team that made it to Super Bowl XVI. He finished his NFL career playing four more seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.