Central Georgia Technical retains Titans nickname

With the upcoming merger of Middle Georgia Technical College – campus located in Warner Robins – and Central Georgia Technical College – campus located in Macon – on July 1, there were the inevitable questions of what would become of each school’s respective college basketball programs.

The school as a whole will be known as Central Georgia Technical College. Now it can be told, in terms of athletics, that the men’s and women’s basketball teams will carry the MGTC nickname of the “Titans” (CGTC was known as the Cougars) and compete in the NJCAA and the GCAA’s Division I level.

During the 2012-13 season, Middle Georgia Technical College basketball played in GCAA Division III for the first time and staged home games in a brand-new campus facility. This included the D-III postseason tournaments, which the Lady Titans team won.

Central Georgia Tech’s Cougars were in the D-I level, the men finishing at 10-21 and the ladies 24-7. Each team fell in the first round of their postseason tournaments, which were held in Macon.

Both Central Georgia Tech head coaches, Reco Dawson of the men and Fala Bullock of the women, are the ones who will lead the merged Titans programs. The 2013-14 schedule is yet to be completed, but home games will be split between the two campuses.

But it doesn’t stop with basketball. Beginning in the fall, CGTC will debut men’s and women’s cross country.

“We have a larger service area to pull from now,” said athletic director Rorie Bradley, referring to an area of 11 counties. “If anything, it builds our local brand more. Hopefully we’ll have some high school students and some middle school students grow up wanting to play basketball and run cross country for Central Georgia Tech. I think it’s phenomenal.”

The official announcement for the addition of cross country took place in April, and the first day for practice is Aug. 1. Bradley said the discussions of what to add to the athletic program began six months ago and it didn’t take long for the administration to move forward with the plan.

“This is the next step in growing the program,” he said. Already committed to be a part of this first team, according to Bradley, is recent Perry High graduate Ashley Collins. “We have some other kids who are in the process of determining whether they are going to sign or not, all local kids. If it works out, we may have one from each local high school in Houston and two or three from Bibb.”

As for retaining the mascot name of “Titans,” there was a student-body vote held where the choices were “Titans,” “Cougars” or any write-in selection.

“The students let their voice be heard, and the ‘Titans’ won,” said Bradley. “It was a closer margin than some people thought. I don’t know all of the write-in results.”

The school colors for the old MGTC Titans were blue and silver while CGTC used maroon and black. For the CGTC Titans, Bradley said they are going with a dark red, navy blue and silver, much like what the University of Arizona uses.

Dawson is a former assistant men’s basketball coach at both Georgia Southwestern State University and South Georgia Technical College in Americus. Last season was his first leading the Cougars, which meant a return home to Macon as he is a graduate and former player from Southwest High School.

“He understands college basketball and the local area,” said Bradley. “I think it’s important understanding Georgia junior college basketball. We have to recruit as much in-state talent as we can, and he has a good foundation for doing that.”

Bullock, a native Californian, will begin her third season in the program. She was a team captain and all-conference as a player at Northeastern State and was a Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman at Irvine Valley College. Her coaching experience comes from Midwestern State and Columbus State.

“She understands all levels,” said Bradley. “She’s done a great job of getting out in the community and expanding the program. We’re fortunate to have two outstanding basketball coaches.”

Bradley said the basketball team is a great way to “unite” the people of the two campuses. Twenty players from CGTC were able to move on to compete at four-year schools.

The staff does want to work through all the logistics of having two campuses in one school for the first year. Also, there is thought to what CGTC can add in terms of athletics in the future.

“We’ll definitely add another men’s and women’s sport,” said Bradley. “Nothing’s concrete. We’ll see how this year goes with cross country and basketball. As long as our enrollment stays at a steady pace, and as long as the student-body and administration are behind it … volleyball and soccer have been thrown around, so we could go in that direction.”

Bullock was at the Warner Robins campus gym conducting the first of three weeks in the CGTC youth basketball camp. There are two more weeks in July, (8-11 and 15-18), for boys and girls age 6-18. The cost is $65, and the focus is on skill development. Call 478-757-4363 for more information.

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