Clerkley and Linder leading the Houston County Hoops Revolution to Georgia State University

The news that Warner Robins High School senior forward and all-region selection Nelson Phillips verbally committed to play his college basketball for head coach Ron Hunter at Georgia State University came and went as fast as Nelson does on a fast break for the Demons. Never one to brag or loud talk about his accomplishments, Nelson made up his mind to play for the Panthers, an uptempo program in Atlanta, and move on with his school day. In a way his committing to play at Georgia State wasn’t all that big of a deal anymore. In fact it is starting to become the norm for Hunter and his staff. Middle Georgia and Houston County in particular is turning into a gold mine for the university’s basketball program. “It’s been a gold mine for us. The talent in Houston County is just as good as any in the metro [Atlanta] area, if not better,” said first-year assistant coach Sharman White one afternoon. White, the former multi-time state championship coach and state coach of the year at Miller Grove High School in Lithonia should know, “That’s what’s been great about it. It’s a place we can go to and see some natural raw talent that wants to be a part of something special.”

Two of the guys from Houston County White was speaking of were at a weightlifting session at the Georgia State University Sports Arena on Monday when I stopped by to talk about the recent uptick in Houston County players playing their college ball at the downtown Atlanta Sun Belt Conference powerhouse program that will forever be remembered for their head coach falling out of his chair after his son RJ hit a game-winner against Baylor in the NCAA tournament. Perry High School alum Chris Clerkley, a 6-9 forward in his sophomore year and fellow forward Josh Linder, a 6-9 freshman out of Veterans High School are representing the first wave of Houston County players making their way to the capital city. Clerkley, hurt 12 games into his freshman season, is back to establish a spot in a height-deficient Panthers front court rotation. White knows there’s a spot for Clerkley within the program, a player that chose Georgia State for the chance for his family to see him play. “With Chris you get an athletic big guy that can run the floor, that can rebound, block shots and has a nice developing offensive game,” said White.

Clerkely was a quality get for the Panthers program and the first out of Houston County. For a moment he was almost off to Mississippi State to play for Ben Howland and the Bulldogs before two important factors kicked in; one factual and one actual. First the Panthers defeated Baylor in the NCAA tournament during Clerkley’s senior year of high school and made national news due to that game-winning shot by RJ. Secondly he didn’t want to be too far from his mother. A self-described “mama’s boy”, Clerkley wanted her to be able to see him play in college while also playing for a college basketball program on the big stage. “I picked GSU because I had to be somewhere she could come see me,” Clerkley said. Today he calls Georgia State University the perfect fit for him and his growing game as he prepares to play his sophomore season after missing the second half due to injury. “GSU is close to home and is a growing school with an awesome head coach and coaching staff,” said Clerkley, who has gotten a clean bill of health from his doctors. “The schedule is tough and the Sun Belt Conference is not a breeze, not an easy conference. Our tough pre-conference schedule gets us ready for conference play.” Hunter brought his strong reputation and connections with him to Georgia State five years ago and the Panthers have been playing all over the country at a level of a big-time college basketball program a la Louisville, Duke, North Carolina and Michigan State. After opening the season with three home games, warm up match ups for the Panthers, they will travel to Las Vegas in November for the MGM Grand Main Event for games against Rice University and Ole Miss, Eastern Washington. Before the pre-conference schedule is done Georgia State will have played on the road at Dayton, the University of Massachusetts and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and at home against Tulane, Liberty University and Montana. The schedule was big for Linder as well as he too was deciding between scholarship opportunities as a four-star recruit earlier this year. “I had a lot of big schools after me but I felt like GSU was the best opportunity for me,” he said. “The coaches showed me that they really liked me so I went somewhere I was wanted.”

Linder’s coach during his senior year at Veterans knew the big man was going to be a high level recruit and is pleased he’ll be playing close to home. “I was amazed by Josh’s athletic ability,” says Veterans High school head basketball coach Nick Brooks. “He did everything for our team last year and will definitely be hard to replace but I look forward to seeing him excel at the next level. Josh is an outstanding young man and a talented basketball player with a great skill set.”

Clerkley’s former high school coach has similar assessments about his former star and other Houston County players. “I think we have some really talented players here,” says former Perry High School head coach Brett Hardy who spent almost two decades coaching basketball in Houston County. “For so long we have identified ourselves as a ‘football area’. More opportunity in basketball is opening for kids to play on the collegiate level.”

“It feels good to know that our talent in this county is being recognized,” said current Warner Robins High School head basketball coach and Houston County native Jamaal Garman. “Hopefully we can continue to contribute to that as an area.” With Phillips headed north to play for the Panthers, the Houston County to Georgia State pipeline continues to grow. There are grumblings that another county hoops prospect is weighing Georgia State as well. “We want to be able to put a Georgia State flag everywhere, coach Hunter and the staff has been able to recruit more than just the metro [Atlanta] kids but we’ve been able to step outside of the metro area and be able to get some really good basketball players which in turn continues to make us successful as a program,” said White.

The official start of basketball practice for the Georgia State Panthers begins in a couple of weeks and Clerkley and Linder are looking forward to the coming season and despite the Panthers missing the NCAA tournament the last two seasons the common expectation on campus is for another conference title and NCAA tournament bid. The Houston County duo, who double as roommates in campus housing, are ready for their first taste of a tournament too. “Playing those powerhouse schools, we can beat those schools because we’re just that good,” said Clerkley, who normally exudes a more quiet confidence.

“Watch out for GSU this season,” said an always confident Linder, “and shout out to the 478.”