GCSU alumni earn Hall of Fame honors

     A pair of GCSU alumni were honored by being inducted into halls of fame around Georgia, last month.
     Betty F. Jaynes was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame (GSHF), and Hank Aldridge was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame.
     Jaynes, a 1967 graduate, has become a keystone in women’s basketball. Her induction into the GSHF only adds to her stellar resume of honors and achievements.
     “Jaynes attended GCSU as an academic, not as an athlete,” said Al Weston, GCSU’s sports information director. “She is going into the hall of fame because she has done a really good thing for women’s basketball.”
     Jaynes has been in the women’s basketball business for over 30 years, getting her start by taking the head coaching position of Madison College’s women in 1970.
     She remained in that position until 1982, amassing a 142-114 record, including a state championship and two state runners-up teams.
     In 1996 Jaynes was named the first Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA); she had served in the organization as the Executive Director for 15 years before this.
     “(Jaynes) has cultivated and developed the growth and prosperity of the WBCA since its founding in 1981,” said Robbie Burns, the public relations director at GSHF.
     Jaynes is also a recipient of the Steve Schmidt Outstanding Contribution to Women’s Basketball Award in 2002.
     “Without Jaynes, women’s basketball would not be the spectacle it is today,” Burns said.
     Hank Aldridge served as a designated hitter and first basemen for GCSU from 1978-1980.
     Aldridge enters the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame as a 2007 inductee, mostly for his outstand career as the head baseball coach at Swainsboro High School.
     “(Aldridge) was an absolute beast of a coach,” Weston said. “More so than as a player. He really credits Coach (John) Kurtz with a lot of that success.”
     Aldridge spent 20 years as SHS’s head coach. In that period he posted a 378-149-1 career record.
     “It’s the kids mostly,” Aldridge said giving a lot of the credit for his success to his players. “I learned a lot while I was at Georgia College, especially under Coach Kurtz, the small things, fundamentals, the stuff it takes to be successful.”
     Aldridge led his team to the state playoffs in 19 out of 20 years and won eight region championships. He was named coach of the year in his region in each of those eight seasons.
Aldridge found success in playing before coaching.
     Aldridge led the Colonials in hitting in 1978 batting .356. He ended his career with a .326 average, he ranks 12th in school history with 92 career walks and 14th in putouts with 536.
     “It’s good to see these former students and student-athletes making such contributions to sports around the state and even nationally,” Weston said. “It’s really good to see them being honored like this.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 6 2007. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry