Tyrone Johnson Leads Whitefield
Whitefield Academy is a small private school located in suburban Cobb County
outside of Atlanta. While the school is small, (playing in Georgia's single
Advertisement
A division and 80 students total in the high school), the basketball program is
attracting major league attention.
Over the last two years they have made it
to the elite eight and final four of the state tournament. They only lost Monday to
two-time state champs Taylor County.
We spoke with their head coach Tyrone
Johnson about the game, the program, and his star player Tim Morris who is being recruited heavily by some major division one schools.
Coach Johnson had the unique opportunity to step into a program that Mark Price, the former NBA star and Georgia Tech star, ran last year.
Price left Whitefield to spend more time with his family. "It was both a challenge and a great opportunity for me, coming to
Whitefield from Carroll High in Ozark, Alabama," he said. "Mark Price had done a terrific job and was very helpful in the transition, as well as assistant Eddie
James, who stayed on to help.
"The challenge was replacing Mark, a NBA
legend, and also losing two D-1 calibre sophomores in 6'8 Josh Smith, and
6'3 Paul Delaney who both transfered to public schools."
Well judging by the results, Whitefield improved it's record by four more wins
and advanced to the final four, Coach Johnson has met the challenge. Led by
the Morris a 6-4 junior and solid sophomore point guard Ryan Lamb, the team is young with no seniors, so look for them to be back to the final four next year and poised to take it all.
Both Lamb and Morris will suite up this summer AAU season with the Georgia
Stars.