Head coach Cory Baldwin and the South Georgia State College Hawks basketball team recently received numerous awards from the NJCAA, Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA), and the Georgia Basketball Coaches Association (GABCA).
Baldwin was named Coach of the Year both by the GCAA and GABCA. He led the Hawks (27-6, 14-4) to their first-ever GCAA regular season championship and to the GCAA Conference Tournament championship game. In five seasons at SGSC, Baldwin has compiled a 122-67 record (.645).
“This (Coach of the Year) is a team award,” said Baldwin. “The award lets you know you had a good team. This is more about the team than me.”
Jovante’ Spivey (Savannah, Ga.) was a first team All-American selection by the NJCAA, the second GCAA player selected in 10 years. He was also selected as Player of the Year for both the GCAA and GABCA (Junior College Division). In addition, Spivey was named to the GCAA’s first team All-Region, the GCAA All-Tournament team, first team All-GABCA (Junior College), and the GABCA’s All-Academic Team.
Players selected to the All-Academic Team must have had a minimum 3.0 GPA during the fall 2014 semester.
Daniel Peace (Decatur, Ga.) was selected as the GCAA’s Defensive Player of the Year. He was also named to the GCAA’s All-Tournament Team and the GABCA’s All-Academic Team.
Cody Helgeland (Toccoa, Ga.) was named to the GCAA’s second team All-Region, first team All-GABCA (Junior College), and the GABCA’s All-Academic Team.
Demontrez Austin (Guyton, Ga.) was an honorable mention selection to the All-GCAA team, a second team All-GABCA selection (Junior College), and named to the GABCA’s All-Academic Team.
Colin Cotter (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Jamison Williams (Nahunta, Ga.) rounded out SGSC’s awards this season by being selected to the GABCA’s All-Academic Team.
“It’s pretty neat that so many of our guys have received recognition,” said Baldwin. “People will remember our last game where we lost the GCAA Tournament Championship, but we won the marathon, which was the regular season title. These awards are a good indication of that.”
Members of the NJCAA Basketball Committee are responsible for the All-American selections. GCAA awards are voted on by the conference’s head coaches. The GABCA is comprised of teams from NCAA Division II and III as well as the NAIA and Junior College levels. GABCA coaches from 20 different colleges and universities vote on the season-ending awards across all categories.
-Submitted by South Ga. State College