April 24, 2019
Pictured: Alfred Barney (center) was recently inducted into the ABAC Athletics Hall of Fame. ABAC Athletics Director Alan Kramer (l) and ABAC President David Bridges (r) made the presentation.
TIFTON—Alfred “Skeeter” Barney from Conyers was recently inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
Barney spent two years playing for the ABAC Golden Stallions’ basketball team. Then in a reversal of roles, he spent many years racking up wins over the Golden Stallions as the head coach of the Georgia Perimeter College Jaguars.
“I always got my players up for the ABAC game,” Barney said. “That was a great experience coming back to Gressette Gym for the first time. I felt strange going to the visiting locker room. I cannot recall that ABAC ever beat us.”
A native of Pelham, Barney played basketball for the Golden Stallions of Coach Peter Dees from 1975-77. He was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) during his sophomore season and received All-Conference honors in the Georgia Junior College Athletic Association.
“That was my first time away from home, and ABAC was a perfect place for me at that time,” Barney said. “There was a great atmosphere on campus.”
When Dees moved to Austin Peay State University as an assistant coach, he recruited Barney to make the move as well. Barney was named the Austin Peay MVP during his senior year. He was also tabbed for inclusion on Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) All-Conference team and OVC All-Academic Team.
“We had a very good team my junior year,” Barney said. “In fact, we had a chance to go to the NCAA tournament but we lost to Western Kentucky in the conference championship game.”
After completing his degree, Barney embarked on a coaching career which began in 1981 at his alma mater, Pelham High School. In 1982, he became the assistant men’s basketball coach at Georgia Southwestern under Coach Randolph Barksdale where he was also the head tennis coach for men and women. Barney moved to Tuskegee University as the head men’s basketball coach and head cross country coach for men and women in 1988.
In 1993, Barney became the assistant men’s basketball coach at Georgia Perimeter under Barksdale before he was elevated into the head men’s basketball coaching position in 1995 when Barksdale decided to return to Georgia Southwestern. That’s when the victories started piling up for the Jaguars.
Georgia Perimeter won the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) regular season title eight times and the tournament title nine times during Barney’s 21-year stretch as the head coach. The Jaguars won eight National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) District X championships. In seven trips to the NJCAA national tournament, Georgia Perimeter recorded its highest finish ever with a Final Four berth in 2003.
Barney was named the GCAA Coach of the Year six times and the NJCAA District X Coach of the Year eight times. He was named the Atlanta Tip-Off Club’s Naismith Junior College Coach of the Year in 1999, 2002, and 2003. Barney has been selected as a member of the Mitchell County Sports Hall of Fame.
The 2019 Hall of Fame class also included the 1968-69 men’s basketball team, former softball standout Jenny McCarthy, former tennis star Lisa English Doherty, former football player and longtime high school coach Sidney White, and former baseball player and high school coach Terry Mixon.
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