Sports

Signs of success
Part I

• Worth County  basketball stars Courtney Mitchell and Arthur Blackmon sign scholarships to play on the next level.

Paul Dehner Jr.

SYLVESTER — As Courtney Mitchell and Arthur Blackmon slipped past each other during their individual basketball signing ceremonies in the Worth County High library on Wednesday, Rams coach Andy Harden stood back and soaked in the moment.

“It’s a great day for Worth County basketball,” he said.

And an even better one for its two star seniors.

Dressed to impress and surrounded by friends and family, Courtney Mitchell signed a letter of intent to continue her basketball career at Valdosta State University while Blackmon inked to play for Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Two penstrokes completed a long journey for both who walked divergent paths in arriving at the same finish line.

It was one year ago Mitchell made a difficult decision to transfer to Worth from Sherwood Christian Academy, where she starred for three years with her mother, Gina, as coach.

Though other factors were involved, none weighed more than the desire for exposure in the GHSA.

A season in which she battled to 14.4 points and 8 rebounds a game proved her ability to handle any level of competition. It also drew interest from schools across the Southeast.

None compared to the snug fit of Valdosta State, though. A fact that even surprised Mitchell.

“I was kind of thinking I might go to Valdosta, but when I went I just loved everything about it,” Mitchell said. “It was the coaches, tradition, what they have and what their goals are as a team.”

Similar factors placed a crisp, white ABAC above the contagious smile and 6-foot-3 frame of Blackmon.

The Worth guard who averaged 20 points a game this past season as an All-Metro selection fell under the impressed, watchful eye of the coach Tony Sheppard for three years.

Once Sheppard brought the star better known as “Snow” in for a visit during Blackmon’s tour of potential suitors Alabama Southern and Chattahoochee Valley, the coach’s feelings were reciprocated.

“I’m not saying other visits were bad, but ABAC was the best visit I had,” Blackmon said. “They treated me like family.”

The success of those departed relatives proved a significant selling point.

Former ABAC star John Michael Hall played as the sixth man for a Drake team that landed a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament. Also, 23 players have moved on to Division 1 from ABAC over the past four years.

“That influenced my decision a lot because that is my dream to get to that next level and be that D-I player,” Blackmon said. “I want to get on ESPN and be on Sportscenter and he is putting a lot of guys on that D-I level, so I felt I had the opportunity to get an education and be able to play ball and get to the next level.”

Blackmon and Mitchell both shared hugs, high-fives and smiles with their families and coaches as the ceremony wound down along with their high school careers.

Blackmon led Worth County to its best season in recent memory including a run to third place in the Region 1-AAA tournament and near upset of Liberty County.

Mitchell boasts a Final Four run with Sherwood as well as a third-place region finish of her own with the Lady Rams.

Signing up to play for VSU next year, she couldn’t help but think the scholarship validated her decision to transfer.

“I think it did,” Mitchell said. “It was a great experience. I probably wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

With this chapter in their lives officially closed, it was time to begin thinking about the responsibility that accompanies that signature.

“It is all over with,” Blackmon said. “Now it is time to do work.

Signs of success, Part II>>
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