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COVER STORY
Jessie Prather: Giving Something Back
Carey Colquitt and I were talking
recently, comparing a sports hero to a
sports role model. As Carey talked, my
mind began flashing back to my early
youth when Mr. Paul Troutman took me
to Gainesville, Georgia to see the former
Burney-Harris High School basketball
great, Terry Green. Local sports heroes
were plentiful then. Phil Hampton,
Horace King, Darryl “Bo Dean” Moore
and many, many more outstanding
athletes were in an abundance in the
Athens black community.
Carey stated that there is a difference
between a sports hero and a role model
- that a sports hero is one who is promi
nent in some sports event, field, period
or cause by reason of his special sports
achievement; whereas a role model is a
person who is in constant contact with
people and has a personal, physical or
mental influence on those individuals
whose lives he has touched.
Jessie Prather is a role model. For the
past twelve years, Coach Prather has
been a positive, caring, role model for
the youth in Clarke County, freely
donating his time, and many times, his
money for athletic programs.
Jessie Prather was raised in a house
directly across the street from the old
Athens High and Industrial School foot
ball field, where under the fatherly
leadership of “Doc” Eugene Holmes,
many young boys quickly became men.
Jessie participated in youth football at an
early age at a time when there were
several football organizations in the
Athens area. There were the Rockspring
Rams, Lyndon House Chiefs, Dudley
Dogs, Blue Devils, Country Cousins and
the CYA Colts. Jessie now is head coach
for the 12-14 year old CYA Colts.
Coach James Holston encouraged
Jessie to play on Cedar Shoals High
School’s football team. He was a starter
at quarterback for three years and played
exceptionally well.
Recalling his 1974 season when Cedar
Shoals met Clarke Central for the first
4
time, Prather said, “It was the largest
crowd ever to attend a high school foot
ball game in Athens.” Cedar Shoals won
in a hard fight with Clarke Central by a
14-7 score. Because of an ankle injury,
Jessie did not play in that game, but he
watched his close friend, Tom Gary,
quarterback for Clarke Central, get cut
down on a sure touchdown run.
Jessie Prather was recruited by many
college coaches upon graduating from
Cedar Shoals. Tennessee, Georgia,
Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Kentucky,
Kansas State and Clemson are just a few
of the schools that tried to recruit Jessie.
This was a stressful time for Jessie. He
knew he had to make the right choice in
deciding which school he should select
for his academic and athletic training.
Recruiters were everywhere trying to en
tice Jessie to choose their school.
Highly influenced by Dr. Walter R.
Allen, Sr. and Mr. Richard Frazier,
Jessie decided on the close-knit com
munity of Orangeburg, South Carolina.
The school was South Carolina State
ZEBRA VOL. 2 ISSUE 10