About The Eatonton messenger. (Eatonton, Ga.) 18??-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2025)
Sports Thursday June 19, 2025 B The Eatonton Messenger Loran Smith Columnist Manuel Diaz The upcoming induction of three Bulldog icons into the “Circle of Honor” in late August will be especial in that in the prime years of their Georgia careers, they were the best of their time: Herschel Walker was the best running back in the country; JeffWallace was the best women’s coach; and Manuel Diaz was the best men’s coach. When you reflect on Diaz’ career, you can’t adequately tell his story without invoking a couple of vignettes that incorpo rate the influence of his coach and mentor, the late Dan Magill. Magill recognized as he reached his late 60s that his protege, the young Manuel Diaz, his assis tant, was ready to become a head coach. Overtures from various schools, seeking an “indication of interest” were becoming more and more frequent. The Bulldog coach was in perfect health and in the prime of life with a deep and abiding emotion to continue coaching. He had given up his other two major interests, managing the statewide Bulldog Clubs and serving as UGA Sports Infor mation Director — and could concentrate on coaching and recruiting with no distractions or interferences. However, this remark- able man, who was the ultimate loyalist, knew that some enterprising institution was going to hire Manuel. Time was of the essence. Magill chose to relinquish the job which he had made as good as there was in the country for men’s tennis, so that his beloved alma mater would not lose the best young coach to some other school, perhaps a hated SEC rival. So, the ultimate loyalist did what only ultimate loyalists do — he stepped aside, yielding the reins to the championship program he had built from scratch with his own hands to the brightest young assistant coach in the game. The woods are full of successful coaches who stayed too long and wore out their welcome. The classic example being Joe Paterno of Penn State. Magill never put himself above his alma mater. Georgia always came first with him. His judgment regarding his assistant was more than validated. Manuel became as iconic of a coach as his predecessor. The Diaz file reflects these salient facts and milestones: He is the SEC’s all-time winningest coach with 781 victories; He won Four NCAA national team titles; plus two indoor national championships; he won 29 SEC titles and was the Intercollege Tennis Asso ciation coach of the year three times; he has been inducted into three halls of fame: Georgia tennis Hall of Fame; State of Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, and the ITA Hall of Fame, (founded by Magill). In addition to over achievement as a player and coach and a history of a lifetime affiliation with the University of Georgia, Manuel supported other UGA teams and utilized Bulldog success in football MORE DIAZ >B3 ent Walker Roberts Jayden Moss Roberts leads Gators' All-State team Trey Norris The Eatonton Messenger After capturing their third consecutive state champion ship title, the Gatewood Gators baseball team had four players named to the GIAA Class AA All-State team, including Hunter Johnson, Lawson Moore, Jayden Moss, and Walker Roberts. Additionally, Roberts was named the GIAA Class AA Player of the Year. Roberts batted .333 with 27 hits, 15 RBI and four home runs, but where he really shined was on the mound. Roberts pitched in 13 games and threw for 51 innings while allowing just 30 hits and 11 runs while striking out a team- best 76 batters for in 2025. Meanwhile, Moore led the Gators at the plate in 2025 with a .408 batting average for the season, including four home runs and a team-leading 31 hits, 31 RBI, and seven doubles. Moore shined on the mound as well, pitching 27.2 innings and allowing 20 hits and 16 runs while striking out 43 batters LANCE McCURLEY/Staff Putnam County's Kadyn Dennis will return in 2025-26 as a senior. Lady War Eagles learning in summer workouts Lance McCurley lance@msgrnews.com The Putnam County girls basketball team had a successful 2024-25 campaign. The Lady War Eagles concluded last season with an overall record of 16-10, a second-place finish in Region 4 Class A Division I, and advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the state playoffs for the first time in five years. Still, Putnam head coach Derrick Arrington and his girls are hungry for a better result in 2025-26. The team recently began workouts at the start Hunter Johnson Lawson Moore off and finished the season with a 3.04 ERA. Johnson batted .338 with 27 hits and 15 RBI with a team- best 20 stolen bases. Moss batted .366, driving in 29 RBI on 26 hits and a team leading 9 home runs in 2025. Both Roberts and Johnson were seniors and graduated, but of the month, with the goal of improving as a unit before the season starts. “We came into the summer wanting to work on four small things. One of the smallest things that made a big differ ence was practicing harder. You know, we felt like in a game; we played as hard as we could, but we had poor practice habits,” Arrington told The Eatonton Messenger. “So, for our first week, we focused on just how to practice hard, and then we did something a little different with our schedule. We actually attended different camps and practiced with other teams to gauge the intensity and energy.” Putnam’s girls attended a camp at Newton High School in Covington on June 6. The Lady War Eagles practiced with the Lady Rams, who went 25-5 overall and won the Class 6A state championship last season. Putnam’s girls then scrim maged against Washing ton-Wilkes, the runner-up in Class A Division II, and North Oconee, a semifinalist in Class 4A. The Lady War Eagles fared well against the competition they faced. Arrington said his players also learned a lot from prac ticing with and scrimmaging Moore and Moss each were in their freshman year as Gators and are expected to remain among the best players in the state again next season. LANCE McCURLEY/Staff Putnam County's Journey Waller, the team's leading scorer last season, will return in 2025-26 as a junior. those teams. “I feel really good about the girls taking what we’re prac ticing to the summer games we’ve played, really focusing on the small things and details of off-ball defense and post defense,” Putnam’s coach said. “The coaching staff has done a great job emphasizing these details, and the girls have excelled in applying them.” Arrington highlighted that Kedric Manning, the school’s head track coach, has created a conditioning program to help the athletes stay in shape MORE SUMMER » B2
