VALDOSTA — The 2024 Valdosta Wildcat Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held Saturday, July 27th at 7 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) located at 3101 Barack Obama Blvd. This event is free to the public. This year’s program will be dedicated to the 1998 state championship football team, who recently celebrated their 25th anniversary of defeating McEachern 21-7 to claim Valdosta’s 23rd state championship.

The 2024 Hall of Fame class includes 15 members stretching over 6 decades of Wildcat excellence. The class includes:

Al Akins: Coached football and basketball from 1981-2011. Akins was an assistant coach on seven state championship football teams, three of which were national champions, and three state runner-ups. As an assistant basketball coach, he helped lead the Wildcats to two state runner-up finishes.

Bo Blalock: Played football for the Wildcats from 1966-69. The Wildcats won state championships in 1966 and 1968 and were national champions in 1969. Blalock, who is deceased, went on to play football for Army at West Point and later transferred and graduated from Georgia Tech.

Kennedy Cooper: Four year starter in football, playing from 1980-1983. Cooper was a member of Coach Nick Hyder’s 15-0 state championship team of 1982.

Terry Daniel: Affectionately known as “Ticket Man,” the late Daniel manned the Wildcat ticket office from 1996-2017.

Derrick “Kool” Folsom: Folsom was a standout defensive back for the Wildcats. Folsom played on the 1982 state championship team and the 1984 national championship team. Folsom was an Atlanta Journal-Constitution first team All-State DB his senior year. He went on to star at the University of Tennessee.

Brice Hunter: Hunter played wide receiver for Valdosta from 1988-1991. Hunter was a member of the 1989 and 1990 state championship teams. He was AJC honorable mention All-State his senior year. Hunter, who is now deceased, went on to have a stellar career at the University of Georgia where he left as the all-time leading receiver in UGA history. He still holds the record with most receptions in a single season. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 1996 NFL Draft, and played three seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Walter Jones: The late Jones was a standout football player for the Wildcats from 1965-1968. He was a member of the 1966 and 1968 state championship teams. He was named the 1968 AJC “Lineman of the Year.”

Ernest King: King starred for the Wildcat football team from 1977-1980. King was a member of the 1978 state championship football team. He went on to an excellent career at Northwestern.

Jim Landrum: Coach Landrum founded the wrestling program, which he coached from 1974-1988. Coach Landrum coached multiple state champion wrestlers.

John Miller: Coach Miller headed the basketball program for two decades and led the Wildcats to state runner-up finishes in 1994 and 1999. Miller won 282 games in his 20 seasons

Malcolm Mitchell: Mitchell played football for the Wildcats from 2008-2010. His senior season at Valdosta stands as one of the greatest statistical seasons in Wildcat history for a receiver in which he grabbed 77 catches for 1,419 yards and seven touchdowns. He was named first team All-State by AJC. He went on to have a great college career at the University of Georgia where he still ranks thirdrd all time in receptions and 6th all time in yards.

Mitchell was drafted in the 4th round by the New England Patriots and was a member of the 2016 Super Bowl championship team.

Stormm Phillips: Phillips excelled in softball, basketball, and track for the Lady ‘Cats. She was a 1,000-point scorer in basketball and a two-time individual state champion in track. She chose to focus on track in college where she excelled at Jacksonville University where she was named 2016 Atlantic Sun most valuable athlete for the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Norman Sainz: Coach Sainz coached football from 1971 to 1989. He notably developed the feeder system at Valdosta Junior High. His Tomcat players went on to win eight state championships and three national championships as Wildcats.

Charles Steward: Sterward played football from 1984-1987 where he was a two-time national champion. As a tight end, he was an AJC first team all-state in 1987. He went on to play collegiately at the University of South Carolina.

Anthony Williams: The late Williams was a four-year starter for Valdosta’s football team from 1986-89. His career was bookended with a 1986 national championship and a 1989 state championship. Coach Nick Hyder famously said that Williams “played more snaps than any other Wildcats.” He was named first team All-State AJC in 1989. Anthony went on to play collegiately at Georgia Southern.