Manny Atkins was a standout basketball player at Tucker before taking his talents to Virginia Tech. He transferred to the Georgia State Panthers program last season but had to sit out due to NCAA transfer regulations.
On Monday, Atkins played in his first home game as a Panther and could not have been more excited.
“Yes, I am definitely excited to finally get to play at home in front of all my family and friends,” Atkins said before the game. “It should be fun and I want to get a win.”
REFLECTING ON CURRY
The football season has come to an end for the Panthers, but they still got together one last time this past Thursday for the team’s annual awards banquet.
Donald Russell, Albert Wilson and Terrence Woodard got the big awards as they were named team MVPs. Russell rushed for 747 yards before suffering a knee injury which sidelined him late in the year. Wilson led the team with 947 receiving yards, 94 punt return yards and 751 kick return yards. Woodard had 59 tackles despite playing with an injured ankle the entire year.
Other notable winners were Kail Singleton and Scott McQueen, who were named permanent team captains while Akeen Felder and Mark Hogan were honored as the team’s scholar athletes awards. Felder was also honored with the Iron Man Award for his work in the weight room.
With Bill Curry no longer the head coach and the team heading into a new conference, the Panthers will embark upon a new era. The new head coach will have an advantage coming out the gate as the team loses just 12 players to graduation.
The team will need to find some consistency at the quarterback position if the Panthers want to make some noise in the Sun Belt Conference. Ben McLane and Ronnie Bell did not have great seasons, so it will be interesting to see what system the new head coach brings in and if either quarterback will be able to fit it moving forward.
But Curry believes this team can turn things around because they work hard and they want to be a better team.
“They don’t practice like a losing team,” he told the AJC. “They will come out and work hard, continue to build on that and continue to emphasize that the next step for this program is to take the practice performance into games.”
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