Stump MartinThe annual June matchup of just-graduated football standouts from area Tennessee and Georgia high schools is set for Friday night at East Ridge, but with a new format and a new name honoring the man most associated with organizing and promoting the series. The old "Stump on Sports" Tennessee-Georgia All-Star Classic will be called the Stump Martin Memorial Senior Gridiron Showcase. Kickoff is set for 7:30, and the format change is that the teams will be combinations of players from the two states. Longtime local youth coach, reporter and television host Marvin "Stump" Martin - also the East Ridge parks and recreation director - died May 10. "I knew Stump for 30 years, and he did more for high school sports in this area than just about anyone between his stint as a sports writer and his TV show," East Ridge football coach Tim James said in a release. "As an athletic community we owe a debt to him, and this is just a small way to pay him back and help keep his memory alive." Tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for students showing high school ID cards. Children 10 and younger will get in free. Parking is $3, and concession stands will be open with proceeds going to Martin's family.
Softball
» Jon Massey recently resigned as Ooltewah's softball coach. Massey, who has also coached baseball and freshman football in his time at the school, spent the past five seasons leading the Lady Owls. This year he guided them to a third-place finish in the Class AAA state tournament after they won the Region 3 and District 5 tournaments. Ooltewah volleyball coach Elaine Peigen confirmed Heidi Moses, an assistant coach in softball and volleyball, is leaving those positions to become an assistant principal at the school. One-time Lady Owls athlete and now former East Ridge volleyball coach Kerilyn Mongar has accepted a job teaching physical education at Ooltewah. She will also move into the position held by Moses within the volleyball program and assist with girls' basketball.
Basketball
» Two 2018 high school graduates, Jacob Wyatt of Southeast Whitfield and Mark Chester of Cass, are recent men's basketball signees for Georgia Northwestern Technical College and coach David Stephenson. Wyatt is 6-foot-6 after standing a thin 5-8 and not even playing basketball as a ninth-grader. "He's only been playing for about three years, and he's really just figuring out how good he is," Southeast coach Ben Oliver said in a GNTC release. "He's a premier shot-blocker and he's extremely athletic. He's a real long and lanky kid, and he's about two or three dribbles away from being a guard." Stephenson noted Wyatt runs "the floor well for his size" and adds a precious presence for the Bobcats. "The last couple of years we haven't really had that one intimidating person in the middle with the timing and the skill set to block shots, so we're super excited to get him," Stephenson said. Chester is a guard who averaged 11.5 points and four rebounds a game as a senior - and averaged 16 points in his last eight games to help Cass reach the Georgia Class AAAAA playoffs. "He was a great guy for us," said David Brock, who coached the Colonels before recently moving to Dalton High. "He's a knockdown shooter and he's not afraid to take the big shot." Brock also called Chester "a high-character kid" and "self-motivated."
» Walker Valley boys' basketball coach and golf coach Bob Williams has resigned those positions and has been hired as girls' basketball coach at Northwest Whitfield. Williams guided the Mustangs' basketball program the past 14 years. He has experience coaching girls, which he did for six seasons prior at McMinn County. Williams' basketball team this past season played in the District 5-AAA final and advanced to the Region 3 tournament. His boys' golf team, which featured seniors Cade Puryear, a Tennessee Tech signee, and Parker Gray, a Lee University signee, won the Class Large District 5 and Region 3 tournaments and finished third in the state tournament. Williams succeeds Greg Brown, now the head coach at Georgia's Jefferson.