Georgia State has selected former players Sheryl Martin and Chavelo Holmes as its women's and men's CAA Legends for 2007.
Ms. Martin, a Panthers star from 1980-83, will be honored this Sunday, Feb. 18 at the women's game with Hofstra and will officially be recognized with the 6th CAA Legends Class at the tournament banquet on March 8 in Newark, Del.
Mr. Holmes, who excelled at State from 1981-86, will be recognized this Saturday, Feb. 17, at the men's ESPN BracketBuster game with Elon University and will officially be inducted with the 6th CAA Legends Class at the tournament banquet on March 2 in Richmond, Va.
The CAA Legends program honors former players who achieved recognition on the basketball court as student-athletes and have attained success in the business world after earning their degrees.
The first Georgia State honorees last year were Terese Allen and Jim Jacobs.
Sheryl Martin Bio
"I am truly honored and humbled to receive this recognition from Georgia State. My family, friends and I are very excited to make the trip to the Championships. I want to thank the department for selecting me as the sports legend."
Martin concluded her playing career as the school's second all-time leading scorer with 1,435 points. She is currently No. 6 on the scoring list and her No. 24 is one of four retired Georgia State women's basketball jerseys. For three consecutive years, Martin posted double-double season scoring and rebounding averages.
Martin was an integral part of a Georgia State team that finished 28-5 (the most wins in a season) in 1980-81 and collected a school-record 17-game win streak.
An Atlanta native, Martin graduated from Southwest Atlanta HS and attended the University of Southern California as a freshman. Upon receiving the news that her mother had fallen ill, Martin quickly decided that it was in her best interest to move back home to be closer to her family and to her mother, in case she was needed.
Martin enrolled at Georgia State, shortly thereafter, as a transfer student, but didn't initially get involved with the basketball team.
A friend introduced Martin to Dr. Rankin Cooter, who was the head coach of the Panthers' women's basketball squad. From that point on, the rest is history.
Martin proved to be one of the most gifted players on the team. A High School All-American on the national Carnation All-Star Team, she played in 32 games as a sophomore, averaging 12.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. As a junior, she collected 16.2 points and 10.5 boards per contest, and was named all-Region following the 1981-82 season.
In her senior year, she averaged 23.3 points per game and 11.6 caroms per contest. The 5-11 forward shot 50.8 percent for the season and 78.3 percent from the free throw line.
In addition to scoring, Martin finished her State career ranked in scoring average (6th – 17.1 ppg), free throw percentage (5th - .760), rebounds (5th – 933), rebounding average (4th – 11.1) and steals (4th – 206).
Martin poured in a school record 45 points in 1983 win over Georgia Tech before breaking her own single-game mark by scoring 52 eleven days later in a win over Stetson. She followed her 45-point game with 39 points vs. UAB to give her 84 points in two games, a school best for back-to-back games. She also owns the third highest single-game rebounding total (23).
A 1985 Georgia State graduate with a degree in Commercial Music and Recording, Martin serves as director of the Worship In Arts Ministry at Cobb Christian Ministries and produces music projects locally. She is currently an IT software support specialist for the Department of Family and Children Services in DeKalb County.
Chavelo Holmes Bio
“It actually brought tears to my eyes to know that I was remembered and appreciated,” Holmes noted. “This was a great moment to share with my family and for my four daughters to understand dad was once a good athlete and college student.”
When he walked on the campus of Georgia State without a scholarship, he was a nobody who just wanted to play basketball. When he walked off the campus, he was a somebody who had just scored the most points and grabbed the most rebounds in school history. And, most important, he had earned a college degree.
It was in 1981 that Chavelo Holmes had earned a college scholarship after a simple summer workout in the gym with the new head coach, Jim Jarrett. He wasn't a hot-shot recruit but he knew he could succeed if given a chance. Holmes had played his prep basketball at Elmwood High in Buffalo, N. Y., but when his family moved to Atlanta, he began classes at Georgia State on his own.
By the time the 6-4, 180-pound Holmes finished the 1985-86 season, he had set the all-time Georgia State record for points scored (1,375) and for most rebounds (505) as well as playing in the most games ever (105). Twenty years later, Holmes still ranks No. 3 in scoring, No. 6 in games played and No. 9 in rebounds.
As freshmen, the youngster averaged a quiet 6.6 points a game, but did earn 13 starts. As a sophomore, Holmes led the team with a stellar 18.3 points per game and a 5.7 rebound average. His 495 points scored were a new school record for a season and his per game average was sixth-best ever.
The sophomore had one game he can always remember, and truthfully say, that he outscored Michael Jordan. When the Panthers went to Chapel Hill to play the No. 3 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, Holmes led Georgia State with 20 points. Number 23 for Carolina scored just 16 points that evening. That year, Holmes had a 36-point game (vs. Baptist) that was the sixth highest scoring game in school history at that time.
As a junior, Holmes scored 383 points on the season and was on the team that went to Tennessee and upset the Volunteers, 52-50, in a major upset. The 0-5 Panthers had gone into Rocky Top country after losing to Oklahoma and SMU by more than 30 points. Holmes upped his personal best for a game to 38 points (vs. Florida A&M) that tied for third most in school history.
His senior season saw him average 13.9 points a game to up his final scoring total to 1,375 points and made him the highest scorer in Panthers history.
“Chavelo Holmes is one of the best pure shooters that Georgia State has ever had,” 24-year Panthers radio veteran Dave Cohen remembers. “And he played before the three-point shot, so some of his baskets counted as two's that today would count as three's.”
Once a player, always a player, Holmes still plays basketball in an Over-35 Atlanta City League where he still shows his scoring abilities and thrives on the competition.
Holmes earned his Georgia State degree in urban studies and has worked two decades in Atlanta as a real estate manager of multi-family homes and apartment complexes and is also a licensed realtor. He notes that one of his primary goals at this time is getting his four daughters through college to earn their degrees.
