Georgia Southern Extra: J.D. King retires; RBs Green, White up for Doak Walker Award
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Georgia Southern's deep stable of running backs made big news this week.
J.D. King, a team leader who planned to return for his sixth year this fall, announced on Twitter on Tuesday that he is retiring from playing football.
"It is with a humble heart that I would like to announce my retirement from the game I love," the post on his Twitter site said. "My body and my mind tell me it is time to take my next step in life."
King, who ran for the tough yards inside but could also turn the corner for big plays with his speed, is listed at 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds but played even bigger.
However, he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in the seventh game of the 2020 season and was unable to return in a full capacity. He missed the rest of that season, spring 2021 practice and much of the fall practice before returning to game action in Week 4 against Louisiana.
He saw limited playing time in four games but was able to apply for a redshirt and come back in 2022.
In the tweet on Tuesday, King thanked God, his teammates, coaches, family, friends and teachers as well as the Eagle Nation of fans.
"Once an Eagle, always an Eagle!" the post read. "I will continue to represent our university to the best of my ability and look forward to cheering our team on for years to come!"
King will be missed both on the field and as a vocal leader who was a model to others with his strong work ethic and aggressive running style.
The Eagles will be counting even more on two juniors who have had breakout games the past two seasons and have gotten the attention of the committee behind a national award.
Running backs Gerald Green and Jalen White have been named candidates for the 2022 Doak Walker Award, it was announced Wednesday by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum in Dallas. The award is given to the nation's best running back.
The 5-foot-9, 195-pound Green, a redshirt junior from Columbus, had 75 rushes for 423 yards and five touchdowns last season. The 6-foot, 215-pound White, a junior from Daleville, Alabama, carried the ball 68 times for 383 yards and four touchdowns.
Both are expected to have a much larger role in the Eagles' offense this season. The running backs unit — with incoming freshmen Terrance Gibbs (6-1, 200) of Winter Park, Florida, and Omari Arnold (5-9, 180) of Valdosta (Brooks County High) — has been lauded as the best position group on the roster.
The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name 10 semifinalists in November, and three finalists, as voted on by the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee, will be announced in November. The committee will cast a second vote in December to determine the recipient.
The National Selection Committee consists of past recipients, former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives.
The recipient of the 2022 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards.
The award is named for SMU's three-time All-America running back Doak Walker. It is the only major collegiate award that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on schedule to graduate within one year of other students of the same classification.
MORE FOOTBALL
Get ready, get set, double check
The phrase to remember is "subject to change" when looking at kickoff times for college football games.
The Georgia Southern athletics department announced on Monday the preliminary game times for the six home football games this fall. Times are subject to change if a linear network picks up the contest for a broadcast. The Sun Belt officially announces game times and broadcast designations 12 days prior to kickoff.
Game times announced:
Sat., Sept. 3: Morgan State, 6 p.m. (ESPN3)
Sat., Sept. 24: Ball State, 6 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 15: James Madison, 4 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 5: South Alabama, 4 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 19: Marshall, 6 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 26: App State, 6 p.m.
All games not picked up for a linear broadcast will be shown on ESPN3 or ESPN+.
FOOTBALL TRYOUTS
Edwin Jackson Memorial Walk-on Tryouts on Aug. 10
The Edwin Jackson Memorial Walk-On Tryouts for Georgia Southern students hoping to join the GS football team for the fall are set for Wednesday, Aug. 10 at 3 p.m., at Paulson Stadium, 205 Lanier Drive.
Current Georgia Southern students interested in trying out must enter Paulson Stadium through Gate 1 at the corner of Chandler and Lanier roads. All potential walk-on candidates are encouraged to be fully vaccinated prior to the meeting.
To be eligible to begin the process, a candidate must be enrolled at Georgia Southern this fall, taking at least 12 hours.
Documents required before the tryouts for each student include:
1. Copy of student's 2022 fall class schedule, verifying full-time enrollment.
2. A copy of a physical exam conducted within 12 months of the tryout date (absolutely no exceptions).
3. Copy of the front and back of a medical insurance card (insurance waiver or self-pay will not be accepted).
6. Sickle Cell results
Candidates must email all documents to kmturner@georgiasouthern.edu no later than Aug. 8. Those who do not have the forms submitted by that date will not be permitted to try out at this time.
Participants must meet NCAA eligibility standards and agree and comply with the Georgia Southern and NCAA drug testing policy.
The walk-on process at Georgia Southern is named in honor of Edwin Jackson, who died Feb. 4, 2018 in an auto accident in Indianapolis. Jackson went through the tryout process at GS to earn a spot on the team and worked his way up to eventual starter before moving on to start in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts.
SOFTBALL
4 transfers coming to GS
Georgia Southern head coach Sharon Perkins has announced the addition of four transfers for the fall.
The quartet includes a pair of Power Five conference transfers in pitcher Morgan Kendrick (Fleming Island, Fla./Florida State) and infielder Faith Barth (Dacula/UGA) as well as a pair of junior college transfers in infielder Emily Greek (Thomasville) and pitcher Graceanne Spears (Opp, Alabama), both coming to Statesboro from Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Florida.
"This group of transfers will provide depth and internal competition that will only strengthen our team as we prepare to do battle in our new and improved Sun Belt Conference," Perkins said in a press release. "We are looking forward to working with our incoming transfers, as well as our incoming freshmen, to mesh them with our returning players. With what we have returning and what we have coming in, we are building something pretty special here."
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Eagles' Sun Belt slate released
The Sun Belt Conference has unveiled the 2022-23 women's basketball conference slate, including the four newest members of the league. The 18-game league slate begins on Thursday, Dec. 29, when the Eagles host Texas State at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The conference opener for Georgia Southern will be a doubleheader with the Eagle men's basketball squad, who take on South Alabama later that day. The opening weekend of league play finishes with Georgia Southern hosting Arkansas State on Saturday, Dec. 31 for a New Year's Eve tilt.
The 2023 calendar year begins with the Eagles on the road at Coastal Carolina on Jan. 5, then GS faces one of the four new Sun Belt schools in Marshall on Jan. 7, in Huntington, W.Va. It will be the first meeting with the Thundering Herd since 2002, and the first as conference rivals since 1997.
The Eagles return home to host another new foe, Old Dominion, on Jan. 12 in the first meeting between the two new Sun Belt rivals.
Georgia Southern opens February by hosting Georgia State on Feb. 2 and James Madison on Feb. 4. The Eagles travel to Old Dominion on Feb. 9, then visit App State on Feb. 11.
The final home weekend of the season sees Georgia Southern host Marshall on Feb. 16, then Coastal Carolina on Feb. 18. The Eagles then wrap up the regular season on the road, taking on South Alabama on Feb. 22 and Georgia State on Feb. 18.
The 2023 Sun Belt Conference Championships will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 28 through Monday, March 6 at the Pensacola (Florida) Bay Center. All 14 teams will advance to the tournament in 2022-23.
In her third season at the helm in 2021-22, head coach Anita Howard's squad went 18-10 and advanced to the SBC quarterfinals for the first time in school history. The Eagles return nine players from last year's squad, including Sun Belt Sixth Woman of the Year Terren Ward.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Academic honors for trio of Eagles players
Georgia Southern junior Andrei Savrasov (interdisciplinary studies), senior Prince Toyambi (psychology) and graduate student Tre Cobbs (sport management) were selected to the National Association of Basketball Coaches' 2021-22 NABC Honors Court.
The NABC honor recognizes men’s college basketball student-athletes in all NCAA divisions and the NAIA, who excelled in academics during the past season.
In order to be named to the Honors Court, yhe qualifications are as follows:
— Academically a junior or senior and a varsity player.
— Cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the 2021-22 academic year.
— Students must have matriculated at least one year at their current institution.
— Member of a NCAA Division I, II, III, or NAIA Division I institution with a NABC member coach.
SWIMMING AND DIVING
Eagles hire diving coach Sisson
Georgia Southern head swimming & diving coach Amanda Caldwell has hired Trevor Sisson as the program's new diving coach for the 2022-23 season.
A former Wisconsin diving state champion, Sisson dove for UW-Milwaukee where he was a Horizon League finalist and UW-Milwaukee's men's diver of the year.
He has previously coached at UW-Whitewater, Davenport University and Bryant University, where he produced both the men's and women's NEC diver of the year and was voted NEC Dive Coach of the Year.
Caldwell thanked director of athletics Jared Benko, deputy AD Chris Davis and senior associate AD Brandy Clouse for their assistance in the coaching search.
"Their continued support in our program has helped us bring someone like Trevor in with a great collegiate foundation in coaching, recruiting, and his own experiences as a student-athlete," Caldwell said in a press release. "His holistic approach to coaching the full person and focusing on the details matches what we do here."
Sisson called coming to Georgia an amazing opportunity.
"I am very excited to work to build an unstoppable dive program and finally get away from the winter," he said in the press release.
For more coverage of Georgia Southern athletics, go to https://www.savannahnow.com/sports/college/georgia-southern/
Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Southern Eagles athletics football team loses running back king
