Jaguar scoring leader Casey Wells maneuvers around a Gordon State player. Wells was selected to the all-conference first team. (photo by Bill Roa)

by Wade Marbaugh

Georgia Perimeter College sophomore guard Casey Wells was named to the all-conference first team, an annual honor going to only the top five players in the 10-team league.

It was a bittersweet highlight of the final season for the long and storied GPC men’s basketball program. The season ended March 3 in Americus with a 70-65 loss at South Georgia Technical College in the quarterfinals of the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.

“We competed—we played well. We just didn’t play smart down the stretch,” head coach Alfred Barney said.

On Sunday before the Tuesday quarterfinal games, the league’s coaches met and selected Wells to the All-GCAA first team. He is the last basketball Jaguar to receive the honor. GPC will not field athletic teams next year as it transitions through a consolidation with Georgia State University.

Georgia Perimeter’s head coach, Alfred Barney, left, has guided seven teams to the national tournament during his 19 seasons at GPC. Other members of the coaching team are associate coaches Coran Crigler, seated, center, and Chris Ward (partially hidden), and associate head coach David Dennis, right. (photo by Bill Roa)

Wells, a Jonesboro High School alumnus, led the Jaguars in rebounding(4.9 per game) and in scoring with an average of 13.3 points per game, shooting 43.8 percent from the field. He made 78.3 percent of his free throws, fifth highest in the conference.

Known as a go-to man in the final minutes of close games, Wells was an excellent 3-point shooter for the Jaguars, hitting 40.7 percent of his attempts. His highest point total was 24 against rival Atlanta Metropolitan College, when he sank six of eight 3-point shots.

Another sophomore guard, Ronnie Mays, led GPC in playmaking, handing off an average of 4.6 assists per game, fifth-best in the conference. Mays and Wells each averaged 2.1 steals per game.

Three freshman forwards excelling for the Jaguars were Daryl Tucker, who posted the team’s best field-goal percentage, 53.1 percent; Darius Bridges, who was right behind him at 52.9 percent, and Malik Ponder, who shot 51.3 percent.

The Jaguars finished the season 8-10 in the GCAA and 15-15 overall. They excelled at the free throw line, sinking 14 consecutive foul shots in the final minutes of a 68-58 victory over Central Georgia Technical College. Ten days later they made 11 straight free throws late in a 75-62 upset of the GCAA regular-season champion, South Georgia State College.

Barney completed his 19th season at the helm of the program. In that span Barney’s teams won nine conference tournament championships—including four consecutive crowns from 1998 to 2001—and his teams went to the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas, seven times.

“I’d like to thank Georgia Perimeter College for giving me the opportunity to do what I love to do,” Barney said. “I feel we got it [the basketball program] on the national level. … I’ve been blessed—I will continue to be blessed.”

David Dennis served 15 years as Barney’s associate head coach. Other assistants this year included Chris Ward, serving numerous years in that role, and first-year assistant Coran Crigler.

More on Jaguar sports, including game stories going back to 2007.