MIDWAY — Raekwon McMillan’s plaque is going to take up a special place at the home of someone very special to him.

“This is going to Betty Lou’s,” exclaimed the former Liberty County High School star linebacker and current New England Patriot of his Liberty County Athletic Hall of Fame induction.

McMillan was one of five members of the Hall of Fame’s class of 2023 to be inducted and one of six individuals overall Thursday night at the Liberty County East End Complex. Joining McMillan in the class of 2023 were former longtime Brunswick High School coach and star player at the old Liberty County High O.C Baker, former Bradwell Institute multisport standout Neal Brown, Liberty County High’s Sandy Miller and Bradwell Institute’s multisport standout Warnella Wilder, now the athletics director at Liberty County High School.

“We’ve got a rich and diverse history in Liberty County,” said Karl Riles, a member of the Hall of Fame’s board of directors. “We have inducted a Liberty High Tiger, we have inducted a Bradwell Lion, we have inducted a Bradwell Tiger and we have inducted Liberty County Panthers.”

The Hall of Fame also inducted Eddie Smith, a track and field champion at Bradwell who initially was voted in for the 2018 class but could not attend the 2018 or 2019 ceremonies. The Hall of Fame also recognized the 2016 Liberty County High School boys basketball Class AAAA state championship team.

The event, the first induction ceremony held since December 2019, also paid tribute to the late Kirk Warner, the Liberty County High football coach who passed away last year, and four board members who also passed away since the last event — W.L. Hall, Sam Harris, Clifford Johnson and Charles Shuman.

Six people, LCHS state champ hoops team, inducted in first ceremony since 2019

Eddie Smith recalled pole vaulting over water moccasins.

Sandy Miller noted the lessons learned from a winless season.

Warnella Wilder spoke of her parents, and making sure they had their seats and their snacks as they watched her play and later referee games.

O.C. Baker served three tours in Vietnam before resuming his coaching career.

Neal Brown said playing baseball and track helped him get out of Faye Darsey’s English class.

And Raekwon McMillan put his sunglasses back on, as the emotions hit him as he paid tribute to his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, all who were in attendance at the Liberty County Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Also honored was the 2016 Liberty County High School boys basketball Class AAAA state championship team, with several members, including current NFL defensive back Richard LeCounte III, on hand.

“We are so glad to be back,” said Craig Stafford, president of the Liberty County Athletic Hall of Fame.

It was the first Hall of Fame induction ceremony since December 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020-21 ceremonies. Hall of Fame board of directors members voted to change the annual induction ceremony from December to April.

Brown, who recently retired after 37 years as pastor at Northwood Community Church in Clearwater, Fla., introduced Smith. It was the second time Brown has been called upon for that duty, having done the same for his brother Allen in the first class of inductees.

Smith, because of his pole vaulting ability, was a “rock star” at track meets, Brown said.

“He had a quite a following at track meets,” Brown said.

Smith grew up on the edge of a swamp, he said, full of water holes, and those holes had any number of rattlesnakes and water moccasins.

So his pole vaulting career began in what Smith called “a uniquely south Georgia” manner.

All from a “triple dog dare” from his cousin.

“We came along to this body of water and found the biggest, thickest water moccasin I’d ever seen in my life,” Smith said.

His cousin, Paul Zechman, dared him to jump over the cottonmouth snake.

“So I did it,” Smith said. It turned out to be quite the proving ground, too.

“No matter how much pressure I had at a meet,” he said, “it was never the same as jumping over that water moccasin.”

Smith originally was inducted with the class of 2018, but weather and health issues prevented him from taking part until this year’s ceremony. During his high school days, he set school records more than 50 years ago at Bradwell Institute that haven’t been broken. He tried out for the track and field team as a freshman and discovered he had a knack for pole vaulting.

In his backyard, there was a foam rubber pit for vaulters to fall into – much better than the handful of sawdust and asphalt at his own house, Brown acknowledged.

“It sort of became the neighborhood playground,” Smith said. “Everybody was pole vaulting every day. It became the routine.”

Brown cited his friend’s constant pursuit of becoming a better pole vaulter, and Smith attended a University of Florida camp his junior and began getting to heights “I never would have dreamed that I would jump,” he said.

He recalled a meet at Southeast Bulloch where the top mark had been 10 feet, 6 inches. Smith bested that by six inches and kept going.

Smith competed successfully on West Georgia’s track and field team until he tore a leg muscle, virtually ending his career.

But it was more than the pole vault pit that Brown and Smith shared.

“Neal and I have both died and come back,” he said.

Smith had aortic aneurysm in 2017, what is known as “a triple widowmaker.”

“One of the things I always wanted was to be honored by hometown and one of the things I thought was, ‘am I going to make it?’” Smith said.

“Neal and I were both lucky the Good Lord brought us back. Still not sure why, but we’re glad to be here.”

Jon Miller said he was glad to grow up under the same roof as his hero, inductee Sandy Miller, his sister. Even today, they live only a few houses apart on the same street.

“Not many people get to say they live that close to their heroes,” he said.

Sandy Miller was an eighth grader at Hinesville Middle School, playing on the first girls basketball team there, with aspirations of joining the varsity at Bradwell Institute when she went to high school. As an eighth grader, she got the chance to play for the Bradwell girls junior varsity team.

“I was so excited. I could not wait to go to high school at Bradwell and try out for the varsity team,” she said, adding she was eager to play alongside DeLisha Milton-Jones, Warnella (Smiley) Wilder and Keeley Hailey. “That’s not what happened.”

Instead, Miller was zoned for the new Liberty County Middle- High School, which started with sixth through ninth graders. As a ninth grader, she was going to be one of the older students there. Each year, the school added a grade, finally reaching 12, and dropped a grade to become 9-12.

Going to a new school, and immediately becoming one of its oldest students, pushed Miller to learn leadership skills quickly.

“That experience made me a better leader on the court and off,” she said. “It didn’t happen without some growing pains, but I am grateful for it today.”

For that first season of varsity basketball, the Lady Panthers were comprised of freshmen and sophomores. There were no juniors and seniors to go up against more experienced players and teams.

In fact, Miller noted, there were only two sophomores on that first team.

“We played 21 games. And we lost 21 games,” she said. “That doesn’t make for a fun season to lose every single game, but it does build character.”

Miller also went up against who she at one time thought would be a teammate, DeLisha Milton, the future Olympic gold medalist and a member of the Hall of Fame’s inaugural class of inductees.

“I really wanted to play basketball at Bradwell, especially with that team that went all the way to the state championship,” she said. “Instead, I got to play against them.”

Going up against the Lady Tigers, who were on their way to finishing as runners-up to powerhouse Morrow, Miller found herself with the ball on the wing. It was the spot she liked to from. But the towering Milton, and her tremendous wingspan, was right in front of her.

“There is no way I’m going to shoot over her,” Miller said. “I did this really sweet pump fake and dribbled around DeLisha.”

As Miller described it, she took her shot – or at least, she tried to take her shot.

“DeLisha practically tattooed Spalding across my forehead because she blocked my shot from behind,” she said. “It was one of those character-building lessons as I learned to be a proud Liberty County Panther.”

Miller starred in basketball and softball, and begrudgingly ran track, she said, while also becoming the first valedictorian in the new LCHS’ history.

“I grew to love being a very proud Liberty County Panther,” she said. “I learned to be a leader, even if I didn’t think I was quite ready, how to be humble, how to lose gracefully and eventually, how to win graciously.”

Now, her own daughter takes part in aerial silks, which Miller likened to something out of Cirque du Soleil.

“She works very, very hard at it,” Miller said. “She shows grit, perseverance and determination. I’d like to think those qualities, qualities that I learned and that were instilled in me when I played at Liberty County, I am instilling in her today.”

She also thanked her late parents, Linda and Moe Miller, for supporting her and her brother, and just about everybody else in black and gold.

“They cheered for, or in my dad’s case, hollered for, everyone on the team,” she said. “I would not have been the athlete or the person I am today if it were not for them.”

Warnella Wilder’s parents were constants at every one of her games – whether she played, coached or refereed.

“Probably the main reason Warnella has accomplished what she has is because of her parents,” Wilder’s high school coach, Janet Reddick, said in introducing her. “Warnell and Sylvia Smiley were two of the finest people I have ever known in my life. They were always positive and always supportive.”

Reddick met Wilder in 1989 when the youngster tried out for softball at Bradwell.

“It took me two minutes to realize the athletic ability this kid had,” the now retired coach said, “and about two more minutes to realize this is the kind of kid you want on your team. She was amazing. She is a coach’s dream.”

Wilder cited Coach Willie Graham asking her to be on the Hall of Fame board of directors several years ago, never expecting her fellow board members one day would vote her in as an inductee.

“I wanted to shine a light on those individuals who left a mark on this great community through athletics,” she said. “Never in a million years did I think I would become a part of such a prestigious group. To the committee, thank you for voting me in and allowing me to be a part of history. It is an honor and a privilege to be inducted with this amazing group.”

Her parents were at her games, in high school and in college. As she got older, and they did as well, she made sure they were set for the evening with any drinks or snacks they might need for the game.

“They are no longer with me physically,” she said. “But I know if they were alive they would be sitting side by side in the crowds with huge smiles on their faces. Even as an adult, they were always in the stands. They will be always be the better part of me. I know they are together in Heaven, holding hands and smiling with joy for me on this night.”

When she tried out for Bradwell’s softball team, at the urging of a friend, Wilder hadn’t played it before.

“I had never played softball a day in my life. I didn’t have a glove. I didn’t have cleats. I didn’t have anything,” she said. “But that is when I met coach Janet Reddick. She never made me feel less than. She saw something in me. She put in extra time after practice to help me.”

Reddick was also Wilder’s basketball coach, and Wilder recalled getting to play alongside some of Bradwell’s all-time greats, such as Charmaine and DeLisha Milton, Ronda Gross and Vera Ray.

Wilder also thanked Reddick for making those players feel like part of her family, and she thanked the late Readie Kelly for teaching her the finer aspects of track and field.

Wilder also was an assistant coach under friend and fellow Hall of Fame member Faye Baker for seven seasons at Bradwell Institute. During that tenure, Bradwell got a rematch with Morrow.

This time, the Lady Tigers came out on top against the Lady Mustangs.

“We got revenge on that Morrow team,” Wilder said. “It brought tears to my eyes.”

From Baker, Wilder learned communication, organization, flexibility, preparation, and discipline.

“So, Faye, thank you for opening doors for me,” she said.

In her career as a ref, Wilder was named to call a state championship game just two years into her officiating career.

“We all know referees don’t have any fans in the stands,” she said. “I could always count on my family.”

She thanked her sister for being her hype man and her husband Parnell for all his support.

“You have never put me in a box,” she said. “You never made me feel like there was a moment too big for me. I have spent a lot of time away from home but you have always supported me.”

O.C. Baker was introduced to the young lady who eventually became his wife as one of those famous young Liberty County men.

“I was from Cook County,” said his wife Rubye Baker. “He looked like anybody else from Cook County.”

But not long after he graduated from Savannah State and began teaching and coaching in Blackshear, “Uncle Sam said, ‘Greetings,’” Rubye Baker said.

“He went across the water three trips to Vietnam. God brought him back each time,” she said.

Even after that, Baker spent 20 years in the Air National Guard. He also spent 30 years coaching and teaching in Glynn County schools.

“He coached softball, girls track, girls basketball, he coached boys basketball, he coached football and he loved it all,” she said.

For O.C. Baker – the O is for Oliver – there were a number of people, including family, friends, teammates and coaches, who paved the way for him. Chief among those coaches was Alex Ellis.

“He’s not here anymore, but I know he is looking down and smiling,” Baker said. “I was one of his first athletes from Liberty High School to receive a fouryear athletic scholarship. He was instrumental in me getting that scholarship. I could not have made it without him.”

The longtime coach stressed the importance of classwork in a student-athlete’s success.

“We are more than athletes; we are students,” he said. “You’ve got to have the grades. I don’t care what you do.”

Baker also extended his gratitude to the Hall of Fame for his inclusion into the class of 2023.

“I want to thank the committee for selecting me for this great honor,” he said, “something I will cherish and honor the rest of my life.”

Though Nathan Brown has not lived in Liberty County, he said there is a connection coming back to Hinesville and Liberty County each time, whether it was to Bradwell playoff games for James Brown Park, named after his grandfather.

He also said his father, Neal Brown, who won 14 varsity letters at Bradwell, was always there for he and his siblings and their games and practices.

“As good as an athlete he was, he is an even better father, brother, husband and friend to many in this room,” he said. “He did pass down a true love for sports that started here in Liberty County and he did everything in his power and means to support his three kids in their sports.”

And growing up in James and Willa Brown’s house, with brothers Allen and Warren, meant sports was always on tap, Neal Brown said.

“I grew up with athletic parents and two athletic brothers,” he said. “Sports was a part of our lives. If you were born in the James Brown and Willa Brown family, if you didn’t play sports, you were bored.”

Brown, who often played in higher age brackets during his youth, pointed out he was smaller than most of the people he played against.

“My dad and brothers excelled in multiple sports at Bradwell Institute and they set the bar very high,” he said. “They encouraged me, pushed me and toughened me up along the way.”

Like his father and his older brother Allen, Neal became quarterback of the Bradwell football team. He also played basketball all four years and played two years of baseball – since BI didn’t have a baseball team his freshmen and sophomore years.

As a football player, he was pushed to take up track by the legendary and late Hokey Jackson. Brown initially ran the twomile run, which was not to his liking.

“I smartened up and decided to take up the high hurdles and pole vaulting,” he said. “The landing pit at Bradwell was not much better than the little bit of asphalt in my backyard. But the foam rubber in Eddie’s backyard was a delight to fall into.”

Baseball and track also got him out of the way of another Bradwell legend – Faye Darsey – and her dreaded English class.

“She didn’t like it,” Brown said, “but I loved it.”

Brown also recalled that a few choice words at halftime from then coach Clifford Johnson, who later became one of his close friends, spurred the Lions to an improbable comeback victory.

Bradwell was facing Vidalia in the regular season finale. The Lions had surrendered just 16 points all season. But at intermission, they trailed 26-7.

“It was the emptiest I had seen Olvey Field in my life,” Brown said of coming out of the locker room at halftime, adding the father one of the other players who had not been to a game before left at the half. “We came back in the second half to win the game 28-26. It all had to do with a pep talk Coach Johnson gave at halftime. I don’t remember the words – but I wouldn’t repeat it in this group.”

Brown, by his own admission, had a reputation of being able to teach sailors words they didn’t know before as a young man. When he was 18, though, he made a change in his life.

“Though I tried to be the best boy I could, I failed miserably,” he said. “I attended the Methodist church more than anyone else in Hinesville, including the pastor. I had a real bad mouth. At 18 years old, I fully understood my sin, and that sin separated me from a loving, gracious God. I began my faith journey walking with the Lord.”

Several of Brown’s former teammates were on hand for his induction, and he thanked them for being there and gave his thanks for “all the opportunities provided me to in Liberty County that I would not have gotten anywhere else in the world.

“I am especially grateful for Clifford Johnson, who was not only my coach but my dear friend in life. And I give thanks to God, who is worthy of all glory, praise and honor.”

In introducing Raekwon Mc-Millan, former coach Derek Sills said, “I love him and I couldn’t love him more if he was my own flesh and blood.”

Sills even recounted going to the national championship game to watch McMillan and Ohio State win the 2014 College Football Playoff championship over Oregon. Just after the game, McMillan called his coach to come over to the team hotel and hang out with him.

One of the most highly-recruited and highly-acclaimed high school football players to come out of Liberty County, McMillan is now in his seventh season in the National Football League.

“I want to say thank you to my family,” said McMillan, a linebacker with the New England Patriots. “I consider everyone in here my family. I am true testament as to what it looks like when you pour back into the youth. Without y’all, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

McMillan donned sunglasses for much of the event and removed them to begin his induction speech. But when he got to speaking of his great-grandmother, grandmother and mother, he slipped them back on as the emotions hit him.

“I want to thank you for instilling in me at a young age the little things,” he said to his great-grandmother. “You taught me how to clean my kitchen, how to make my own collard greens. You taught me all the little things that I’m going to carry for the rest of my life.

“For my grandmother, over the last 10 years, you have become a person where I can sit on your couch and we can talk about life. For my mom, we grew up together. You had me when you were 17 years old. You always preached and spoke over me.”

McMillan said he’s often asked what it’s like to be in the NFL and what it’s like to have Bill Belichick as a coach. For him, though, and many of his former teammates and schoolmates in attendance, he wanted to set a new example.

“It’s about Richard LeCounte, Jaalon Frazier, the younger cats who came after me,” he said. “We’re not going to be regular. We’re going to be somebody who comes home and people look up to you. We are going to be the examples we wish we would have had.

“I will never forget it,” he said of his induction, “and I am forever indebted to Liberty County.”

LeCounte, now a member of the Los Angeles Rams, was a key player on the Liberty County High 2016 state championship team. Several team members returned for the event.

Coach Julian Stokes pointed out he was not much older than his players when he took the program over and led them to their first state title.

“I was 23 going on 24,” he said. “I had an amazing team. I just didn’t want to drop the ball.

“But we made it happen. That season was just an amazing time. That was a special moment in Liberty County history.”

Stokes grew up in Liberty County, having moved to Hinesville in 1995. He attended Joseph Martin Elementary, Midway Middle and Liberty County High before going to Georgia State University.

He was hired to be an assistant to Willie Graham for what he thought was going to be a couple of years before taking over the basketball program.

“He told me he was going to give me about two to three years. That two to three ended up being one,” he said.

The Panthers had been to the Final Four the year before, falling to Jonesboro. With Le-Counte, Frazier, Davion Mitchell, now with the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, Will Richardson, who finished his college career at Oregon, leading the way, Panthers basketball became a mustsee event.

“Just the whole experience itself was a joy,” Stokes said, “seeing the support from the community, seeing the stands packed every night. I’d get caught up so much into the game I’d feel like a fan and I’d forget to call timeout.”