By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Glynn County Georgia has produced some phenomenal athletes in the past 40 years. Let’s take a look at a few that have put Glynn County in the spotlight:

Kwame Brown:  A graduate of Glynn Academy, Brown was the first overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards, and was the first number one draft pick to be selected straight out of high school.

Over the course of his 12-year career, he played for the Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Bobcats, Golden State Warriors, and Philadelphia 76ers.

Not many counties in our country can say they had the first overall selection in any professional sports draft. Brown put Glynn Academy basketball on the map around the state, and carved out a nice NBA career.

Darius Slay: Big Play Slay of the Philadelphia Eagles is currently or was the highest paid cornerback in the NFL. Think about that for a second folks.

Darius Slay is the best athlete I have ever seen wear the blue and gold at Brunswick High.

Slay could do it all in high school. He returned kicks, played running back, game breaking wide receiver, and played defensive back when needed.

Slay got drafted in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions and developed into a Pro-Bowl CB. Slay is in his prime and has a few more years left in the NFL.

Davis Love III: DL3 has won 21 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship: the 1997 PGA Championship. He won the Players Championship in 1992 and 2003.

He was in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for over 450 weeks, reaching a high ranking of 2^nd. He captained the U.S. Ryder Cup teams in 2012 and 2016. Love was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.

In the 1980’s Love did his part in establishing the Glynn Academy golf program as the premier golf school in the State of Georgia.

With a couple of breaks Love could have won the 1996 US Open, 2003 British Open, and the 1995 and 1999 Masters. I have sat at home on too many Sunday’s to count and lived and died on every shot DLIII hit.

Morgan Brian: Brian attended Frederica Academy and led the Knights to four consecutive soccer state titles.

Brian was also an All State Basketball player at Frederica. Brian ended her high school soccer career with 186 goals and 95 assists. She was a two-time Parade All-American and two-time Gatorade Georgia State Player of the Year.

In 2010, she was named an NSCAA High School and Youth All-American and was also the 2010 NSCAA Youth Player of the Year as well as the 2010 Parade National Player of the Year. In 2011, she was named Gatorade National Player of the Year. Brian was also the first soccer player to be honored as the Gatorade National Female Athlete of the Year in 2011.

Brian has competed for the US in the FIFA World Cup and in the Olympics. Her married name is now Gautrat, Morgan Brian Gautrat is the face of Glynn County soccer.

Adam Wainwright: As my buddy Scott Spence asks in sports discussions how many people in Glynn County history have gotten the last out in a World Series clinching game? Answer Adan Wainwright.

Wainwright was the Gatorade player of the year in Georgia in 2000 and drafted in first round by the Atlanta Braves then was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Waino has spent his entire career with the Cardinals.  Wainwright has won 167 games, has three All-Star selections, two Rawlings Gold Glove Awards and finished in the top three in the Cy Young Award balloting four times. Glynn Academy’s baseball field is named after him.

You still have Dee Jay Dallas, Justin Coleman, Tracy Walker, and potential other future professional athletes to discuss in the upcoming years. Glynn County is a hotbed for sports.