Conner ‘coming home’ to Tift County

By Steve Carter/Sports Editor

May 06, 2008 10:44 pm

— TIFTON — Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is now in the market for two basketball coaches.
A day after Todd Sheppard announced he was leaving as the head coach of the Stallions, Julie Conner was officially hired as the new head coach of the Tift County High Lady Devils basketball team. Conner had been the head coach of the ABAC Fillies since 2000.
Conner was rumored to have been the main choice of the Tift County High administration for a number of days, but no one could make an announcement until the Tift County Board of Education approved the hiring. That approval came Tuesday evening in a called meeting at the board office. She will take the place of Michelle Caldwell, who recently resigned to take a head coaching position in the Atlanta area.
The hiring of Conner is a homecoming for the coach as she played at Tift County during her high school career. Also, her father, Johnny Rutland, was the head coach of the Blue Devils from 1971-79. Before going on to become the head girls coach at Mariner (Fla.) High in 1995, Conner also served as an assistant coach under John O’Brien for the Lady Devils in the 1994-95 season. At that time, she was also the head coach of the eighth grade team that went 14-0 that year.
“I am thrilled to be coming home,” said Conner. “The job at Tift County High is the only high school coaching job in the country I would have wanted.”
After leaving Mariner High, Conner moved on to LaBelle (Fla.) High, and coached there from 1996-2000. After leaving LaBelle in 2000, Conner was asked to resurrect the ABAC Fillies program that had been dormant for 15 years.
Just two years later, Conner and the Fillies won the state championship with a 76-72 win over Atlanta Metro.
“I have had eight wonderful years at ABAC,” Conner said. “I have certainly enjoyed every season but the state title year really stands out.”
Conner was named the 2003 GJCAA Coach of the Year and the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Naismith Award winner for 2003. She has also served as the NJCAA women’s director for Region XVII for five years.
Record-wise, Conner had her best year with the 2005-2006 version of the Fillies, which rolled up a 24-9 record and lost in the state championship game to Georgia Perimeter. This year’s squad slipped to an 11-19 mark but Conner has already signed three players for next season, with six other players scheduled to return.
Tift County High Athletic Director Mike Collier said, “We are very excited (about having Conner named as head coach). Julie will do a tremendous job for us. We all know she bleeds blue.”
Not only does Conner have a strong tie to Tift County, Collier also lauded her coaching ability.
“That was quite an accomplishment to win 115 games in eight years at ABAC,” said Collier. “I am sure she will do us a wonderful job.”
Tift County School Superintendent Patrick Atwater is also “excited” about Conner coming to Tift County.
“We all know her reputation. She will do us a world of good,” said Atwater. “She will also instill good moral values, as well as be an excellent teacher of basketball skills.”
Besides coming home, Conner also feels her new job will help her with her family, which includes her husband, Tom, and children, Tye and Cali.
“This is a schedule that fits my family situation better right now,” Conner said. “I will not be on the road recruiting. I need to spend as much time with my children as possible.”
Speaking from the NJCAA Women’s National Tennis Tournament, ABAC Athletic Director Alan Kramer said he was sad to see Conner leave, but “we are happy she will still be in Tift County.
“All of us have become quite close to Julie and her family during her eight years at ABAC. While we are sad about her leaving, we are happy that she will still be close by, so we can keep in touch with her and her family. We think the world of her, Tom, her kids, her mom and dad and the rest of her family. Julie is a great coach, and an even better friend to all of us.”