East Cobb Sports & Recreation

Wheeler hires new boys basketball coach to succeed Doug Lipscomb

by

Larry Thompson, Wheeler High School basketball

Not long after legendary Wheeler High School boys basketball coach Doug Lipscomb announced he was stepping away from his duties, the Wildcats found the man to succeed him.

He’s Larry Thompson, who has guided Greenforest-McCalep Christian Academy of Decatur to the 2013, 2016 and 2017 state championships in the Georgia High School Association’s Class A private school division.

Wheeler principal Peter Giles tweeted the news Thursday evening.

Lipscomb won more than 600 games and six state titles, the latest in 2015, in a 25-year career at Wheeler. He has coached several players who went on to the top levels of college basketball, as well as the NBA. Lipscomb’s first star, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, is currently an executive with the NBA.

Most recently, former Wheeler standout Jaylen Brown finished his rookie season with the Boston Celtics.

Braves renovating Harrison Park field for Sandy Plains Baseball Association

by

Harrison Park, Sandy Plains Baseball Association

One of the youth baseball fields at Harrison Park is getting a makeover, thanks to the Atlanta Braves Foundation, as part of its continuing “Chipper Jones” projects in the Atlanta area.

Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell announced at the Northeast Cobb Business Association luncheon on Wednesday that construction work began last week, and will include upgrades to the field, dugouts and fencing.

The new field, a venue for the Sandy Plains Baseball Association, will have a ribbon-cutting on Saturday, Aug. 5, at 11 a.m. Harrison Park is located at 2653 Shallowford Road, adjacent to Lassiter High School.

The Atlanta Braves Foundation embarked on a “10 for 10” youth baseball field refurbishment program upon Jones’ retirement in 2013, funding the completion of one project a year over 10 years. In January 2015, a field at Fullers Park in East Cobb, home of the East Side Baseball Association, was renamed after Jones, who donated materials for a renovation project there.

Birrell said she’s been told some Braves players will be in attendance for the ribbon-cutting at Harrison Park.

Harrison Park, Sandy Plains Baseball Association