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Sports

Central Gwinnett's Jerry Coleman is More Than Just A Basketball Player

Central Gwinnett Sr. 6'2 Forward Jerry Coleman has been named "Athlete of the Week" for his recent performances for the Black Knights.

It was Senior Night this past Tuesday at , and senior forward Jerry Coleman made the most of it by scoring 11 points to help the Black Knights notch a 57-49 . For his efforts, Coleman has been named our "Athlete of the Week."

"Jerry is the silent leader on our team and is a great model for our entire program. He is the epitome of a student athlete and I am a better person for being around him for the last four years," Central Gwinnett Coach David Allen said.

Throughout the season, Coleman averaged 10 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game, 1.2 blocked shots and 1.3 steals per game.  

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Growing up as a kid, Jerry's first sport wasn't basketball. "My mom got me started playing baseball when I was a kid," said Coleman.  "After a while, I don't know exactly how or when, I sort of transitioned to basketball.  I remember one specific day, I was playing both baseball and basketball and I had baseball practice, but I also had basketball practice, and I was trying to choose between which one. As soon as I got to baseball practice, my mom said 'Oh, you have basketball practice.  Which one do you want to go to?', and I really thought about it. I was like, I really want to go to basketball practice. After that point, I guess I decided to choose basketball over baseball," Coleman said.         

Coleman's game high this season came against , when he scored 23 points in Central Gwinnett's first meeting with the Tigers, a 77-62 win back on January 4. Coleman feels the team is really coming together chemistry wise, and is ready to make a run in the regional tournament and  beyond. "At the beginning of the season, we were just getting used to playing with each other because we had a lot of young players coming up along with the older players we already have," Coleman said. "After the Christmas break, we've been coming together really well as a team, and just playing well together," Coleman said.     

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Off the basketball court, Coleman enjoys doing a number of different things.  "I do a lot of activities through my church. I also like to make videos and do film editing and stuff like that for basketball or really anything."      

After high school, Coleman is considering attending Kennesaw State University.  "I want to major in something in business, and possibly some how start my own business.  I'd like to do something along the lines of athletic training and help people become stronger and faster."

Coleman said that if he were stranded on an island, and was allowed to only have three things, he said that he would have his Bible, a basketball, and a picture of his family. He has two older sisters, and the family attends Hope And Life Fellowship Church.  

Thanks to his performance, as well as his teammates, the Black Knights are currently on a 5 game winning streak with wins over South Gwinnett, Archer, Grayson, Brookwood and Dacula. As of Friday, they were 14-8 for the season and 11-4 in Region 8-AAAAA play-- one game behind first place South Gwinnett.     

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