Lanierland 'father' remembers how tournament started

GAINESVILLE - The man considered the "father" of the Lanierland Basketball Tournament, which is marking its 45th year this month, says he never dreamed it would become the Hall County sports institution it has.

C.W. Davis says the county high schools, at the time, for one reason or another, couldn't get into holiday tournaments in North Georgia, so, it was decided to create one just for them.

"We found that, really, the three Hall County schools were the red-headed stepsister in terms of what other schools were doing."

Davis, now 81, says each of the high school principals readily agreed to the idea. At the time, those schools were South Hall, North Hall and East Hall. Gainesville High agreed to participate and, later, Lakeview Academy, which had not been established, signed on.

Now there are eight county high schools and Gainesville and Lakeview are still participating. Davis says while it would probably be harder to get a consensus for such an endeavor today because of the number of schools, it probably could be done.

He says the increased caliber of players and coaching and changes in the game, itself, have contributed to the success of the tournament:

"It's a speedy game (now)," Davis said. "It's no longer slow down, slow style basketball. It's upbeat, fast."

Davis is a retired Hall County Schools Superintendent, who was a school principal when he conceived the idea for the tournament.

He said his loyalty was "torn" at times each year the tournament rolled around, between rooting for Gainesville High or the county schools he was affiliated with, first as a principal and then as superintendent. That's because one of his sons, Jerry, coached the Gainesville High boys team, and, after a brief hiatus, still does.

Davis says he is no longer active in the tournament but still attends a few games each year.

And, he has lived to see the state of high school tournament basketball in North Georgia come full circle: teams from outside Hall County are now asking to participate in the Lanierland Tournament.

The 45th edition tips off with eight games Saturday December 11 at Gainesville High.

Davis commented during a taping of this week's Northeast Georgia This Week, which will air Sunday morning at 8:05 on WDUN NEWS TALK 550.