James Butler Jr. of Bainbridge to be inducted into Georgia Tech Hall of Fame Friday

James Butler Jr.
James Butler Jr.
James Butler Jr.

Stellar class of six to be inducted October 10 at Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center

ATLANTA – Two-time first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference football stars James Butler and Luke Manget, as well as Georgia Tech’s all-time leading shot-blocker in basketball, Alvin Jones, are among six former Yellow Jacket student-athletes who have been elected to the 2014 Georgia Tech Hall of Fame.

NCAA track champion Michael Johnson, former ACC volleyball player of the year Lynnette Moster and two-time Johnny Bench Award finalist Bryan Prince also are in the 2014 class which will be inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame at the annual Induction Dinner on Oct. 10 at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center.

“We are excited to welcome this 2014 class into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame,” said Tech director of athletics Mike Bobinski. “All of these student-athletes excelled individually in their own right, but they were also key contributors to the success of their teams, which achieved great heights during their time at Tech. It is a tremendous privilege each year to add a new class to our Hall of Fame and have these men and women back on campus, and we look forward to honoring them here on Oct. 10.”

Tickets for the dinner are $50 and can be purchased through the Alexander-Tharpe Fund at 404-894-6124. The inductees will also be honored during Tech’s football game against Duke on Saturday, Oct. 11, at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

About James Butler
Hometown: Climax, Ga
High School: Bainbridge
Height / Weight: 6-3 / 210
Position: Free Safety
Birthdate: 09/07/1982

Following are brief bios on the 2014 Hall of Fame class:

James Butler Jr.
James Butler Jr.

James Butler, Football (2001-04)Photo Gallery
A two-time, first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honoree in 2003, 2004, Butler still holds the Georgia Tech single-season record for tackles by a defensive back (119 in 2003). A standout high school player from Bainbridge High School, Butler earned four varsity letters, started at free safety in 2003 and 2004 and served as team captain in 2004. He was a semi-finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award in 2003 and 2004 and was named Academic All-ACC both of those years. Butler, who remains fifth in Tech history for career tackles by a defensive back (240), played in the Senior Bowl and went on to play in the NFL for seven years and earned a Super Bowl ring in 2007 while with the New York Giants. He holds a degree in building construction from Tech and currently lives in Roswell, Ga., where he owns a group of restaurants.

Related Story: The Butler Did It: James Butler leads by example

Michael Johnson, Track & Field (1996-00)Photo Gallery
Johnson was part of the 4×400 relay squad that won a national championship at the 1998 NCAA Outdoor Championships, pacing the Jackets to an eighth place team finish, which is the second-highest finish for Georgia Tech in school history. His time (3:01.89) is still the third-fastest mark in the event in Tech history. He picked up All-American honors in the same event at the 1999 NCAA’s after helping the 4×400 squad finish fifth overall. Johnson was a four-time participant at the NCAA Championships, competing in the 4×400 at the 1997 Indoor Championships and the 1998-99 Outdoor Championships. He also qualified for NCAA Outdoors during his senior season in 2000 in the 400 meters, and ran a leg on 4×400 relay team that won both the Indoor and Outdoor conference titles at the 1997 ACC Championships and the outdoor title at the 1998 ACC’s. He earned All-ACC honors in 400m after finishing second at the 2000 ACC Outdoors. Johnson currently lives in Denver, Colo., and runs his family’s financial services company.

Alvin Jones, Basketball (1998-01)Photo Gallery
A first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honoree in 2001, Jones remains the leading shot blocker in Georgia Tech history with 425 and was a four-time selection to the ACC’s All-Defensive team. Jones started four years at center for the Yellow Jackets and helped Tech end a five-year NCAA Tournament drought as a senior in 2001. He broke the previous school record in blocked shots of 243, held by John Salley, in just 60 games. Jones remains fourth in ACC history in blocked shots, trailing only Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan (481), Virginia’s Ralph Sampson (462) and Clemson’s Tree Rollins (450), and recorded four of the top five seasons for blocked shots in school history with 141 as a freshman, 107 as a sophomore, 101 as a senior and 76 as a junior. Jones is one of two players in Georgia Tech history to top 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, joining Malcolm Mackey, and is one of only four players in ACC history with 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 400 blocks, along with Rollins, Duncan and Sampson. Jones still ranks second to Mackey on Tech’s career rebounding list with 1,075, and finished his career 15th in league history. He stands 22nd on Tech’s career scoring list with 1,312 points (finished his career 18th). He burst on the ACC scene in 1997-98 with 141 blocks, earning a spot on the ACC All-Freshman team and helping the Yellow Jackets to the quarterfinals of the NIT. Jones was only the second Yellow Jacket center ever to earn All-ACC honors and the first since John Salley made the second team in 1986, and remains the last Tech player to make first-team All-ACC. He became a second-round pick of the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001 and played one NBA season. Jones lives in his hometown of Lakeland, Fla.

wpid-wp-1405905890571.jpegLuke Manget, Football (1999-02)Photo Gallery
A two-time first team All-ACC kicker (2000, 2001) and a second team selection in 2002, Manget still holds Tech records for career points-after-touchdown (160) and for points by kicking (322). Other school records Manget holds include PATs attempted in a game (10); PATs made in a game (10); career PAT percentage (1.000, tied with Travis Bell); field goals attempted in a game (7); field goals attempted in a season (28). Manget earned four letters as a kicker and was part of Yellow Jacket teams that played in four consecutive bowl games – three under coachGeorge O’Leary and one under Chan Gailey. He helped Tech compile 32 victories over his career, climb as high as the top 10 in the national polls in 1999 and 2001. He was Tech’s primary kicker all four seasons, ranking 10th nationally and led the ACC in field goals per game (1.58) in 2001 and leading the ACC in points by kicking in 2000 (74). His 160 career PATS are 22 more than any player in Tech history, and he made 54-of-77 (.701) career field goals, ranking third in Tech history for percentage and field goals made. An Academic All-ACC selection in 2002, Manget currently lives in Athens, Ga., and is working on his doctoral degree in history from the University of Georgia.

Lynnette Moster, Volleyball (2001-04)Photo Gallery
As an outside hitter with the Yellow Jackets from 2001-04, Moster is the school and Atlantic Coast Conference’s first three-time American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American and was named the 2004 ACC Player of the Year and 2002 ACC Tournament MVP. In 2002-03, she was named Georgia Tech Female Athlete of the Year. The Yellow Jacket second career leader in kills (1,859) ranks in the Tech career top 10 in kills per game, digs, aces, and attack percentage. She also led the Yellow Jackets deep into the NCAA Tournament twice, reaching the Elite 8 in 2003 and Sweet 16 in 2004. Among other honors, Moster worked with the U.S. Olympics National Training team in 2005 and 2006. She was Tech’s season leader in aces all four years at Tech, and she went on to play professionally in Puerto Rico after earning her bachelor’s degree in management from Tech in 2006. Moster is entering in her third season as assistant volleyball coach at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, Ill.

Bryan Prince, Baseball (1998-01)Photo Gallery
One of the finest catchers to play on the Flats, Prince was a two-time, first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection (2000, 2001), and helped Georgia Tech win the 2000 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and tournament championships as well as the NCAA Atlanta Regional title. Prince still ranks seventh in school history in hits (278), fifth in RBI (216), 12th in at-bats (788), 14th in doubles (53) and 22nd in total bases (403). He was a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award as the nation’s top catcher in both 2000 and 2001. He posted a career batting average of .353, and still ranks among Tech’s all-time top-20 in batting. Prince hit .387 with 77 RBI as a junior in 2000 and batted .349 with 63 RBI as a senior in 2001, helping the Yellow Jackets establish the two best team batting averages in school history (.347 in 2001; .342 in 2000). A native of Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., Prince earned his bachelor’s degree in management from Tech in 2005 after playing four seasons in the Cincinnati Reds minor league system. He is entering in his eighth season as an assistant coach for the Yellow Jackets’ baseball team.

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