CARROLLTON, Ga. - The University of West Georgia Department of Athletics proudly announces the newest inductees of the UWG Athletics Hall of Fame to be inducted this fall during Hall of Fame Weekend. 

 

The Class of 2025 features two of the all-time greats of the 21st century in football and baseball, Willie Candler and Cade Marlowe, as well as legendary cheerleading coach Sherry Cooney, and the entire 1974 West Georgia NAIA National Championship basketball team. 

 

"What a tremendous class we have the honor of celebrating," said Director of Athletics Jason Carmichael. "This group has it all, tremendous individual student-athletes, unforgettable coaches, and a team that brought home a remarkable national championship."  

 

Cooney's induction into the UWG Athletics Hall of Fame is a historic selection for the department as she is the first cheerleading representative to be enshrined into the Hall of Fame. 

 

The entire Class of 2025 will be inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame on Hall of Fame Weekend set for October 10-11. Inductees will be officially enshrined on Friday, October 10 at the Hall of Fame Banquet as well as being recognized at the Hall of Fame Game as UWG football hosts Abilene Christian on Saturday, October 11. 

 

"We cannot wait until this fall to officially enshrine this group into the hallowed history of University of West Georgia Athletics," added Carmichael. 

 

Football, 2015-19 

Arriving as a freshman in 2015, Willie Candler redshirted for a year before debuting midway through the 2016 season and went on to rewrite the record book for UWG football. Candler ended his career with the top mark in career yards at 8,346 while also topping the career touchdowns mark with 70. As a sophomore and junior, he set single-season passing yard marks, with those figures now sitting at third and fourth all-time. During this stretch, Candler recorded back-to-back 25 touchdown seasons, which continues to rank atop the program's all-time leaderboard. The Atlanta native was a two-time All-Gulf South Conference selection and was a GSC Player of the Week on seven occasions in his career. 

 

Baseball, 2016-19 

Making an immediate impact on West Georgia's 2016 NCAA Playoff team, Cade Marlowe was a difference maker from start to finish. Marlowe hit .412 as a freshman and then went on to hit .366 for his career. An excellent defender and baserunner, Marlowe set the single-season record in stolen bases with 46 steals as a senior and ending his career with 87 swipes. Marlowe slugged 42 doubles in his career, with 143 RBIs and 157 runs scored. A two-time All-Gulf South Conference selection, Marlowe became UWG's third-ever Academic All-American in 2019. That year he also won the highest honor available to a GSC student-athlete, the Commissioner's Trophy and then became UWG's 16th player all-time to be selected in the MLB Draft, going in the 20th round to the Seattle Mariners. 

 

Cheerleading, 1997-07, 2011 

Perhaps the toughest task ever given to a UWG coach, Sherry Cooney was entrusted with rebuilding UWG's cheer program after the tragic automobile accident in 1997. Out of that tragedy rose champions as Cooney was at the helm for the program's first Coed title five years later in 2002 and went on to claim nine total Universal Cheerleading Association titles under her direction. In 2004, 2006, and 2007, UWG claimed program sweeps, winning All-Girl and Coed titles at UCA Nationals. 

 

Noone captivated the Carrollton community and the West Georgia area like Roger Kaiser's 1974 West Georgia College men's basketball team that captured the NAIA National Championship in Kansas City. Powered by two players already enshrined in the UWG Athletics Hall of Fame, Tom Turner and Foots Walker, the Braves went 29-4, scoring 100-plus points in 10 games, including three in the NAIA National Tournament. The team ran through Huron College, Gardner Webb, Indiana (PA), and Kentucky State before defeating Alcorn State 97-79 to claim the National Title. In total, four members, Walker, Turner, Kaiser, and assistant coach Jerry Reynolds are current members of the UWG Hall of Fame and will now be now joined by Dave Edmunds, Jerry Faulkner, Terry Faulkner, Randy Rountree, Floyd Phoenix, Pat Magley, Max Pfeiffer, and Tom Houghtaling.