Jenni Collins Smith made her name on and off the basketball court at ABAC. She later became a coach at Westwood.

TIFTON — Jenni Collins Smith may be the only athlete in Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College history to go from Most Valuable Player to homecoming queen in the space of five weeks.

Smith, the two-time Most Valuable Player of the women’s basketball team in 1981 and 1982, was selected Miss Homecoming 1982 just days after completing her sophomore season as the leading scorer on the Golden Fillies.

“It’s easy to remember all the wonderful days I had at ABAC,” Smith, who now lives in Pelham, said. “It was such a great time in my life.”

For her fantastic career on the hardwood, Smith will join five other individuals and one team on April 6 in ABAC’s Museum of Agriculture Conference Room when they are inducted into the 2018 class of the ABAC Athletics Hall of Fame.

As a freshman from Cotton, Smith averaged 19 points a game for Coach Jeff Kincaid’s Golden Fillies during the 1980-81 season. She was third in the state in scoring and was named All-Conference. She received the Offensive Award and the MVP award for the ABAC team.

During her sophomore year at ABAC, Smith averaged 19.4 points a game with a career high of 44 against Brewton Parker for Coach Keith Barr’s Fillies. She hit 80 percent of her free throws to finish second in the league in that category. She was also seventh in the conference in assists and was selected third out of the top 10 two-year college players in Georgia.

Smith again received All-Conference honors and was nominated for the National Junior College Athletic Association All-America team. The Golden Fillies selected her as the MVP, and she again received the Offensive Award. In addition to her Miss Homecoming title, Smith was voted Miss Baldwin by the student body and received a Pacesetter Award.

Smith continued her basketball career at Georgia Southwestern where she was the MVP during her junior year and was named All Conference both seasons.

After college, Smith found her niche in coaching. She began coaching the varsity girls’ team at Westwood School in Camilla in 2008. When she gave up her whistle after her youngest daughter graduated in 2016, the Westwood team had won two state championships and four region titles. Westwood played in six state semifinals and five state championship games during that time.

With her husband, Tim, as her assistant coach, Smith’s junior varsity team also went on a 75-0 run during those years. Smith was selected as the Georgia Independent Schools Association (GISA) statewide Coach of the Year for girls’ basketball in 2013 and 2014 and as the Region Coach of the Year in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

“We spent all those hours in the gym together as a family, and it was a blast,” Smith said.

ABAC Athletics Director Alan Kramer said the 2018 class also includes the 1982 state championship men’s basketball team, Luis Paredes from the 1974-76 men’s tennis teams, Teresa Cromer Walker from the 1993-95 softball teams, Jorge Novoa, a friend of the tennis program since 1972; Chuck DeVane from the 1980-82 baseball teams, and Andy Vaughn from the 1981- 83 golf teams.

As an extra added attraction to the Hall of Fame ceremony this year, Polly Huff, assistant director and curator at the Museum, will feature an entire exhibit based on ABAC athletics titled “The Glory Days” in the Museum Gallery. Hall of Fame members can visit the exhibit at a 5 p.m. reception prior to dinner. The exhibit will then open to all ABAC alumni and the public on April 7 as a part of the Homecoming Weekend.

Tickets to the reception and dinner are $40 per person. Tickets can be purchased from the ABAC Athletics Office at (229) 391-4930. The deadline to purchase tickets is March 26. There will be no tickets sold at the event.

For more information on the 2018 Homecoming Week, interested persons can visit the web site at www.abac.edu/homecoming.