By Steve Williams
In a way, when the University of Georgia women’s basketball team plays the Tennessee Lady Vols in Knoxville this coming Sunday afternoon, Marjorie Butler will have come full circle.
Butler, a product of Webb School in Knoxville, is the starting senior point guard for Georgia and will be playing her final regular season game in her hometown.
Shelley Collier, Butler’s high school coach, will be at Thompson-Boling Arena for the occasion.
“Yes, I will be there for Marjorie,” said Coach Collier via e-mail last week. “She is truly very special! I can’t say enough about her!
“Marjorie’s work ethic has always been off the charts in the classroom and on the court! She is a very dedicated and driven person! We are so proud of Marjorie, myself and the entire Webb School community!
“She has already been accepted into several med schools,” added Collier, a former Lady Vol point guard. “As far as her basketball career, she has overcome adversity time and time again with injuries, and has been a great example for others to see the perseverance she has had to stay with it. She is a great example of what a student-athlete should look like.”
Sunday’s game will start at 1 p.m.
Butler scored 12 points, collected five rebounds and had four assists in Georgia’s 61-51 loss at No. 2 ranked South Carolina last Thursday night.
Georgia, 19-7 overall and 7-6 in SEC play after the loss, pulled within five points of South Carolina with less than four minutes remaining in the game.
Butler will have home games against Florida and Arkansas this week before making the trip to Knoxville.
Georgia head coach Joni Taylor echoed Collier’s comments about Butler.
“Marjorie Butler is the epitome of the term student-athlete. She has worked extremely hard to be where she is today, and it speaks so well of her character, commitment and attitude that she is able to take some of the hardest courses offered on our campus, go through very difficult medical school interviews and still rank as one of the top point guards in the SEC.
“Marjorie is a phenomenal person, and I know she will be successful in whatever she seeks to do in life.”
