Andy Landers calls Bernadette Locke Mattox the “First Lady of Georgia Basketball” — and for good reason. When Landers was hired in 1979, one of his first and critical successes was to entice Locke, a driven guard who played for him at Roane State College and who had Tennessee roots similar to his own, to venture with him to Athens. Locke set a standard for future generations to emulate, both on and off the floor. She became the first Lady Bulldog basketball player to earn All-America and Academic All-America honors and she was the first female student-athlete in the University of Georgia’s history to garner both of those accolades. Locke’s Lady Bulldog legend was furthered in 2009 when she was inducted into UGA’s Circle of Honor, the highest recognition a former Georgia student-athlete can receive.
Where we’ve been... Where we are... Lady Bulldog Basketball’s association with USA Basketball is as deep and storied as any program in the nation. All told, 25 Georgia players have taken part in more than 40 national and international competitions wearing the Red, White and Blue. Ashley Houts wrote the latest chapter in that relationship during the summer of 2009. Houts secured her second international Gold Medal in three summers by helping the U.S. National Team win the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia. She played an integral role in the Americans’ undefeated run to the top of the medals podium, averaging 8.3 points per game. Houts also won Gold as the only rising sophomore on the U.S. team that won the FIBA U21 World Championships in 2007.