Shaquanda Middleton says any time she talks about Savannah High School, she gets emotional.
“I just means something to me,” said Middleton, 29, a member of the Class of 2014 who was a standout in academics and athletics.
Shaquanda Middleton, a Savannah High alum, will take over as head coach of the Blue Jackets girls basketball team. (Nathan Dominitz/Special to Prep Sports Report)
She returned to her alma mater five years ago as a business teacher and added titles including assistant girls basketball coach and head coach of the Blue Jackets flag football and softball teams.
Now she has a new title, as principal Shomari Gilford plans to announce on March 23 that the girls' basketball program is “passing the torch” from longtime head coach George Johnson to his former player, Middleton, an assistant since the 2018-19 season.
Savannah High principal Shomari Gilford (left), Shaquanda Middleton (center) and longtime girls basketball coach George Johnson pose in the Blue Jackets gymnasium. Middleton will take over the program following Johnson’s 16-year tenure. (Nathan Dominitz/Special to Prep Sports Report)
Gilford said he is proud of Johnson for his coaching and development of players in the program, and of Middleton, whom he first knew as a student when he taught at Savannah High.
Johnson, 58, said the timing was right to step down and for Middleton to step up.
“Things are in place. I’m getting older, and the kids are changing a little bit. It’s time to see another face,” said Johnson, noting the success of current basketball coaches in Georgia at their alma mater. “I think it’ll be a good transition for an alum to take over the program.”
Johnson has coached the girls squad for 16 years, since the 2010-11 season, and the volleyball team for nearly that long, and will continue to do so. He was also an assistant on the boys' basketball team for many years, the girls' hoops team for a few years, and has coached baseball and track and field at SHS.
“I still have volleyball,” said Johnson, who teaches health and personal fitness. “I’ll be on staff providing my services as needed. I’m moving to more the development part. I’ll be here. I’ll still be in the background assisting wherever they need assisting. That’s with all of the sports, like I’ve always done.”
Savannah High girls basketball coach George Johnson is stepping down after 16 seasons and will remain involved in the program in a support role. (Nathan Dominitz/Special to Prep Sports Report)
Johnson sees his role as helping students stay academically eligible and prepared to also play sports in a supportive, positive atmosphere. That includes making sure the student-athletes take care of facilities like the gymnasium and treat it like home.
“My ways are my ways,” Johnson said. “I still believe in the old-school teachings and discipline and being where you’re supposed to be, being on time, taking care of your business on and off the court.
“Being ladies but also being good, strong ballplayers, too,” he said of the girls' basketball team. “I know that’s going to continue because of who I’ve now trusted to take that over. That part’s going to be there, but (Middleton) also will be able to put a spin on it because she’s closer to the age of the kids than I am. My role will be supporting, like I’ve always done.”
Johnson views the program as family, the players like his children, also noting that he has two daughters, Jasmine and Jada, who graduated from Savannah High and played multiple sports. His basketball assistants, Middleton and Ke’Tara Trappio, are two of his former players, and Trappio also is an assistant coach on the volleyball squad.
Shaquanda Middleton (left) poses with Savannah High girls basketball coach George Johnson during her playing days with the Blue Jackets. (Courtesy of Shaquanda Middleton)
“Got to keep family close – keyword family,” Johnson said.
To help with the transition, he began to delegate some of his head coaching duties at times to Middleton, increase communication and ask more for her input, and even have her take over for portions of games.
“It’s hard to pull back,” Johnson said, “but to just let her figure it out. She’s been around long enough that I trust that she’s going to do fine.”
Traveling far before coming home
It wasn’t that different from his advice to her when she left Savannah to play guard at what was Pine Manor College, at the time an NCAA Division III program near Boston and now part of Boston College’s system. It was a long way from home, but she stayed, had a successful playing career, and earned a degree.
“I’m just appreciative of (coach Johnson) always pushing me to go beyond what I was comfortable doing, get comfortable being uncomfortable and finding success in the classroom or within basketball or just building relationships with people,” said Middleton, who has known Johnson since he and Bakari Bryant coached her at Hubert Middle School.
“I’m just grateful for the opportunity,” she said of becoming a head coach at a well-established program. “Coach Johnson has always been a father figure to me since I was in middle school.”
Middleton expects a smooth transition from an assistant to head of the girls squad, which she says is “like one big family. It’s not too buddy-buddy.” She will rely on her experience as a head coach of two other Blue Jackets teams and support from Johnson and Gilford.
“I’ve had some success,” said Middleton, whose flag football team produced its first scholarship player in 2025 graduate Keshauna Gusby, now a freshman on the team at Brewton-Parker Christian University in Mount Vernon, Ga. “I feel like we all lay the same foundation when it comes to preparing the kids, not just for sports but for life outside of Savannah High School.”
Johnson said that seeing his players succeed after graduation and also hearing them repeat his philosophies when they talk with others are highlights of his tenure.
New culture at Savannah High
Gilford, Johnson, and Middleton all talked about dispelling myths and outdated narratives of Savannah High. Middleton, whose brother Tywann is a junior at the school, said students can compete at a high level and be successful in academics and athletics.
“We have some parallels because I’m having the same vision for Savannah High on the administrative side as (Middleton) has from the coaching side (such as) support from the community,” Gilford said. “We’re not the same Savannah High you’ve heard.”
More than in name only, though the proper name is the School of Liberal Studies at Savannah High School.
“The name has changed but the culture has changed. The students have more pride about themselves,” Gilford said. “We’ve taken pride in the classroom as well as on the court.”
The boys basketball team, for example, won the 2025 GHSA Class A Division II championship for the program’s first state title since 1998. Gilford sees growth as teams increase participation and become more competitive.
“With growth and pride, I think that’s the final piece of the puzzle of what I have envisioned here for our school culture and climate moving forward,” Gilford said.
Photo (s) Credit: Courtesy of Nathan Dominitz for the Prep Sorts Report
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