From Houston County to Atlanta, this basketball trio is making a mark on Georgia State

The Georgia State basketball team has a definite Middle Georgia connection this season.

Three of the team’s top reserves grew up within miles of each other in Houston County, but attended different high schools. The fact that all three ended up at Georgia State is both coincidental and unsurprising since the trio essentially has played together and against each other for their whole lives.

“We’ve been playing rec ball, playing pickup ball, since we were young, really,” said forward Josh Linder. “We’ve been like brothers since we were young.”

Linder is a 6-foot-8 junior from Veterans High School. He’s joined on the team by Chris Clerkley, a 6-9 redshirt junior center from Perry, and Nelson Phillips, a 6-4 sophomore guard from Warner Robins.

All three have played a role in the success of the Panthers, who are 14-7 and are currently second place in the Sun Belt Conference.

Phillips is usually the first player to come off the bench. He plays 21.5 minutes and averages 7.1 points and 3.4 rebounds. He’s used his athleticism to account for 17 blocks and 26 steals. Fans are still marveling about his dunk against Louisiana, where he came from almost behind the basket to grab an offensive rebound with one hand and emphatically slam it home.

Linder averages 14.5 minutes in a reserve role off the bench. He averages 5.1 points and 3.5 rebounds and gives the team another long body in the rotation. Linder doesn’t take many shots — about three per game —but he’s extremely accurate (55.9 percent) on the short-range targets.

Clerkley has been a reliable big man off the bench. Coach Rob Lanier has been impressed with Clerkley’s work ethic and improvement this season. He has played better than his modest stat line of 1.5 points and 1.6 rebounds.

While Phillips and Linder have more time left at Georgia State, Clerkley has already graduated and is currently pursuing a masters degree in speech communications. He may try to play professional basketball overseas — his size and intelligence are desirable traits — or he is contemplating a career in the military.

Clerkley, affectionately known as “Bird,” was the first to arrive on campus. He likes Atlanta and playing in the big city was appealing. When Linder came for his official visit, Clerkley acted as an unofficial recruiter and helped convince his friend the school would be a good fit.

Phillips originally thought he wanted to get away from home and go to a faraway school, but changed his mind after realizing the importance of his family. He visited Georgia State and was convinced the style matched his skill level. After talking things over with his family, he chose the Panthers.

“I’ve been watching them play since we were young, so it’s been good to see them get better and better,” Clerkley said. “I try to mirror my game by the way they play hard. We all try to encourage each other.”

All three players were recruited to come to Georgia State by Ron Hunter, who led the Panthers to three trips to the NCAA playoffs. But Hunter left for Tulane after winning the Sun Belt tournament for the second straight year and was followed by Rob Lanier, who runs a more disciplined program. Now, as the final month of the season approaches, the trio likes where the team is at, but wants to continue to improve.

“I guess for an outsider it looks like we’re good,” Phillips said. “But we know we’ve still got to take another step and get better.”