Gwen Cottle Spurlin
Gwendolyn "Gwen" Cottle Spurlin (1937–2022) was a Tifton High School basketball star. She scored 700 points in the 1954–55 season and was inducted into the Tift County Athletic Hall of Fame a week before her death.
Sourcing: strong 1 genealogy · 3 news
Gwendolyn "Gwen" Cottle Spurlin (March 20, 1937 – January 15, 2022) was an American high school basketball player from Tifton, Georgia.[1][2]
Basketball
Playing for the Tifton High School Angels in her senior season of 1954–55, she scored 700 points.[2] That total included a game of more than 50 points against Americus in the region tournament. In 2022 the Tifton Gazette said it was "still a top game for anyone wearing the blue and white."[2] She led the Angels to the state tournament, where they finished third.[2]
Hall of Fame
Spurlin was part of the Tift County Athletic Hall of Fame's Class of 2020, whose induction was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic until a ceremony on January 8, 2022. She was too ill to attend, and one of her sons accepted the honor for her. She died a week later.[2] He told the audience that she rarely talked about her own skills: "All she ever would talk about is her teammates."[2]
Life and family
She was born in Ty Ty, Georgia, and her obituary describes her as a homemaker and a member of Tifton's First Baptist Church. She died at her home in Ty Ty at age 84 and was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery.[1]
She was married to Jimmy Spurlin, a Tifton coach and county commission chairman who died in 2006. The couple had four children, according to the Tifton Gazette.[3][1] Their son Johnny Spurlin became head boys' basketball coach at Tift County High School.[4]
See also
- Jimmy Spurlin · People strong
James Kenneth "Jimmy" Spurlin Sr. (1935–2006) was a coach, banker and local official in Tifton, Georgia, who chaired the Tift County Commission and was honored by the Tift County (2016) and ABAC (class of 2022) athletic halls of fame. - Johnny Spurlin · People strong
Johnny Spurlin is a Tifton, Georgia, lawyer and longtime basketball coach at Tift County High School. He was named head boys' coach in 2005, took the Blue Devils to the 2007 state Final Four, and later returned as an assistant to Tommy Blackshear. - Jimmy Spurlin Park (Tifton, Georgia) · Places mixed
Jimmy Spurlin Park is a youth baseball field in Tifton, Georgia, named for James Kenneth "Jimmy" Spurlin Sr. (1935–2006), a Tifton city commissioner, Tift County Commission chairman and longtime youth coach. Tift County lists a Spurlin field in its D. L. Lastinger Recreation Area, and tournament organizers list it as Spurlin Field. - Spurlins in sports · Culture strong
An overview of people surnamed Spurlin in sports: college and minor league baseball, college football, wrestling, softball and basketball coaching, with links to each article and a note of the professional leagues and databases searched. - Cindy Shore Spurlin · People strong
Cindy Shore Spurlin is a former Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) softball player. She was a 1992 NJCAA All-American, set several school single-season records and entered the ABAC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2026. - Spurlins in athletic halls of fame · Culture strong
A roundup of people surnamed Spurlin who have been inducted into college, county and high school athletic halls of fame, with notes on the state coaching halls and Olympic records that list no Spurlin.
References
- ↑ ↑ ↑ Gwendolyn Cottle Spurlin — Obituary, Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals (CurrentObituary.com) — Funeral home obituary, January 2022 Genealogy
- ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Tift Athletic Hall of Fame inducts Class of 2020 in ceremony — Tifton Gazette (Jan. 21, 2022) News
- ↑ Local athletes to be honored Saturday at Hall of Fame ceremony — Tifton Gazette (Oct. 21, 2016) News
- ↑ New basketball coach named — Tifton Gazette (Dec. 7, 2005) News
Last reviewed 2026-09-24.