The Circle of Honor recognizes and pays tribute to the student athletes and
coaches who have exhibited extraordinary levels of excellence by their performance and conduct. These individuals have brought honor and glory to the University and to themselves, and their actions have significantly contributed to the tradition and legend of the Georgia Bulldogs. The 2016 Circle of Honor inductees were John Little, Coco Miller, Kelly Miller, and Stefanie Williams.
John Little
John Little arrived at Georgia in 1982 as a quarterback. He departed Athens
as one of the greatest defenders who ever wore the Red and Black. What happened in between those two events is the stuff that gets football players inducted into the Circle of Honor.
Hailing from Lynn Haven, Florida, Little had quarterbacked his high school team to the state championship game in his senior year. He came to Georgia as the Bulldogs were assembling the greatest run of success in the program’s history. It didn’t take him long to realize that his contributions would likely come from somewhere other than his native position.
Little was moved to defense early in his redshirt season of 1982. He was reassigned as a roverback, and lucky for him, his mentor there was two-time All-American Terry Hoage. It appeared that Little would serve a season as Hoage’s understudy before taking over full-time as a sophomore in 1984. A teammate’s injury, however, prompted Hoage to move to safety three games into the 1983 season, and Little eventually started six games at rover as a redshirt freshman.
During his career that followed, Little was named consensus All-SEC in 1985 and 1986 and also named a first teamAll-America both years as well. His 381 career tackles are the most in school history for a defensive back and still rank 7th best in school history for a player at any position. Little was also a two-time Academic All-SEC selection and was elected as the permanent team captain after the 1986 season.
Little enjoyed a particularly memorable day in Georgia’s 1985 win at Clemson. His two fourth-quarter interceptions – the last one in the end zone with a minute remaining – snuffed two Clemson scoring threats and enabled the Bulldogs to post a 20-13 victory. Such playmaking defined the rover back position for Georgia, and it embodied Little’s performance throughout his Bulldog career.
Little, a two-time Academic All-SEC honoree, earned his degree in Marketing from UGA in 1987. He has worked for the Georgia Crown Distributing Company in the Columbus area ever since and he is currently Vice President of Trade Marketing, Pricing & Procurement.
Coco Miller
Along with her identical twin sister Kelly, Coco Miller made an impact upon Georgia Athletics that continues to resonate today. In fact, never before – and perhaps not to be duplicated again – has a set of twins left such an indelible mark during their time in Athens.
As a complementary “shooting” guard to her point-guard sister, Coco needed little time to acclimate herself to the collegiate level. In just her fifth game, she set Georgia’s single-game scoring record when she poured in 45 points against Charleston Southern. Almost 20 years later, the record still stands. That season Coco went on to average 16 points per contest, second on the team to Kelly’s average of 17.5 per game, and they were both named Freshman All-Americans.
The next year Georgia found late-season magic and rode its hot streak to the NCAA Final Four, the program’s fifth such appearance. The Millers, of course, led the Lady Bulldogs in every facet but especially in scoring, where they accounted for nearly 37 points per game. Both were named All- Americans by at least one authority at season’s end.
In 2000, Georgia won more games than any Lady Bulldog team in history. It also captured the program’s seventh SEC regular-season championship,reached the NCAA Elite Eight and finished with a 32-4 record. Coco led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring at 15.4 points per game and once again earned All-America appointments from multiple sources.
One of the high points of the Millers’ time at Georgia came just after the 2000 season. The AAU Sullivan Award is given annually to the nation’s outstanding amateur athlete, based on the qualities of leadership, character and sportsmanship, and is selected by a large, nationwide voting panel. In the only time of the award’s 70-year history, Coco and Kelly were named co-winners for the 1999 calendar year.
Coco Miller completed her Georgia career with 2,131 points, a figure that still ranks fifth among all- time Lady Bulldog players. She was a first-round selection by the Washington Mystics in the 2001 WNBA Draft and she played in the league for 12 seasons,as well as internationally for several seasons, before retiring in 2012.
Kelly Miller
It’s difficult to separate the playing careers of Kelly and Coco Miller as Georgia Lady Bulldogs, so closely parallel they were to one another. Kelly, however, distinguished herself as one of the program’s outstanding point guards, a prolific scorer and leader of some of its best-ever teams.
The native Minnesotan took over the starting point guard’s job from the opening days of her first season and kept it throughout her career. She led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring and earned a reputation for clutch performances. Her two best examples came in post-season play. As a sophomore she exploded for a career-high 33 points to lead Georgia past Iowa State and send her team into the 1999 NCAA Final Four. In her senior season, the Lady Bulldogs won the 2001 SEC Tournament championship over Vanderbilt on her buzzer-beating basket.
In 2000, Georgia won more games than any Lady Bulldog team in history. It also captured the program’s seventh SEC regular-season championship,reached the NCAA Elite Eight and finished with a 32-4 record. Kelly won consensus All-America honors, National Player of the Year, first-team All-SEC and SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
One of the high points of the Millers’ time at Georgia came just after the 2000 season. The AAU Sullivan Award is given annually to the nation’s outstanding amateur athlete, based on the qualities of leadership, character and sportsmanship, and is selected by a large, nationwide voting panel. In the only time of the award’s 70-year history, Coco and Kelly were named co-winners for the 1999 calendar year.
Kelly Miller completed her Georgia career with 2,177 points, a figure that still ranks fourth among all- time Lady Bulldog players. She was a first-round selection by the Charlotte Sting in the 2001 WNBA Draft and she played in the league for 12 seasons,as well as internationally for several seasons,before retiring in 2012.
Stefanie Williams
Stefanie Williams arrived on the UGA campus in the fall of 1998. The Lady Bulldogs Swimming and Diving program captured the program’s first NCAA team championship seven months later. There is a direct correlation between these two events.
There is also little coincidence that Williams competed on two more NCAA championship squads that followed. As an assistant coach, she has helped mentor Georgia teams that have won three of the past four national titles.
Success and championships have long been the by-products of Williams’ daily work habits, going back to her days as a high school-age swimmer. The native of Bloomsburg,Pennsylvania,was already a national record-setter in the freestyle and backstroke when she came to Georgia as a freshman.
Individually, Williams earned 28 All-America certificates during her collegiate career, the maximum number possible. She was a member of four national championship relays, helping Georgia’s 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams set American records in 2002. She was a two-time SEC champion in the 200 freestyle and was on 10 victorious relays at SEC championship meets. Williams left Georgia as the school record holder in the 200 freestyle, and she still ranks in the top 10 in the 100 freestyle. Perhaps her most significant honor as a collegian came when she was named team captain of the 2002 Lady Bulldog squad.
Williams continues to make a positive impact on the Georgia program today. After three years as an assistant coach at Missouri and four at Ohio State, she returned to Athens in 2012 as a member of head coach Jack Bauerle’s staff.
