His Coach Would Be Proud of Timmons

Desmond Timmons was a 6-foot-7 presence in the post for Coach Herbert Greene at Columbus State University. Now his impressive work outdoors as the manager of Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park has earned him a spot in Georgia Trend Magazine’s 40 Under 40.

Timmons, 37, hails from Lee County where he went to high school with country music superstar Luke Bryan. Timmons is one of three Muscogee County products to make the magazine’s list of 40 promising Georgians for 2016. He joins Teddy Reese, a 35-year-old attorney, who donates his time to underprivileged youth and 39-year-old Shanna Young, who works with the Leadership Institute at CSU.

“My office is the great outdoors,” says Timmons, who played two years of college basketball under Greene. At FDR, he stewards nearly 10,000 acres of valuable park land and helped oversee $1.6 million in renovations of the historic cabins at the state facility.

Herbert Greene prowled the sidelines for 25 years at Columbus State University.

His old coach died in 2015, 11 years after he quit prowling the sidelines at CSU. Greene guided the Cougars for 25 years and he retired with an impressive 481-240 record. He went on to lead the Columbus Sports Council.

But the performances of his former players off the court is a reminder that the Auburn University graduate did more than teach them to run and shoot.

Timmons is the latest in a string of successes.

His honor comes on the heels of Carver High School’s Stefan Lawrence being named 2016 Teacher of the Year in Muscogee County. The list of onetime players includes James Wilson, former principal at Northside High, now one of three regional directors in the local school system. Marvin Crumbs is the principal at Columbus High — one of the top high schools in the state — and Matt Bell is in charge at Hardaway High. Sterling Hicks is head women’s coach at Kendrick High and he has two state titles under his belt. Former Cougar Pershin Williams was recently named an assistant basketball coach at his alma mater.

For a look at the complete list of 2016 honorees visit Georgia Trend.com