The Manchester Academy Board of Directors welcomed three new members into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame on Tuesday at the Mavericks’ annual spring sports award ceremony.
M.A. Board President John Murry Greenlee inducted Harold Miller, Jere Barrier and Charles Barbour into Manchester’s most elite athletic organization.
Harold Miller
Harold Miller was an All Star member of Manchester’s first ever state championship team when the Mavericks won the AA State baseball championship in the school’s first full year of operation in the spring of 1971. Miller played first base, was the leadoff hitter and was voted “best offensive player”.
In addition, Miller led the Maverick football team as an All-Conference football player at quarterback, running back and defensive back. Miller signed a football scholarship to play at Mississippi State and played three years for the Bulldogs.
He really enjoyed playing basketball and played center for Manchester and was a standout player. In order to play, he and his teammates helped install the wooden floors in the Maverick gymnasium.
He was also voted “most athletic” by his peers. Miller and his family live in Flora.
Jere “Doodah” Barrier
Jere Barrier is arguably the most versatile female athlete to ever walk the halls of Manchester Academy and also one of the most popular.
Known lovingly as “Doodah”, she passed away from cancer at only 45 years of age, but not before she made her mark in Yazoo City and beyond.
She was voted “most athletic” and was MVP for basketball and golf in 1975 and 1976. When she was in high school, there was no girls’ golf team, so she played with the boys. In basketball, she was often unstoppable with a pure and beautiful jump shot. While M.A. did not have a tennis team when Jere was in school, she was also an excellent tennis player, but she was actually a natural athlete who was good at any sport.
One of her high school classmates shared the following about Jere:
“Jere was ahead of her time. She lived to compete and could have played any sport, but excelled in basketball and golf. People were drawn to her personality. She could make a total stranger feel like an old friend. She was so positive and confident at all times that her teammates rallied around her, and her competitors could not help but like and respect her. She was elected captain or All-Star for every team she ever played for.”
Jere’s aunt, Deen Graeber, accepted the award on her behalf and made touching and entertaining remarks of Jere’s remarkable combination of athleticism, charming personality and contagious good humor. Attending the ceremony to honor Jere were her sister Jeannie Barrier, uncle Peas Graeber and first cousin and M.A. Secondary Principal Chad Graeber.
Charles Barbour
Charles Barbour, a 1991 MA graduate, is one of only three Mavericks to ever be recognized as a three-sport MAIS All Star. He was selected as an All Star in football, baseball and basketball.
In football, Barbour played quarterback his junior and senior years, and the team won the conference championship each year he was in high school and competed for the South State AA title.
In Charles’ junior year, MA had one of Manchester’s most prolific running backs, Jerry Graeber, but in the South State championship game against Centerville, Charles threw for an amazing 364 yards as the defense attempted to stop the Maverick running attack. Barbour passed for 2,115 yards his senior season, threw 16 TD passes and rushed for 8 TD’s.
In basketball, Charles played on one of the Mav’s best basketball teams in school history. His junior year the Mavs were ranked #1 with Prep and Kirk Academy and were 26-1 heading into the AA State Championships. The basketball team made it to the Overall AA State Championship his junior and senior seasons and he averaged 19.6 points and 12.4 rebounds per game his senior season.
Barbour is best known for baseball, however. The Mavericks won the conference in baseball his sophomore, junior and senior years. Charles was an outstanding hitter (.487 batting average his senior season) and an All Star pitcher. He was 11-2 with a 0.87 ERA his senior year on the mound and twice beat Jackson Prep as the winning pitcher. In the State All Star game his senior season, he was the starting pitcher for the South and hit a home run.
Barbour signed a scholarship to play baseball at Ole Miss where he set the record for most relief appearances in a season with 28 appearances in the 1994 Rebel season. He and his family live in Jackson.
Manchester established the M.A. Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013. Members previously inducted include Michael McGraw, Angie Edgar, Harvey Luby, Jerry Graeber, Joseph Nickels, Peggy Ellis Rhodes, David Adams, Emily Parks Poe and Coach Bob Walker.
