Eagle Hall of Fame Class of 2023
A.J. Johnson
(2003-2004) – Baseball
A.J. Johnson received some remarkable accolades during his high school career. He was named District 4A Player of the Year, on the State All-Star Team, and a District 4A Florida State Championship Champion.
Johnson’s college experience closely mirrored that of his high school career. In 2004, A.J. received the ABCA/Rawlings NJCAA Division I National Player of the Year award. The Mansfield, Ohio native became TCC’s first student-athlete to be awarded this honor.
During that season, he appeared in 57 games for the Eagles, hitting a .372 batting average with 88 runs batted in and 18 home runs. The team went 45-12 for the year to become the Panhandle Conference Champions and reach the FCSAA Tournament. Johnson was awarded the 2004 Panhandle Conference Champion Player of the Year.
After the 2004 season, A.J. was selected in the sixth round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his first year there, he was chosen as the Pirates Most Athletic Player. He played for three seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Johnson finished his Bachelor’s Degree in 2016 and was on the President’s List in 2015 and 2016.
Eddie Barnes
Head Coach (2001-2015) – Basketball
On May 23, 2001, Eddie Barnes was introducedas the second Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Tallahassee Community College, where he served until 2015 when he announced his retirement.
Coach Barnes’ had a career spanning over 40 years, spending 13 years developing high school athletes, three years as an Assistant Coach at the University of Montevallo, and 24 years working with collegiate athletes. In 1998, he received the Glenn Clem Award from the Birmingham Tip-Off Club, honoring him as the most outstanding Junior College Coach in Alabama. In 2001, he was recognized as the AJCC/NJCAA District Coach of the Year and was one of five finalists for NJCAA National Coach of the Year. Throughout his 26 years of coaching in Alabama, he received the Coach of the Year award 15 times.
In 14 seasons at TCC, he guided the Eagles to one Panhandle Conference Championship (2006), five postseason berths (2002, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011), two FCSAA/NJCAA District Championships (2006, 2011), and two NJCAA National Tournaments finishing (2006 runner-up, 2011 the elite eight). During this time, he also chaired the Panhandle Conference Basketball Coaches Committee and served as FCSAA men’s basketball state chair. He was named Panhandle Coach of the Year and FCSAA/NJCAA District VIII Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2011. In 2006, Coach Barnes was honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as Division I National Coach of the Year. Coach Barnes was also honored by his alma mater, the
University of Montevallo, in 2007 when they named him the recipient of the prestigious Leon Davis Award.
After retiring in 2015, Coach Barnes received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Student Government Association at TCC. He was honored by his Panhandle Conference peers by ascribing his namesake to the award for Panhandle Coach of the Year, and his state peers inducted him into the Florida State Community College Hall of Fame. In 2017, he was inducted into the Wiregrass Athletic Hall of Fame in Dothan, Alabama, and the Tallahassee Community College Alumni Hall of Fame.
He now coaches basketball at the Community Leadership Academy in Tallahassee. Coach Barnes and his wife Judy have two children: Cason Barnes and Lindsey Sheppard, along with five grandchildren: Ellanie, Addyson, and Kenna Barnes, and Payton and Bennett Sheppard.
Bernard James
(2008-2010) – Basketball
Bernard James enlisted in the United States Air Force at age 17, serving with honor for six years. He played for the Eagles from 2008 to 2010. As a freshman, he averaged 12.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in 21 contests. He received First-Team All-Panhandle Conference Honors and was voted the league’s Freshman of the Year. In his sophomore season, he averaged 14.2 points and 10.5 rebounds in 31 games. He again received First-Team All-Panhandle Conference and All-FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII honors. His TCC career
culminated with the 2010 FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII Championship Game, where the Eagles narrowly fell to Northwest Florida State.
Following his time at TCC, Bernard transferred to Florida State University, where he helped the Seminoles reach back-to-back NCAA Tournaments and win the 2012 ACC Tournament Championship. On June 28, 2012, Bernard was selected as the 33rd pick of the NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who would later trade him to the Dallas Mavericks, where he appeared in 92 games. He was the first TCC Eagle to be selected in the NBA Draft and the oldest player ever to be drafted.
Marvis “Bootsy” Thornton
(1995-1997) – Basketball
Marvis “Bootsy” Thornton grew up playing basketball in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was a standout shooting guard for Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. In 1995 he was recruited to visit TCC by Coach Mike Gillespie. Bootsy helped the Eagles earn the 1996-97 state championship and third place in the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament. He was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and the Florida Community College Activities Association Player of the Year.
After graduating from TCC, Bootsy played for St. John’s University in Queens, New York, earning a degree in sport management. In 1999-2000, he became a Big East Tournament champion and MVP. He enjoyed a successful fourteen-year career with the European Basketball League, playing for teams based in Italy, Turkey, Spain, and France, and winning multiple championship league titles. He was a member of the 2007 FIBA EuroCup Championship Team and, in 2008, was one of ten players named to the All-EuroLeague Second Team.
Bootsy currently resides in Georgia with his wife Aquenda, also a standout TCC basketball athlete, and their children Maranda, Marvis IV, and Milana.
Mansa El
(2009-2010) – Basketball
Mansa El began her playing career at Cy-Fair High School in Houston, Texas, from 2005-2008, where she was an All-District, All-Region, and All-State player. During her three years on Varsity, her team was 113-4, with two trips to the state championship game and one state championship title. Mansa was the point guard for the No. 1 team in the state of Texas and the No. 5 team in the nation for three seasons. After graduation, she began her collegiate playing career at the University of North Texas, where she recorded 200 points, 107 rebounds, and
72 assists in 31 contests, including 29 starts, which set a record for a true freshman in school history during that time. She was awarded the MVP trophy at the end of her freshman campaign.
Mansa transferred to TCC for the 2009-10 season, where she scored 13.5 points per outing and connected on 52 three-pointers to be named First-Team All-Panhandle Conference. She was named to the All-State Tournament Team while scoring 17.3 PPG in the postseason. Her efforts helped the Lady Eagles rank 12th in the final National Junior College Athletic Association poll after finishing 20-9 overall. After graduating, Mansa was a two-year letter winner at the University of South Alabama, where she posted 691 points, 247 rebounds, 162 assists, and 78 steals in 69 career appearances for the Jaguars. She was named Third-Team All-Sun Belt as a redshirt junior after averaging 12.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per contest, and the following season she posted averages of 9.6 points and 4.3 rebounds; her efforts helped lead them to a 17-13 finish each of those years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies before going on to earn a master’s in human resource development from the University of Houston.
Now a coach for 11 years, Mansa has had collegiate coaching stops at West Virginia Wesleyan College, the University of Houston, and the University of South Alabama. In 2017, she became the First Female Boys’ Basketball Coach in Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District while coaching the JV and Varsity Boys’ Basketball Teams at Cypress Springs High School. She is now in her first season as Head Women’s Basketball Coach at the University of St. Thomas.
Genevieve Printiss
Athlete (2018-2020), Assistant Coach (2021) – Cross Country
Genevieve ran for the Eagles from 2018-20, quickly emerged as the team’s top runner. As a freshman, she was the top two-year runner at the Valdosta State Border Clash and later posted
a season-best 21:00.1 in the 5K at the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Championships. She made her NJCAA Championships debut with a 32nd-place finish in the NJCAA Half Marathon. In Hobbs, New Mexico, she finished 25th in the 1500m at the NJCAA Championships. Genevieve was the team’s top finisher in each cross-country event in 2019. At the FSU Invitational, she posted a
PR of 20:04.5 to earn NJCAA Women’s Runner of the Week honors. Her time of 20:27.0 was good for third place and a spot on the All-Region 8/All-FCSAA Team at the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Championships. She was named the inaugural recipient of the FCSAA Larry Monts Women’s Scholar-Athlete Award for cross country, earned an honorable mention for NATYCAA’s Scholar-Athlete Team, and was selected as TCC Athletics’ Top Female Scholar-Athlete in 2020.
In addition to her athletic talent, Genevieve was a repeat honoree on the NJCAA Cross Country Coaches Association Scholar All-America Team, earned NJCAA All-Academic First-Team recognition, and was named All-Academic by both the FCSAA and Panhandle Conference. She graduated from TCC with a 4.0 GPA and went on to continue her education at the University of Florida, earning a degree in forest resources and conservation in 2022. She currently works for the Florida Forest Service.