Following a successful 2024-25 season, several Putnam County boys basketball players earned All-Region honors.
Four War Eagles players were selected for the All-Region team, with five others recognized on the honorable mention list.
Head coach Patrick Marshall and junior Jmari Greene highlighted the postseason awards for Putnam County.
Marshall was named the Class A Division I - Region 4 Coach of the Year. He didn’t want to discuss his award, instead saying the players were the reason his team succeeded this year.
“They are the ones that deserve the credit,” Marshall said of this year’s team. “This season for me will always be one of those seasons that I will always remember. It was a really special year. The group of kids, especially the group of seniors that we had, were extremely special all four years.”
After a strong junior campaign, Greene was named Region Player of the Year. The 6-foot-1 combo guard was Putnam’s leading scorer, averaging nearly 18 points per game.
Greene worked tirelessly to earn the Region Player of the Year award and expressed gratitude to his teammates, who helped him hone his skills during the offseason.
“I trained hard. I didn’t skip a beat,” Greene said. “I was like, ‘Whatever you do, take it seriously, because somebody is out there right now working harder than you.’ So, you’ve just got to do your part.”
Putnam junior Tamaud Woodson and sophomore Jeremy Banks were named to the All-Region second team.
Woodson, a 5-foot-11 combo guard, was the team’s second-leading scorer behind Greene. Marshall said Woodson provided the team a huge spark whenever he entered the game off the bench.
“When he came in the game, everybody knew he was going to bring that energy,” Marshall said. “You know what I’m saying? He was going to bring it.”
Banks was another pivotal player for Putnam and one of the team’s best shooters this year. Marshall described Banks as one of the best overall basketball players on the War Eagles’ roster.
“Jeremy was our sharpshooter this season,” the coach said. “He's going to come in, and he’s going to do great things for you. He's going to hit the three ball. He’s going to defend. He’s going to lead.”
Shamar McClendon was the only Putnam player named to the region’s All-Defensive team. The 6-foot-5 power forward was one of the War Eagles’ best rim protectors and rebounders as a junior this year.
Senior Jaylin Harper, senior Kayden Solomon, junior Zay Hargrove, sophomore Jaylen Nelson, and sophomore Koleman Foster were all named to the region’s honorable mention list.
Harper and Solomon will graduate in May, and Marshall said he will miss their leadership and talent.
“Jaylin could have been on the second team. By numbers, [the coaches] can only vote for so many [players], so he went down to honorable mention, and so did Kayden,” Marshall said. “Those guys gave us so much, and I can’t express how much they meant to us.”
Putnam’s boys finished the 2024-25 season with a 27-3 record and a trip to the Elite Eight. The War Eagles will return seven of nine players who earned All-Region accolades, so the future remains bright.