Former Dougherty coach Ty Randolph lands at Lanier County

ALBANY — Ty Randolph has found a landing spot.

After spending the last two years as the boys basketball coach at Dougherty High School, Randolph was recently named the coach at Lanier County.

He officially started at his new school earlier this week.

Just last month, Randolph stepped down from his position at Dougherty as he felt it was time to explore other options.

Lanier County, a Class A public school in Lakeland, went 8-18 last season and 17-11 in 2014-15. Randolph said he is looking forward to helping build an elite program.

“In speaking with the superintendent, Mr. (Keith) Humphrey, the principal, Mr. (Howard) Akers, and the athletic director. Mr. (Carl) Parker, it was such a good fit,” Randolph said. “The direction they are trying to go in is what I was looking for. I am in the mind-frame of building a program.”

Before being hired at Dougherty, Randolph previously coached at Groves High School in Garden City near Savannah before leaving to assist NBA standout Kwame Brown. He was also a former Harlem Globetrotter. During his tenure at Groves, he led the Rebels to a 37-19 record and two state tournament appearances. He also worked in NBA player development for five years.

“It was precious time,” Randolph said of his stint at Dougherty. “Anytime you can change the lives of children and show them how it is done is precious time. I am very thankful that Dr. (Butch) Mosley gave me the opportunity. He was instrumental during my time and made sure everything went as planned.”

His resignation came after Dougherty finished the year at 5-22 after forfeiting 16 games due to an ineligible player. Dougherty was 8-8 at the time of the ruling.

The Trojans also received a postseason ban from the Georgia High School Association due to a second ineligible player. Randolph said the postseason ban had nothing to do with his resignation and was something he had been thinking about before the ban.

Just last week, Dougherty announced the hiring of Rufus McDuffie to replace Randolph. McDuffie coached at Mitchell-Baker from 1982-2002 and won five state championships.

After finishing up at Mitchell-Baker, McDuffie coached at Washington County High School and Valdosta High School. He was also the principal at Valdosta.

McDuffie was coaching at Walker High School in Alabama until he was hired by Dougherty.