Cherokee Bluff senior Griffin Neville started playing basketball out of necessity, but it has grown into his greatest passion.
As a kid, Neville preferred baseball, and he remembers spending hours playing catch in the front yard with his dad. But when his dad was called away for work at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, often for weeks at a time, Neville had to turn to other athletic pursuits.
“We always had a basketball goal outside, so when I started missing him, I would just start going outside and playing basketball, and that would take my mind off of it a lot,” he said. “That’s really where I started falling in love with the game.”
Class of 2020
The Times puts together this special senior recognition each year, highlighting a few standout stories from our local seniors, but this year we’ve added graduation lists from our local schools in an effort to honor as many graduates as we can. We hope you’re inspired by these stories and join us in celebrating the class of 2020. You can view these stories online as well as upcoming photo coverage of this year's graduation ceremonies.
By the fourth grade, Neville started taking the sport seriously, “because I realized how bad I was.” By sixth grade, he had quit baseball to focus on his hoop dreams year round.
Neville began his high school career at Gainesville but transitioned to Cherokee Bluff as a junior, the first year the South Hall school opened.
He made the decision partly because his mom got a job teaching at Cherokee Bluff and partly because his former coach at Gainesville, Benjie Wood, made the switch to coach the Bears basketball team at the same time.
“It wasn’t a hard decision,” Neville said. “It wasn’t that hard of a transition either. I had a ton of friends on the basketball team. It was fun.”


Neville saw a heavy increase in play time at his new school, letting him catch the eye of college recruiters as his game developed.
Playing at the college level has always been a part of his plan.
“It’s been a dream really, not even just a goal,” he said. “It’s been a dream since about when I started playing in rec league games and it was a real game — we were keeping score and the refs weren’t just teaching us not to travel and double dribble. It’s been a dream ever since then.”
Neville attended a basketball camp at Young Harris College in the fall of his junior year, and the coaching staff there made an immediate impact on him. The Mountain Lions coaches saw something special in him, too.
Young Harris assistant coach Andre Smith came to watch Neville play during a summer game when he was a rising senior. Smith called Neville after the game to deliver the good news: Neville would be receiving a scholarship to play basketball at Young Harris.
He remembers getting the call while waiting in line to order a sandwich at Schlotzsky's with his mom.
“It just felt really emotional,” he said. “I didn’t want to cry about it, but I was like, all my dreams are coming true. Now I can’t wait to get up there.”
Neville said he’s excited to get onto the Young Harris campus, where his dad went to school back when it was a two-year college. But even as he moves on to the next phase of his life, he will always remember his time at Cherokee Bluff and the positive impact the school made on him.
“Cherokee Bluff has left a huge mark on me,” Neville said. “It’s taught me how to be a better person, and it’s taught me how to be a better basketball player. You walk in and it’s just an amazing atmosphere. I loved being at Cherokee Bluff.”
Cherokee Bluff High School graduating seniors
A tentative list provided by Hall County Schools
Bryanna Adams
Charles Agot
Danny Alcorn
Chandler Allen
Camden Bahn
Ashton Balizet
Heather Beck
Alyssa Bedwell
Chance Bennefield
Abigail Bennett
Bryce Bernitt
Daniel Bescher
Briana Bishop
Lindi Branam
Sydney Bray
Christian Brown
Ryan Brownlee
Jenna Buffington
Brittanne Burch
Faith Burgamy
Nicholas Butts
Estefania Campos
Elijah Cannon
Jacob Carlson
Gabrielle Carmosino
Benjamin Caron
Kristofer Carver
Christopher Castillo
Ivan Castillo
Daniel Castro Avitia
Majeli Caudillo
Brandon Cheeks
Emily Coles
Chad Coley
Violet Conway
Christian Costabile
Melissa Cuevas
Christopher Davis
Macie Dixon
M. Caleb Dolan
Chaela Dorton
Daniela Duran
Rachel Eck
Kaitlyn Edwards
Ivan Erazo
Kimberly Esquivel
Jason Evrett
Sammaria Felton
Zikeria Finley
Allison Fletcher
Kimberly Fowler
Emily Galaviz
Karla Gaona-Torres
Andres Garcia
Connor Gillespie
Mykol Goins
Ella Golub
Katelyn Gomez
Christian Gonzalez
Harrison Gragg
Landon Green
Zachary Haynes
Joseph Hendrix
Andrea Hernandez
Jessica Hicks
Mason Hill
Parker Hollers
Courtney Homer
Jacob Hopper
Molly Hulsey
Rachel Johnson
Jacob Jones
Jackson Kemp
Zachary Kendall
Sophie Lamp
Zoey Lhamon
Cristian Lopez
Matthew Maple
Clay Marshall
Brady McVey
Andres Meza
Lyla Migliore
Dylan Miller
Daysha Mills
MaryQuinn Mills
Brelynn Millwood
Brody Millwood
Mitchell Moore
Christopher Morgan-Smith
Tinomudaishe Mukono
Davis Mundy
Griffin Neville
Kevoseay Norman
Shelby Olenek
Erica Perez
Madison Phillips
Peyton Pinckney
Carsen Plumadore
Lesly Quezada
Ashlynne Radosta
Michaela Ragone
Quavi Rahman
Elizabeth Ramey
Emmanuel Rebollar
Joshua Reed
Monica Reyes
Isaac Riddling
Jeremy Ringleb
Moriah Robinson
Roberto Rodriguez
Erin Rose
Davon Ruffins
Aaron Russell
Christian Santiago
Mary Scherer
Kristina Schwab
Jonathan Servin Garcia
Andrew Seymour
Michaela Shadburn
Rachel Shaw
Andrew Shires
Kristen Simon
Averi Skeggs
Grant Smith
Shane Smith
Gabrielle Stanley
Mihai State
Madison Stinchcomb
Kelly Stuart
Jordan Taylor
Jabriya Terrell
Peyton Thomas
Sean Thomas
Jaylin Thornton
Matthew Tingley
Elizabeth Tuck
Kennedy Turpin
Hannah Vansickle
Daniel Vath
Sierra Wainer
Noah Walksler
Madelyn Waxter
Mackenzie Wayne
Palmer Weaver
Shelby Wheat
Victoria White
Madison Williams
Jesse Witt
Cameron Wood
Trenton Word
Jonathan Yanes
Neida Yebra
Sonia Yoshida