Coach Hartry's Biography

Coach James Hartry was born and raised, in Milledgeville, Georgia, to the parents of Worth and Julia Bell Hartry. He is the fifth of six children (5 boys and 1 girl). He and his wife, Alva, of 32 years, have two children—Adria an occupational therapist and a graduate (bachelors and master’s degrees) from Florida A & M in Tallahassee, Florida. Jamie is currently pursing her law degree from John Marshall Law school in Atlanta, Georgia. Also, Jamie is a speech communication/theater graduate of Southern University which is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Coach Hartry attended public schools in Milledgeville, Georgia, and graduated from Baldwin High School. During his high school career, he played basketball, baseball, and ran track. During his senior year in high school, he was voted an all-state basketball player.

After graduation, he attended Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia, for one year on a basketball scholarship. After attending Piedmont, he transferred and accepted a basketball scholarship from Clark College—now known as Clark Atlanta University. His basketball accomplishments during college include first-team all-conference in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and the first recipient of the L. S. Epps award. He graduated from Clark Atlanta University with a Health and Physical Education degree.

Coach Hartry has taught in Dekalb County School System since 1991. He has taught at Rowland Elementary, Avondale Elementary, and now Tucker High School. The highlight of Coach Hartry’s coaching career has been at Tucker High School where he began coaching as an assistant coach in 1997. He accepted a head coach’s position in 2000. His teams have been a final four contestant five times—winning the championship in 2007. Several of his players have attended division one colleges throughout the country. One has play for the National Basketball Association; several have played international basketball.  First and foremost, Coach Hartry gives high regards to academics and believes that education is the key to success!