Not only were the Darlington School championship basketball dreams in jeopardy when a scary scene unfolded on the Tigers’ home court in the GHSA quarterfinals, the future career on the hardwood for a senior leader had to be in doubt as well.
The story, though, had two happy endings, even if Christian Teasley couldn’t be an active participant in one of them. Darlington did win a state boys basketball championship for the first time, and Teasley himself is not only recovering well but taking on a college basketball offer to get that playing career back on track.
With teammates, coaches and family watching, Teasley signed his national letter-of-intent Friday to play for Oglethorpe University in the northeastern Atlanta suburb of Brookhaven. The combo guard was averaging 11.5 points and five rebounds per game for head coach Nathan West, and he was also the Tiger leader in steals and a 40% 3-point shooter when Darlington played Calvary Day in the quarterfinals in early March.
Darlington pulled out that victory 66-63 as Teasely had nine points, but he had to watch most of the late clutch plays by his teammates while sitting near a locker room door with an ice pack on his knee. He would eventually miss the semifinal win over Mount Vernon in Athens and the championship victory over Holy Innocents’ in Macon.
“I really enjoyed watching Christian grow over the years,” said West. “He came in as a little stocky freshman. He’s got a lot of skills, and he had to buy in to understand what hard work looked like. A lot of times your definition of hard work and what the coaches (expect) are two different things. He really grew not only as a basketball player, but as a young man, a student. He really bought into the Darlington community. He’s been a joy to coach.”
West said Teasley epitomized what the Darlington team was about: being unselfish and player-led on the floor.
“There’s not a whole lot I could say in the locker room that hadn’t already been said by the players,” he said. “Christian was very vocal. He was always very positive. If you get on to him, take him out of the game and coach him hard, he’s going to look you in the eye and say ‘Yes sir’ and probably shake your hand.”
Then Teasley is back in the game giving it his all again.
That attitude and mindset came out even more when Teasley learned that his season was over. Where he could have pouted about how things weren’t going his way, West saw his senior rise to the occasion and step up even more as a leader.
“From that time on he took my chair on the bench,” said West. “I had nowhere to sit for the final four or championship game. There was Christian hopping around on one leg. He was in every coaches’ huddle. I’d hire him right now if he wanted to coach. His observation of the game, his confidence in his teammates ... I don’t know if there was anybody more excited after we won the state championship.
“I know he’s going to do great things as he moves forward.”
Oglethorpe University is in the Southern Athletic Association with Berry College.
This article was originally published in the Rome News-Tribune on May 2, 2026.
