If Lyndi Rae Davis had another year of eligibility, she might leave campus with a PhD.
By the end of her junior season at UGA, she had completed undergraduate degree requirements in sports management and is on her way towards earning a Masters degree in her final year of eligibility as the Lady Dog softball team’s regular catcher.
Graduation this spring will be a sad day for her, however. While she already has an opportunity that she is excited about, she is a Dawg who does not want to go. She has enjoyed campus life to the fullest while enveloped in the embrace of her alma mater that will forever have her singing the praises of her favorite University.
“Going back to Athenstown” will always be a lifelong anthem. She just can’t get enough of the campus and living a Dawg’s life. When she arrived as a freshman, she couldn’t wait to call home each week and tell her parents what she was doing and who her new best friends were.
She loved class, she loved campus activities, she loved her sport and her teammates and was overwhelmed with the smorgasbord of athletic competition. She is a fan of all sports and sees as many Bulldog games as possible. There has never been a time when she wasn’t a happy camper unless she didn’t perform up to her expectations at the plate in her own sport.
Growing up in Calhoun where her parents, Lynn and Michael Davis, were entrenched in the school business—they taught and coached—life was all about games and community involvement. That is a family tradition which began with her grandfather, Ray Lamb, who won three state championships in high school football at Warrenton and Commerce.
One of the most highly respected high school coaches in the state, he was a member of the University of Georgia football staff following his successful high school career.
He and his wife, Linda, probably have driven more miles than any couple in the state of Georgia to see children and grandchildren compete in sports. Sons Bobby, a star quarterback, and Hal, star wide receiver, helped their dad win a state championship at Commerce. They are Lyndi Rae’s uncles. Bobby is coaching at Anderson (S.C.) College and Hal just retired from coaching at Calhoun.
Her cousins Taylor (Bobby’s son) played quarterback at App State and is the quarterback coach at the University of Virginia, and Trey (Hal’s son) played quarterback at Tennessee Tech and has just taken over the head coaching position in football at the University of Tulsa.
While in Calhoun, her mother, Lynn, coached the tennis team and her dad, Michael, was the offensive coordinator before moving on to Rabun County where he coached Gunner Stockton. Has anybody invested more time into kids than the extended Ray Lamb family?
And, we don’t want to forget Lyndi Rae’s sister, Callie, who was a star tennis player, and in keeping with the Lamb family tradition, became a school teacher.
For years, the entire Lamb family has gathered at a beach resort, such as Myrtle Beach for a week, and Lyndi Rae can’t wait to join them. There are children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Nobody enjoys this scene more than Lyndi Rae, unless it is Linda and Ray Lamb, who started it all. When the family convened last summer the head count reached 26. All Lambs, little lambs and extended family members were present and accounted for.
Lyndi Rae has the distinction of being recruited by the Bulldogs headlining football coach, Kirby Smart. When she was a senior in high school and came to Athens for her official visit, she not only spent time with Coach Tony Baldwin and his staff, she spent a half day at Kirby’s behest talking to him about all things, UGA.
“He not only sold me on the University of Georgia, I wanted to play for him,” Lyndi Rae smiles when recalling that scene a little over four years ago.
Having Lyndi Rae on campus has been a good investment for the University of Georgia. She has played in 184 games, 167 as a starter, with 15 home runs and 107 RBI. Through it all she has been a good teammate but that doesn’t surprise anybody who knows her.
While she is enjoying her final spring as a student, she is aware that she will soon be moving on. Those who know her are assured of one thing. She is going to make her mark in the sports world.
What about the first female head coach in the National Football League? If that is what she wants, don’t bet against her. After all, she comes from a family of champions.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia softball star Lyndi Rae Davis and historic family connections
