Trey Smith looked and sounded anything but a teenager when he took center stage to deliver the keynote address at the 34th annual Jackson-Madison County Sports Hall of Fame at the Carl Perkins Civic Center, Thursday.
Beforehand, he admitted being somewhat apprehensive after he was invited to speak.
“I was nervous at first, but I was really ecstatic because it’s something I really respect growing up,” Smith said, “I was at this before (and) I knew the importance of it.”
Ranked as the No. 1 college football recruit in the nation by ESPN in 2017, the University School of Jackson graduate earned a position as a starting offensive lineman for the University of Tennessee Volunteers.
Playing as a true freshman, Smith was named to the Associated Press All-SEC second team, among other honors.
But health issues – blood clots in his lungs – slowed the 6-foot-6, 335-pound offensive lineman, who is majoring in sports management.
“I’m taking it day-by-day, just doing the same things I’ve always done,” Smith said, “I’m working to achieve my degree, just being successful in every aspect I can.”
Joe North, Ellen Renfroe Reed, Brandon Rowland, Dexter Williams and Jeff Wyatt became the class of 2019.
Joe North dedicated 39 years to teaching and coaching basketball at the high school and middle school level.
North compiled an overall record of 853-239 at high schools in Bells, Bolivar, Crockett County, Adamsville, Dyersburg, North Side and Trinity Christian Academy.
He coached middle schools at Michie, Adamsville and University School of Jackson.
Ellen Renfroe Reed, a former star softball pitcher at Trinity Christian Academy is the head softball coach at Lakeway Christian Academy in White Pine, a community about 10 miles southwest of Morristown in east Tennessee.
A 2010 graduate of TCA, Renfroe Reed, was part of the school’s softball program that won 224 games that included state titles in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010.
Her senior year, she was named the Most Valuable Player in the TSSAA state tournament, and was named the Gatorade Tennessee Softball Player of the Year.
She played collegiately at the University of Tennessee, where she was named the 2011 Most Valuable Player in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, and named to the 2013 Women’s College World Series All-Tournament team in 2013.
Her sister Ivy, became the first graduate from Trinity Christian Academy to enter the Jackson-Madison County Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
Viewed as an exceptional individual, Brandon Rowland faced a multitude of serious medical problems before he was seven years old.
The severity of his issues resulted in bilateral lower extremity amputations, and about a nine week stay at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center in Memphis.
His determination has led him to back-to-back National Wheelchair Basketball Association championships, and three national titles in his division in National Amputee Golf Association tournaments.
As head coach at Liberty High School, Dexter Williams produced the first TSSAA state high school boys basketball title in Jackson in 2006.
Liberty, which opened in 2003, repeated as state champions in 2007.
He was named the Tennessee Boys Basketball Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2007.
A native of Trezevant, Williams graduated from West Carroll High School in 1995, and Union University in 1999.
Williams is the Director of Schools for the West Carroll Special School District.
Jeff Wyatt, head baseball coach at South Side High School, hit .387 – second all-time – during his four-year career (1999-2002) baseball career at Union University.
He tops the list in hits – 316 – and is the all-time leader in hits for a season with 89 in 2002.
Wyatt, named NAIA All-American in 2002 – finished his career at Union with 46 home runs (17 his freshman year), and 249 RBIs.
At South Side High School, Wyatt was a three-sport athlete, participating in cross country, golf and baseball.
Considered an icon in youth and community athletics, Terry Moore was the recipient of the 2019 Billy Schrivner Distinguished Service Award.
His son, Garrett Moore accepted the award for his late father.
Moore was the Umpire-in-Chief at the West Tennessee Healthcare Sportsplex when the facility first opened in 2006 until his passing April 17, 2018.
He began calling balls and strikes at the age of 15, and the passion would lead him to supervise more than 120 umpires.
(PHOTO: Jackson-Madison County Sports Hall of Fame class of 2019 – from left – Brandon Rowland, Jeff Wyatt, Dexter Williams, Joe North and Ellen Renfroe Reed)
David Thomas, Twitter – @DavidThomasWNWS
https://www.facebook.com/NewsTalk1015/
