A Knight to remember for Bowles, Davis, Goff, Holloway & Holmes at Sports Hall of Fame

The road Brevin Knight took to reach the stage as guest speaker at the 38th Jackson-Madison County Sports Hall of Fame wasn’t just well traveled, it was inspirational.

The New Jersey native and Stanford University graduate who now serves as a basketball analyst for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association played nine seasons in the NBA, following a college career at Stanford University, where he is the school’s all-time leader in assists (780), steals (298) and third all-time in scoring with 1,714 points.

A first-round selection – 16^th overall – by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1997 NBA Draft, Knight led the league in steals per game and was named to the NBA’s all-rookie first team.

A three-year started for the Cavaliers, injuries curtailed his career.

He played for the Memphis Grizzlies from 2001-2003, but his playing career ended as a member of the Utah Jazz in 2009.

Knight’s speech covered not just basketball, but family, friends, education, and the road we take that defines our lives.

“None of us would be able to get to where we are without our families and our friends,” Knight said, “The thing I want to pass on to all the youngsters … there is a time in our life you pick the road you want to go – you pick that path.”

A path Knight said, may not be a straight one.

“You may veer here and there but as long as you stay the course, continue to stay dedicated to what you are doing … hard work, always having a great spirit about yourself – more times than not – things equal out the way you would like them to be.”

Drae Bowles, Audrey (Hazlehurst) Davis, Greg Goff, Joe Holloway and Joshua Holmes became the Class of 2024 of the Jackson-Madison County Sports Hall of Fame.

Mike and Jan Kelley who founded the Morgan Kelley Memorial Scholarship Foundation, were the recipients of the 2024 Billy Schrivner Distinguished Service Award.

Drae Bowles – Graduate of Jackson Christian School. Rated by various recruiting sites as the No. 2 recruit in the state of Tennessee for 2011 – received approximately 30 scholarship offers, including Auburn, Oregon, Arkansas, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Vanderbilt.

Signed with the University of Tennessee and played wide-receiver and member of special teams from 2012-2015, before transferring to the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, where he played wide-receiver in 2016. Ended career following an injury.

Greg Goff – baseball coach at Purdue University. Played baseball at South Side High School, Jackson State Community College, and Delta State University.

Has coached 11 players who reached the Major Leagues and had over 50 players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. He has an overall career record of 514-393-1.

Audrey (Hazlehurst) Davis – Career distance runner, Audrey began running at age 6, an athletic event that continued as a student at St. Mary’s Catholic School, University School of Jackson, and Union University. TSSAA all-state each of her four years in high school, and All Gulf South Conference in 2014.

In 2021, she won the St. Jude Marathon – women’s division, and placed in the top 15 out of over 12,000 women at the Disney World ½ Marathon in 2011 and 2012.

Joe Holloway – Successful basketball coach. Overall, produced a 540-286 won-lost record in high school. Best known for his success at North Side High School, where his teams made three appearances in TSSAA State Tournament and reached the Final Four twice.

Joshua Holmes – Jackson native who now makes his home in Hollywood, California, is recognized as a world class distance runner. He has completed 300 marathons and ultra-marathons of various lengths – average distance 51.2 miles. Most impressively, he has completed each of the 300 plus events he has entered.