By Jesse Smithey
Life can get busy, and you can’t always keep your nose buried in Twitter.
So here’s a recap of some of the things you may have missed this week, so that you can keep up with the goings on in the Greater Knoxville Area.
Two weeks ago, we told you how Webb School sophomore Elijah Howard’s recruitment was heating up. Remember him? The eighth-grader that Butch Jones offered while he was coach at Tennessee. Well, Howard is making noise again, especially after an offer from Virginia Tech. But in addition to that, this happened on Thursday…
Blessed to receive an offer from Mississippi state 🔥 #bulldogs @CoachHuff pic.twitter.com/LGgPaDvpYT
— Elijah Howard (@e_izzy03) June 21, 2018
Former Maryville High School basketball standout Lee Humphrey, who lives in Jacksonville, Fla. nowadays, returned to Blount County this past week. Humphrey won a Class AAA Mr. Basketball award in 2003 before helping lead the Florida Gators to two national championships. The former sharp-shooting guard put on a kids’ clinic on Friday.
Summer offensive skills clinic coming soon. Join me in Maryville, TN on June 22nd at Montgomery Ridge Intermediate School.
Upcoming 2-5 grades: 9:30-11:30
Register here: https://t.co/VrL84ekcpu
Upcoming 6-8 grades: 12:00-2:00
Register here: https://t.co/oJvryfj4Ks— Lee Humphrey (@LHB_jax) May 22, 2018
In more Blount County news, the Maryville Daily Times reported the resignation of Heritage boys’ basketball coach Neal Leatherwood. That means, the Greater Knoxville Area (GKA) has boys’ coaching openings now at Carter and Heritage.
NEWS: Heritage High School boys basketball coach Neal Leatherwood has resigned:https://t.co/UvnxZTZL8S
— Daily Times Sports (@TDT_Sports) June 21, 2018
Former Farragut baseball star Chase Chambers, who helped steer Tennessee Tech to the NCAA Super Regionals, has kickstarted his pro career with a bang. He hit his first home run as a professional on Thursday for the Brooklyn Cyclones – a Class A affiliate of the New York Mets. He had a ground-rule double in his first professional at-bat on June 18. But after he hit his first HR, the Brooklyn Cyclones Twitter account tagged the wrong Chase Chambers. Oh, well. Got to stay humble.
Chase Chambers (@ChaseChambers2 ) with his first HR as a professional and Brooklyn leads 2-0 over Connecticut in the first inning. pic.twitter.com/hAAQq7DaBU
— Brooklyn Cyclones (@BKCyclones) June 21, 2018
Staying in the Farragut vein, former Admirals star Nick Senzel seemed to be just days away from his first call up to the Cincinnati Reds. He was batting .310 for the Louisville Bats, the triple-A affiliate of the Reds, and had a two-homer game Thursday to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. But a finger injury on Friday rendered him out for the season. Senzel, not one for many words, posted a heart-felt statement on Twitter.
— Nick Senzel (@LilSenzii) June 23, 2018
On a lighter note, it looks like some of the Fulton High School football coaching staff got an up-close look at some NFL facilities this week. Fulton coach Rob Black tweeted a thank you to former Tennessee assistant coach Mike Bajakian for the “hospitality and tour.” Bajakian is now quarterbacks coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
S/O to @Buccaneers and @BucsCoachJake for the hospitality and tour for the @FultonFootball coaches and families! @coachmac52 @PDStout @Squatty32 @Clark2theMac pic.twitter.com/OkKApUWm1n
— Rob Black 🏈 (@FHSCoachBlack) June 24, 2018
On the way out, Greeneville quarterback Cade Ballard (whose recruitment we updated on 5StarPreps.com this week) received a last-minute offer from Georgia Southern. Central defensive back Xavier Washington scooped a quality offer from Austin Peay. Former Webb School of Knoxville and Duke University star golfer Wes Roach tied for fourth Sunday on the Web.com Tour. Up-and-coming Anderson County quarterback Stone Hatmaker visited and participated in the Manning Passing Academy this week in Louisiana.
And make sure you check out the features on 5StarPreps.com about South-Doyle’s football team rafting adventures and the Greenback football state-title repeat efforts.
ALSO – if you want a 5Star Preps sticker, subscribe to the iTunes podcast and leave us a rating & comment. Screen grab what you did and send it to us on Twitter. We’ll give away stickers while supplies last!