Athletics

When the USJ Bruins hit the court this fall, they were under new leadership. Athletic Director Michael Stroup has appointed Coach Jeffrey Jones to lead the Boys Bruins Basketball program with the assistance of Terrandus Smith and Vance Harrell.

Athletic Director Michael Stroup shared, “We’re very excited to welcome Coach Jeffrey Jones to the Bruin family. With more than 20 years of coaching experience at the college level, I know Coach Jones will be an excellent mentor for our student-athletes in several different areas. In my conversations with him, Jeffrey expressed his admiration for the USJ community and was excited to get to work for this basketball program. I look forward to supporting him for many successful seasons as a Bruin.”

Jeff Jones recently served as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach for the University of the Virgin Islands and Southern Poly State University. He also held Associate Head Coach positions with NCAA Division II schools Kennesaw State University and Fort Valley State University.

Coach Jones joins the Bruins with an extensive background in collegiate coaching and recruiting and a long history of developing charitable and philanthropic programs with his players. While at Kennesaw State, Jones created a Middle School basketball league to help bring awareness of the mens’ basketball program to the community. While at Southern Poly State University, Coach Jones established the HOPE program (Helping Our Pupils Excel) with his athletes to help mentor disadvantaged youth in the city of Atlanta. While at the University of the Virgin Islands, he organized free stress-relieving basketball camps. He also assisted with food transportation for the island after Hurricane Irma.

When asked about his new appointment as Head Boys’ Basketball Coach, Jones shared, “I look forward to working with our players, and I am honored to be a part of the long tradition of coaching excellence at USJ.”

Coach Jones mentors his players at every opportunity while they are in school, with many earning advanced degrees. He instills the value of higher education within his players and has encouraged hundreds of his students to excel not only on the court, but also academically. Over the years, Jeff has received a multitude of awards, including the Georgia Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year and the Southern States Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.

Jeff and his wife Teala will reside in Jackson. They have four grown children who all live in Atlanta.

Reagan Carney is the recipient of the JMCSHOF Morgan Leah McCarty Memorial Scholarship. Carney played volleyball four years at USJ and was the West Tennessee Volleyball Player of the Year in 2020. She was named to the All-State team in 2020 and the All-West Tennessee first team in 2019 and 2020. She was an All-District II-A West Team selection three years. Carney had a 4.6 GPA while at USJ and now attends Auburn University.

Andrew Smith is a recipient of the JMCSHOF Sports Orthopedics & Spine Athlete Award. Smith played quarterback and was captain of the football team last season when the Bruins finished 12-3 and advanced to the state championship game in Division II-A. He completed 139 of 240 passes for 1,936 yards and 22 touchdowns with only two interceptions. He also rushed for 263 yards and four TDs. In his four seasons at USJ, the 6-foot-1, 165-pound Smith passed for 3,153 yards and 35 touchdowns and ran for nine TDs. He was All-Region in 2020 and All-Region honorable mention in 2019. A member of USJ’s Honor Council, he is a campus leader and graduated with a 4.4 GPA. He is attending the University of Mississippi.

University School of Jackson graduate Preston Overbey (‘10), who helped lead the University of Mississippi to its first appearance in the 2014 College World Series, joined Mark Campbell, Jewuan Long, Meg Griffin Nethery, and Jabriel Washington as an inductee at the 35th annual Jackson-Madison County Sports Hall of Fame held on April 22. Congratulations Preston on this well-deserved honor!

In the spring of 2022, the Bruins will be playing baseball in Overton Stadium. At the conclusion of the 2021 baseball season, renovations began on the current University School of Jackson baseball complex. USJ is able to start this project due to the generosity of John and Whitney Overton. Their son, Jake, was a Bruins baseball player and a 2017 USJ graduate, and their daughter Olivia is a junior who plays softball and volleyball. The baseball complex was renamed for the Overtons in April 2021.

The dedication of the baseball stadium comes on the heels of our new Lady Bruins facility, artificial turf and football upgrades at Carlock Stadium, a resurfaced track, upgrades to our soccer, softball, and basketball facilities, and within the coming months, the relocation and enhancement of our new tennis complex. To date, more than $5.5 million has been raised, and 14 major capital projects have been completed or are in progress on the USJ campus.

Improvements to the baseball complex were driven by donor interest above and beyond what was planned as part of the Campus Master Plan. If you have any questions about the Campus Master Plan or would like more information, please contact Russ Ellis at (731) 300-3645 or rellis@usjbruins.org.

The Lady Bruins tennis team added another TSSAA state championship win to the Bruin history books on May 26 in Murfreesboro. The Lady Bruins defeated both Christian Academy of Knoxville and Webb School of Knoxville to bring home the Division II Class A Championship title. Team members included Zainab Baba, Jenna Box, Madeline Craig, Brilee Davis, Blair Driver, Addy Measley, Madeline Miller, and Molly Nichols (not pictured) and were led by head coach Ted Measley and assistant coach Andrew Bolds.

On March 26, Ikenna Oleru signed a letter of intent to play forward at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.

“I chose Centre because overall it is the best fit for me,” said Oleru. “I wanted a college that was in close proximity to home, has strong academics, and has a soccer program with a championship tradition.”

He helped win the 2018 and 2019 Smokey Mountain Cup Championship and was named one of the region’s top players to watch by The Jackson Sun in March 2021.

Oleru is the son of Aleruchi and Chima Oleru.

In the spring, the University School of Jackson’s Director of Athletics Michael Stroup announced Joel Ayers as the new head coach for the Lady Bruins basketball and softball programs. He joined the Bruin family along with his wife, Ashley, who is serving as the assistant basketball coach for the Lady Bruins.

“The Lady Bruins program has an established history of success statewide, and we are looking forward to building on that foundation,” said Coach Joel Ayers. “My wife and I are bringing decades of experience at multiple levels of basketball and are confident that we can continue to develop athletes that succeed on the courts and off.”

The husband and wife combo spent the past six seasons coaching the Dyersburg Lady Trojans, where they led the girls to back-to-back 20-win seasons and a trip to the 2018 substate championship.

Coach Joel Ayers was named Dyersburg’s District Basketball Coach of the Year for both the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons. Before coaching at Dyersburg, Joel was head basketball and softball coach at Gleason and led the basketball team to three district titles and a region title. Coach Ashley Ayers has been successful in coaching basketball at the professional, college, and high school levels. She was the first female head coach of a men’s professional basketball team, the Nashville Rhythm.

Ashley was a standout high school athlete at Gleason School, a college athlete at Vanderbilt University, and was a thirdround pick in the 2003 WNBA draft. She represented the USA in the 2001 World University Games in Beijing, China. During the games, USA defeated Japan, Russia, and China to bring home a gold medal.

“We are excited to have Joel and Ashley Ayers lead our girls’ Upper School basketball program, as well as Joel leading both our Middle School and Upper School softball programs,” said Head of School Don Roe. “We look forward to welcoming them both into the Bruin family. We can’t wait to see them and our student-athletes as they represent our great school on the court, inside the classroom, and throughout the community.”

In May, Tyke Tabor continued his legacy of athletic excellence at the 2021 TSSAA State Track & Field Championships in Rockvale, Tennessee. Tyke placed 1st in both the 100 Meter Dash (10.98) and the 200 Meter Dash (22.12), and placed 4th in the Long Jump (20-06.00).