Where Are They Now - Part II

Marty Allison

Dickson Sports Media

In the WHERE ARE THEY NOW series, the goal was to list every player and coach that fit into a category. Several coaches and athletic departments at each school were contacted to get all the names possible. Unfortunately, not everyone responded back, (or some were simply overlooked) which led to some coaches and players being omitted from the series. If you recognize that someone has been left out of the series, please contact Dickson Sports Media on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and names will be added as needed.

In a continuing series on ‘Where Are They Now’, this week picks back up with local graduates who have continued in the sports world after high school, specifically those individuals on the professional level. Part 2 also makes mention of one non-graduate that has a local connection.

Future stories in the series will focus on middle school and high school coaches, and athletes who are still competing at the next level (or have recently wrapped up their final year at the collegiate level).

JeQuan Lewis
Lewis graduated from Dickson County High School in 2013 and from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2017, where he was a stand out basketball player.

JeQuan’s first stop as a professional was with the Milwaukee Bucks NBA Summer League. Lewis also had stints with the Wisconsin Herd of the G League, Goyang Orions (Korean Basketball League), and Kymi (Greek Basketball League). In August of 2019, he signed with his current team, PAOK in Greece.

Trevor Daniel

Daniel graduated from Dickson County High School in 2013 and from University of Tennessee in 2017, majoring in Recreation and Sports Management with a minor in Business.

Trevor entered the NFL in 2018 and was the starting punter for the Houston Texans for just over a year. He is currently training and trying to hook up with another team for the upcoming season.

Katie Rampaul
Rampaul graduated from Dickson County High School in 2016 and recently graduated from the University of Memphis with a degree in Communication Studies and a minor in Dance.

Katie was a member of the Memphis Pom Squad for 3 years. This past season, she tried out and made the Grizz Girls, the dance team for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies. Although her first season was cut short when the NBA suspended play, she plans on trying out for the squad again for the upcoming season. The 21 year old Rampaul has been dancing for 19 years.

Luke Paschall
Paschall graduated from Dickson County High School in 2002. He went on to a football career at Middle Tennessee State University, graduating with a Psychology degree in 2006 and a Master’s Degree in Sports Management in 2007.

In January 2019, Luke was hired as the Assistant Head Coach at the University of Massachusetts. He is also the Special Teams Coordinator and Wide Receivers Coach. Along the way, Luke has also coached at North Carolina, Arkansas State, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, and Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Ben Wolcott
Wolcott graduated from Dickson County High School in 2013 and from the University of Mississippi in 2017 with a degree in Business, Marketing Communications. Wolcott was an All-SEC golfer at Ole Miss.

Since becoming a PGA Tour pro in the fall of 2017, Ben has played on the Web.com/Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA Tour Latin America, and the PGA Tour Canada. He is currently waiting for restrictions to be lifted before attending the Canada Q School and the KFT Monday Qualifiers.

Cody McCallister
McCallister is a 2009 graduate of Dickson County High School. He graduated from Cumberland University in 2013 with a BA in Health & Human Performance, as well as a Master’s Degree in Athletic Administration from Mississippi College. McCallister was a 3-time Academic All-American while playing football at Cumberland.

In 2019, Cody was hired on the football staff at Bethel University. Entering his second season at Bethel, he is the Co-Special Teams Coordinator and Safeties coach. Before going to Bethel, Cody coached at Mississippi College (Special Teams/Quality Control), Kentucky Christian (Defensive Coordinator), and Dickson County (Defensive Backs/Special Teams Coordinator).

Elizabeth Franklin
Franklin graduated from Dickson County High School in 2013. She works in the medical field after graduating with a Nursing Degree.

This fall, Elizabeth hopes to find herself on the Tennessee Titans sidelines for her seventh season, following her 2019 Pro Bowl season.

Brent Heath
Heath is a graduate of Dickson County High School. He is currently the Superintendent at Greystone Golf Club in Dickson.

Doug Phillips
Even though Phillips is not a local graduate, he did spend a few years in the county as an administrator at Dickson Middle and Dickson County High School. He graduated from Springfield Local (Ohio) before attending and graduating from the University of Toledo (B.S. 1991) and Youngstown State (M.S. 1995).

With nearly 25 years in the coaching profession, Phillips was recently named as the Head Coach at Youngstown State University. Before that, Phillips coached at the high school level as well as stints at Youngstown State (Grad Assistant), Ohio State, Bowling Green State University, Iowa State, and the University of Cincinnati.

Where Are They Now - Part I

Marty Allison

Dickson Sports Media

*This story has been updated since originally being published.

In the WHERE ARE THEY NOW series, the goal was to list every player and coach that fit into a category. Several coaches and athletic departments at each school were contacted to get all the names possible. Unfortunately, not everyone responded back, (or some were simply overlooked) which led to some coaches and players being omitted from the series. If you recognize that someone has been left out of the series, please contact Dickson Sports Media on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and names will be added as needed.

Let’s face it, we live in a sports community.

Dickson County has produced its fair share of graduates that have gone past high school and are still involved in sports today. Many are still playing or coaching or are involved in some capacity in the world of sports.

I’m not sure that it would be possible to list all the former local graduates that continued in the sports field after high school, so I started looking for individuals who are currently participating, and the numbers were surprisingly high, especially in the coaching field. I’ve talked with several local coaches to try and identify as many as possible, but I know some names have probably been overlooked. If you see a name missing, just drop me a note.

Because of the numbers involved, I decided to break things up in a multi-part series. For part one, the focus is on individuals who are on the professional level. Getting paid for sports. It’s the dream of many, but the reality for few.

Bob Wolcott
Bob Wolcott is a 1979 graduate of Dickson County High School and a 1984 graduate of the University

of Georgia. He played five years on the PGA Tour (including two US Opens)  and five years on the Koran Ferry Tour after being named All-SEC (3 times) and All-American.

Wolcott is currently the General Manager and Director of Golf at Tunica National in Mississippi and the leasee and business owner at Greystone Golf Club in Dickson.

Rachel Bell
Rachel Bell graduated from Creek Wood High School in 2014 before taking her talents to the basketball court at Vanderbilt University, where she majored in Psychology and Medicine, Heath, and Society.

Bell currently plays professional basketball for the Whittesea Pacers of the Big V League in Australia.

Kristen Mattio
Kristen Mattio graduated from Dickson County High School in 1998 and Evangel University in 2003 with a degree in Marketing/Management. She also received a Master’s Degree in 2006 in Sports and Wellness from Austin Peay.

Mattio was named the Head Coach for the women’s basketball squad at West Texas A&M on May 12, 2015. She has also coached at Evangel University, Montana State, Austin Peay, Memphis Central High School, Ft. Lewis College, and NW Missouri State.

Walt Bell
Walt Bell graduated from Dickson County High School in 2003 and from Middle Tennessee State University  in 2005. While at MTSU, he earned degrees in Criminal Justice Administration and in Sports Management. Since then, Bell has been on the college football coaching scene.

Bell has coached at Memphis, Oklahoma State, Southern Miss, North Carolina, Arkansas State, Maryland, and Florida State. He has appeared in ten Bowl Games. He was named the Head Football Coach at the University of Massachusetts in December of 2018.

LeaLea Carter
LeaLea Carter graduated from Dickson County High School in 2016 before taking her talents to Vanderbilt University. She had a single game career-high 21 points and a career high 12 rebounds while playing at Vandy.

Carter recently signed a professional contract with ZKK Plamen Pozega in the Croatian First League.

Lindsey (Peeler) Foster
Lindsey Foster graduated from Creek Wood High School in 2008 before joining the cheer squad at UT Martin (2008-2011). Lindsey graduated from UT Martin in 2013 with a BS in Nursing.

Foster just wrapped up her second year on the Nashville Predators Energy Team in the National Hockey League and is looking forward to trying out again for the upcoming season. Lindsey spends her days as a RN at Old Harding Pediatrics.

Kendal Wallace
Kendal Wallace graduated from Dickson County High School in 1989. He went on to play basketball at Martin Methodist. After two seasons Wallace transferred to Maryville College where he played two seasons for the Scots. Wallace has a BA in History and a MA in Health & Fitness Management and a MA in Philanthropy & Development.

Wallace is entering his 10th season as the head men’s basketball coach at LaGrange University in Georgia. He also coached on the Maryville College (TN) staff before heading to Georgia.

Ashlee Jennings
Ashlee Jennings graduated from Dickson County High School in 1993. Jennings graduated from Tennessee Tech in 2007 with a degree in Secondary Education English. Jennings also has a Masters degree in Educational Leadership from Austin Peay.

After leaving the English Department at Dickson County High School, Jennings took a position as the Assistant Learning Specialist at the University of Tennessee (2017), working with at-risk athletes. Since 2018, she has been the Learning Specialist for at-risk athletes at the University of Louisiana Lafayette, while also overseeing the graduate assistant program and the academic mentor program.

Virtual Tryout the New Cheer Norm

Marty Allison

Dickson Sports Media

*This story has been updated since original publication to include rosters for all local school cheer squads.

To say it's been an unusual spring just doesn't seem to do justice to what we all have experienced over the past few months. These times have been unprecedented. The sports world has come to a screeching halt.

Spring sports have been canceled, and the fall sports season can't get here soon enough. That means football, and football means cheerleaders. With that being said, creativity has come to the forefront, especially for local cheer squads.

Cheerleading squads are typically selected in the spring, but this spring the potential squad hopefuls couldn't gather together for tryouts. I recently spoke with local cheer coaches about the challenges they've faced.

One of the biggest challenges has been getting information out. "The only challenge I've faced is trying to relay information," said Dickson County coach Leslie Gray. "Anytime technology is involved there can be issues. I couldn't get my camera to work (while using Zoom) so they could only hear my voice. I can only imagine how entertaining that must've been for the candidates and their parents."

"My biggest concern is the fact that we may miss some candidates that don't have regular access to technology," said Burns coach Amber Reynolds. "It's the only way we can communicate right now. I've used all avenues I could to get out information."

"Communication was the hardest part for me," added William James coach Jennifer Jenkins. "I had a hard time getting information out to everyone that we were having tryouts."

Lack of an in-person parent meeting was also a concern. "I didn't get to have an in-person parent meeting to meet parents and candidates prior to tryouts," said Creek Wood coach Roni Walton. "I like to have this so that I know my expectations are clear." Walton added that she used Google Classroom because most of the candidates use it already and are familiar with the platform. Dickson Middle coach Bambi Miller and Coach Jenkins also used Google Classroom.

A similar sentiment was shared by Gray. "I hate not getting to interact with the candidates. I always love getting to meet the ones I don't know and watching a bond grow between these athletes over a period of three days."

Mackenzie Buchanan, a veteran cheerleader at Dickson County High School, added, "I don't like that we aren't trying out in person. Trying out with others is way different than trying out in your backyard by yourself."

While experienced cheerleaders like Buchanan may feed off the energy created during a live, group tryout, less experienced and/or younger candidates may find it intimidating. "I think a big pro to this was confidence," added Coach Jenkins. "Some of these middle school students have never cheered before. With the virtual tryouts they could learn at their pace without others watching."

Gray agreed. "I feel like this is a lot less stressful for the candidates trying out. They can make sure that they are absolutely submitting their  best performance. They can be 100% certain that they gave it their best shot."

Walton added, "Participation was up. I think a virtual tryout gave some candidates the confidence to tryout when they might not have otherwise."

Lyrin Trotter, a returning cheerleader at Creek Wood, had this to say. "I liked the fact that we could learn at our own speed from the (training) videos rather than as a huge group, but I disliked the fact that you didn't get to experience the pressure (of a live, group tryout)."

All the coaches I talked with were in agreement that they never want to have to alter cheerleading tryouts because of an event like we're currently dealing with, but all is not lost. Creativity and looking toward the future have provided the motivation to find a way to move forward.

"There are always things that could be improved on in any process," said DMS coach Bambi Miller. "I personally am becoming more comfortable with the online format and am considering incorporating it into my normal process in the coming years."

Burns Middle School

Makayla Buchanan, Chloe McIntyre, Amelia Nesbitt, Aubrey Slavinski, Rayleigh Williams, Sophia Alford, Lilah Dickall, Mallory Keller, Meredith Mangrum, Katie Murry, Reese Russell, Keira Terranova, Addison Bane, Ava Mollenhour, Kayden Tidwell, Madaline Wallace.

Charlotte Middle School

Lillie Baldwin, Anabelle Williams, Landree Trotter, Madison Clark, Brooke Vaughn, Madi Herrell, Grace Knowles, Brooke Rodgers, Mila Davison, Madelyn Harris, Kinley Dew, Jayla Bowker, Madison Sisco, Bentley Proctor.

Creek Wood High School

Kaylee Hayes, Ashley Moore, Teagan Tittle, Braxton Walker, Lyrin Trotter, Haley Sensing, Leah Wauford, Emily Wood, Lexi Dickerson, Sydney Askins, Jaycee Clifton, Haylie Tornay, McKenna Baker, Emma Law, Amber Karnes, Hannah Jackson, McClaren Stokes, Sarah Beth Binkley, Melissa Womack, Hannah Buttrey, Lilyan Rodgers, Emma Suggs.

Dickson County High School

Bethany Adams, Jessica Ayers, Hailey Barnes, Hannah Barnes, Hope Bowen, Mackenzie Buchanan, Anna Cherry, Bri Dixon, Annabray Estes, Camryn Henson, Kylea Johnson, Sierra Parish, Ally Patterson, Reagan Sellers, Laura Spurlock, Katelyn Steele, Amanda Street, Kynslee Tidwell, Rachel West, Courtney Westcott, Hallie Wills.

Dickson Middle School

Riley Davidson, Kyla Dixon, Kylee Dixon, Sierrah Dotson, Margot Dyer, Norah Dyer, Brianna Ellis, Alli Humphreys, Bella Kay Kerr, Blair Kerr, Addi Kate King, Cheyenne Lyons, Briley Patterson, Mia Proctor, Raqueah Ryan, Addie Sanders, Haylee Turner, Morgan Widner.

William James Middle School

Emma Hartsfield, Halee Strickland, Isabella Owens, Elizabeth Nesbitt, Audrey Martin, Mia Hartsfield, Asianah Forrester, Addison Hamm, Carly Gourley, Sophia Hatley, Chelsea Bucio Ruiz, Audrey Pendleton, Lyiah Whitaker.