Nashville’s Best Returning 2A Players
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The 2023-2024 season is so last week. Fix your gaze on the future of hoop in Nashville. The 2A division is routinely the strongest when the postseason arrives with East Nashville and Pearl-Cohn routinely battling for a spot in the…
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Continue ReadingThe 2023-2024 season is so last week. Fix your gaze on the future of hoop in Nashville. The 2A division is routinely the strongest when the postseason arrives with East Nashville and Pearl-Cohn routinely battling for a spot in the State Tournament and Whites Creek returning in 2024 after mowing down District 7 in the regular season.
Whites Creek advanced to the State Tournament in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2024. They captured the District 7 Championship and claimed the Region 4 Championship.
This story will focus on the best returning players in Region 4-2A, Nashville’s 2A region.
Region 4
District 7
East Nashville Magnet School (Nashville, TN)
KIPP Nashville Collegiate School (Nashville, TN)
RePublic High School (Nashville, TN)
Stratford High School (Nashville, TN)
Whites Creek High School (Whites Creek, TN)
District 8
Independence Academy High School (Antioch, TN)
LEAD Academy (Nashville, TN)
Pearl Cohn High School (Nashville, TN)
STEM Prep Academy (Nashville, TN)
Top Returning Players
Corez Murphy — East Nashville — 2026
JR Graham — East Nashville — 2026
Je’von Carter — East Nashville — 2026
Jaylan McMillian — East Nashville — 2026
Kevin Wiggins – Whites Creek — 2025
AJ Petway
AJ
Petway
6'2" | PG
LEAD Academy | 2025
State
TN
— LEAD — 2025
Noah Hughes
Noah
Hughes
5'6" | PG
Whites Creek | 2027
State
TN
— Whites Creek — 2025
Eric Bryson Jr.
Eric
Bryson Jr.
5'10" | PG
Whites Creek | 2026
State
TN
— Whites Creek — 2026
Isaiah Eubanks
Isaiah
Eubanks
6'5" | C
Whites Creek | 2025
TN
— Whites Creek — 2025
Malachi Benton — Whites Creek — 2026
Brian Jones — Pearl-Cohn — 2025
Ladamion Hunter — Pearl-Cohn — 2026
Stratford, RePublic, STEM Prep, and Independence Academy delivered largely uncompetitive teams in 2023-2024. RePublic’s leading scorer Rasco Colin graduates this spring, so they lose him.
A.J. Petway (LEAD Academy) earned an assortment of awards.
All-District
All-Tournament Team
All-Region Tournament Team
Mr. Basketball Nominee
Thanksgiving MVP
Petway amassed fantastic statistics during his junior season. These were his final stats: 17.8 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 5.7 APG, 3.0 SPG, 43% FG.
Jaylan McMillian and Je’von Carter both shot the basketball quite well from behind the three-point line, according to East Nashville Head Coach Avery Patton.
“[Jaylan] was doing a lot of the dirty work,” said Coach Patton. “Next year he will need to score more, but he was great defensively. He came a long way [in the last 12 months]. He wasn’t even supposed to be on varsity. He wasn’t even on the chart to be on varsity. His freshman year, that is how low in the back he was. He grew about 2-3 inches and took off. He did what he was supposed to do in open gym and working hard. He came along.”