Magnificent McNealy: FHS senior receives third straight All-State nod
At the time, Mayfield’s Lady Admirals were coming off a state runner-up finish. Since that team lost five major players to graduation, the Farragut coach was in search of new talent.
He found it that afternoon, as a young KJ buried 10 straight 3-pointers to prompt a relieved text from Mayfield to his staff: “We will be fine.”
The phrase has served as a vast understatement for KJ McNealy’s Farragut career. While her sister went on to find success in college, KJ has rewritten the FHS record books. Along the way, she became the first Lady Admiral to earn three straight All-State nods, the latest of which was announced by the Tennessee Sports Writers’ Association on Tuesday, April 28.
“It means a lot,” KJ said of the honor. “Awards typically don’t mean a lot to me, but this one has been special. They say you want to leave a place better than when you found it, and I feel like I have been able to do that.”
Remarkably, the Grand Canyon signee finished her career with 1,606 career points — good for fourth-most in program history — with 1,210 rebounds, 401 assists, 261 steals and 118 blocks in her time wearing blue and grey.
She led the Lady Ads in every statistical category this past season, averaging 14.2 points per game and 10.9 rebounds per game with 139 assists and 40 blocks this season. Perhaps most notably, she became the program’s career leader in rebounds on Jan. 6.
“It was pretty immediate, seeing that she would be a stud for us,” Mayfield said. “I didn’t know that she would have this huge focus on rebounding — which, that’s every coach’s dream. To do everything she did for us with her talent, it was a blessing for us for sure. She’s done these record-setting things in a lot of categories, so I think people realize what an all-around player she is.”
McNealy was not the only area player to be recognized for her talent, as other west Knoxville products earned All-State hoops honors as well.
At Bearden, Missouri signee Natalya Hodge earned All-State for the fourth straight time, becoming the first in school history to achieve that honor.
She and McNealy both represented Division I Class 4A, while Bulldog standouts Justin Nordin and Sean Capshaw earned All-State honors on the boys side in the same classification.
Nordin claimed the honor for a second consecutive year, while Catholic’s Cade Murphy and Webb’s Owen Lentz and Cam Swearengen all earned back-to-back All-State nods in Division II-AA.
Michigan signee Malachi Brown also picked up a Division II-AA All-State award for Catholic, as did Emery Brown for the KCHS girls.
Clemson signee Meeyah Green earned four straight Division II-AA Girls All-State nods for Webb, while Maddie Braden earned three straight in Division II-A for Christian Academy of Knoxville. Teammate Lexi Hammock earned All-State recognition too, as did Webb’s Kyndall Mays and Catholic’s Emery Haws in Division II-AA.
Several of these players will go on to notable collegiate careers, having found plenty of success at the high school level.
But only one, McNealy, will return to the same state she moved from when she was just a freshman. At the time, Mayfield had no idea what would come of the sharpshooter he met that day. Soon enough, though, she entrenched herself as a valuable asset who will take the same talent to Grand Canyon this fall.
“She’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever coached,” Mayfield said of McNealy. “For her to step in after coming across the country and be in all these different things, she’s just one of those all-around kids. She showed the kind of growth you want to see for any high school player, and for her to continually improve every year, it’s been really fun to watch.”
