Jerry Hudson: Unsung Zebra Hero Gets His Moment of Glory
The Pine Bluff Senior Makes His Dream Shot
Jerry Hudson played for exactly one minute in the Pine Bluff Zebras game against the Sylvan Hills Bears Tuesday night.
And at the buzzer, the senior hit a 3-pointer.
Sure, the game was already a done deal with the Zebras, playing in their first game of the 5A state tournament, leading 72-49, but come on, it was a 3-pointer at the buzzer. How many athletes land that last-second shot after playing in the game for only 60 seconds?
“I thought ‘Oh my God’ I hit that,” Jerry told me Tuesday night after he got home from the game. “I actually had the confidence to hit that shot, and I didn’t back down. Always tell yourself you have the confidence to go with the first thing that comes to mind.”
Since the shot was at the end of the game, Jerry said, “I thought I might as well just shoot it. The game was in the bag and then it went in.”
His teammates — three who scored double digits — went bonkers when Jerry shot the ball from the corner and boom, the final score was 75-49! The hometown crowd attending this week’s tournament at the Pine Bluff Convention Center were already in a frenzy about the Zebras, but Jerry made the ending spectacular.
“It landed with a bang,” Jerry said, the excitement bubbling in his voice through the phone. “I’m hoping it gets people hyped up for the next game.”
Jerry, who also played Zebra football last fall and baseball in previous seasons, hasn’t hit the hardwood much this year. During football season, he was injured in a car accident on the Zebras’ homecoming day and suffered a mild concussion.
Last fall I spent an hour with Jerry in football Coach Micheal Williams' office. We talked about how he listens to instrumental jazz the night before a game and gospel music on Wednesday night. Music chills his mind. I forgot to ask if Jerry had listened to jazz before Tuesday night’s game, but something made him cool, calm and confident to go for the three at the last second.
Jerry said with a chuckle, “I had to do something this season.”
On the football team, as a senior linebacker and tight end, Jerry was tough.
“Jerry was a really good player for us,” Coach Williams said on Tuesday night. “He was very athletic and aggressive. He could knock your socks off when he hit you.”
Several people say Jerry is an unsung hero on the field and the court.
Jerry takes sports in stride and is focused on the team going into their next tournament game on Friday afternoon. Their opponent has yet to be determined. While talking to me, he was more concerned about how the team could improve by Friday to win its second game in the tournament.
“I think we need to work on our offense a little,” Jerry volunteered. “But we are good. I really think we have a run at the state championship this year and next year.”
Next year, Jerry won’t be playing sports when he hits the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville campus. He’s a member of the National Guard, and he plans to study business with future plans to work in real estate.
But on Tuesday night for literally one minute with one shot, Jerry was the high school star.
The excitement and awe that radiated around Jerry from his teammates and coaches is truly the essence of high school sports. That shot wasn’t about racking up stats or catching the eye of a recruiter. Instead, it was simply a dream come true for a student athlete with no next level sports plans who made an epic shot that any kid who has ever dribbled a ball wants to land one day.
“Jerry hugged me walking off the court,” Williams said. “He said, ‘Coach, did you see my buzzer beater?’ I said, ‘You know I was watching.’ He was so happy, and I’m happy we won but I’m ever happier that he will dream about this moment for the rest of his life.”