Three Watson Chapel Wildcats Celebrate Letters-of-Intent
Arkansas Gets To Keep Thomas Knowles, Torren Jackson and KJ Sims
Confession: I cry when student athletes sign letters-of-intent.
That was no different on Friday afternoon at Watson Chapel High School when three senior Wildcat football players – Thomas Knowles, Torren Jackson and Kyrone “KJ” Sims – and their families celebrated the countless hours of hard work, early mornings, late nights, financial sacrifice and steadfast determination that goes into landing college sports scholarships.
Parents were glowing – literally radiating – with pride as they sat on the basketball court in front of a packed gym of students, teachers and friends. School was let out for the occasion so students could be inspired by their classmates’ successes. All three Watson Chapel Wildcats will stay in-state to play college football.
Knowles heads to Lyon College in Batesville and plans to study physical education. Sims will play for the Arkansas Tech Wonderboys while also focusing on a physical education degree. Jackson goes south to the University of Arkansas at Monticello to earn accounting degree.
“They have a huge influence and impact on the kids behind them,” said Wildcat Coach Maurice Moody. “We will get more [offers and scholarships]. This is just the start. I’m happy for them.”
Last fall was Moody’s first season as the Wildcats’ coach and he arrived at the school in December 2021 from Jacksonville. Aware of his newness at the school, Moody said a few words about the three players and turned the mic over to Assistant Coach Bobby Hyatt, who has known the trio longer.
Hyatt said that:
· Torren was always running the track around the Wildcat football field to get prepared for the next game.
· KJ blew up his phone “constantly trying to get into the weight room.”
· Thomas worked extremely hard every day, never giving up.
What Hyatt didn’t say was some tidbits I learned about the players from their Twitter and Hudl accounts.
Thomas: A running back with a 3.1 GPA, Thomas retweeted Riley Freeland, Lyon College’s running back coach, who tweeted: “Your recruitment isn’t just about impressing coaches or landing a scholarship. It’s about discovering who you are as an athlete and as a person. Embrace the process, stay true to yourself, and trust that the right opportunity will your way…”
Torren: A defensive back, he won the Fastest Man in Arkansas from the 2023 Skills Showcase. On his birthday (Jan. 24), he tweeted: “Happy Birthday to me!!! Thankful to God for blessing me with humility, love, and a strong work ethic. Also blessed with a great family and support system.” He has a 3.2 GPA and is a member of the Sigma Beta Club. (Check out his Hudl.)
KJ: His Twitter has a pinned tweet highlighting his Hudl that says, “Can play in the box and also get dirty on the LOS. His GPA? 3.8. And … he accumulated 105 tackles in his high school career.
Glowing Parents
When parents speak at these events, I become super teary. Maybe it’s because I now realize as an adult how much my parents sacrificed for me, and I didn’t even play sports.
Charlette Knowles, Thomas’ mom, said she possessed pride and bragged about how her son never missed a practice.
“It has been a journey,” she told the crowd. “He wakes up two hours early and says ‘Come on Mama, come on Daddy, we got a game.”
She called her son was a “blessing in our life.” Her husband, Thomas Knowles (Too, as he told when I asked his name) said he felt “great” as he beamed.
Charlette echoed what Kimberly Scott, decked out in green and yellow sweatshirt with “Arkansas Tech Mother” emblazoned across the front, had said just minutes earlier about her son, KJ. Kimberly couldn’t even finish her sentence because she paused to hold back tears of joy for her son.
I couldn’t catch Torren’s dad or hear him very well where I was sitting when he spoke to the crowd, but he was grinning when he talked about his son. I did get to talk to Torren. If Torren decides to forego a degree in accounting, he could become a politician or a leader in education. When I asked him about his college playing career, he said that his “education comes first.” Did he want to go pro? He said, “If pro comes, it comes.”
“What would you say to kids younger than you about why education is important?” I asked.
“I feel like education is the vital thing to live especially if you want to take care of yourself and your family,” he said. “It gives you knowledge you will need.”
All three players thanked God for their achievements. Faith plays a central role in their lives as it does in many student athletes who I interview. The younger Thomas, who is soft-spoken, said he “blessed God for where I am today…I’ve been up and down with injuries.”
Every player who signed Friday have their fans, too. The crowd went wild for KJ, who had two football buddies from Pine Bluff High School – Rachon Crutchfield and Jorden Fields – attend Friday’s event. Crutchfield and Fields will also attend Arkansas Tech. The two Pine Bluff Zebras celebrated their signings only a few days before Sims did.
“They’re my brothers,” Sims told me. “I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a young’un. I’m very excited to start a new journey and also to meet other people and further my education.”
Thank you, KJ
I couldn’t believe KJ remembered me.
Early last fall, when I was just getting my feet wet in southeast Arkansas sports and trying to learn every football player in a short amount of time, I interviewed KJ for a local newspaper.
That day, I remember vividly, as I interviewed him outside the gym. A woman named Antoinette “Ms. Pinky” Burks happened to see us. A few weeks later, I ran into her at a cycling event in Pine Bluff. She told me that a halo was radiating around me during the interview, showing her how much I loved talking to student athletes.
And I do.