BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — The Kiwanis Club welcomed Martin County High School athletic director Chuck White and basketball stars Braxton Keathley and Bryson Dials as guest speakers Thursday. The trio outlined expectations for the upcoming season and previewed this year’s Zip Zone Classic set for this Saturday, Nov. 29 at MCHS.
Keathley, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound junior guard, led Kentucky in scoring last season. Teammate Dials is a 6-foot-1 guard in the class of 2028.
The premier preseason event in Kentucky, the Zip Zone Classic will feature top programs from across the Commonwealth and West Virginia. Proceeds will benefit MCHS’s athletic programs. White told Kiwanians that recent years have produced record support.
“The past couple of years have been our best years ever at the Zip Zone,” he said. “We’ve been able to raise a lot of money. Zip Zone has given us a lot of help with that.”
Admission is $10 and covers all games for the day.
“We have a lot of star-studded talent coming to the Zip Zone,” White said.
The 16-team field includes Paintsville, Huntington (WV), Lawrence County, Hazard, Shelby Valley, Ashland, Boyd County, Lyon County, North Laurel, George Washington (WV), Martin County Lady Cards, Phelps Lady Hornets, Johnson Central, Chapmanville (WV), Martin County and Wayne (WV).
Ahead of the high school action, which begins at 11:30 a.m., Martin County Middle School boys face Lenore at 10:15 a.m. The MCHS Lady Cards will play Phelps at 6:10 p.m. Then in the nighcap the Cardinals will play Wayne (WV) at 8:50 p.m.
“Wayne is a pretty good team,” White said. “They’re pretty solid this year.”
White mentioned top talent in the event’s feature matchups includes North Laurel’s Reece Davidson, a cousin of former UK standout Reed Sheppard. Davidson will play when North Laurel meets George Washington (WV) at 4:50 p.m.
Keathley told the club that Davidson committed to Liberty University last week. Davidson, a senior, was a first-team all-state, all-region and all-district selection last season, earning 13th Region Tournament MVP honors. He averaged 21.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game while helping lead North Laurel to a 49th District title, 13th Region championship and Elite Eight appearance in the state tournament. In the state tournament, he averaged 38.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game.
“There’s going to be good talent this year,” White said.
The conversation turned to the season outlook for Martin County. Kiwanians asked Keathley, a four-star recruit who averaged 34.3 points and 10 rebounds per game last season, about his goals.
“My expectations are for us to win the regional championship and for us to become the best team we can possibly be,” Keathley said. “Every day in practice, we just take it day by day and try to get the best out of each other. We know in practice that the only thing that matters is to get better and be ready by the time the regional championship happens.”
Dials expressed similar confidence.
“We’re definitely expecting to get to Rupp,” he said. “The culture here is winning.”
Martin County will open the regular season Dec. 2 at home against Floyd Central.
Keathley, who last week received his eighth Division I offer, from East Carolina University, also holds offers from the University of the Pacific, Eastern Kentucky University, UT-Martin, Bowling Green State University, Ohio University, Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) and Texas A&M–Corpus Christi. Programs showing interest include Louisville, Florida State, Marshall, South Carolina, LSU, Purdue, Valparaiso, Belmont, Furman, Western Kentucky University, Evansville, Indiana State, Navy, Tennessee Tech, Stony Brook University, Miami of Ohio, Arkansas State, Illinois State University, North Texas University, East Tennessee State and Southern Illinois University.
Kiwanians asked Keathley how it feels to draw national recruiting attention.
“It’s been great having these big-time colleges looking at me,” said Keathley. “Ever since I was a little kid, that’s what I wanted to do; it’s been a dream of mine. So now being recruited by them means a lot to me … We have a lot of big-time schools coming over to watch practice, and they give us feedback on our team, too.”
Club members inquired about the University of Kentucky’s interest.
“Not yet; hopefully soon,” Keathley said.
“They need you,” Kiwanis member James Ayers replied.
Players also shared family backgrounds. Dials is the son of Kevin Dials and Stacie Dials; his grandparents are Barb Dials and Jimmy Dials. Keathley is the son of Kevin Keathley and Leigh Ann Keathley, and his grandparents are Terry McCutcheon and Cindy McCutcheon.
“My dad has coached professionally all over the world,” Keathley said. “I think basketball runs in the family. My sister [Kaitlyn Keathley] played Division 1 … She went to Presbyterian College and Morehead State.”
His father coached the East Kentucky Miners and has experience across professional and collegiate levels.
“He’s coached the NBA Jr. League, Division 1, overseas,” Keathley said. “He’s coached everywhere. He was named Top 10 Best Coaches Outside NBA.”
Dials said Martin County expects strong contributions from its starting five — Keathley, Dials, Devan Maynard, Eli Mills and Alan Moore. He noted the bench is equally capable.
“We’ve got a bunch of great guys who can help us off the bench,” he said. “They could definitely be playing starter.”