Lifelong best friends sign off together
Brady and Zack ready for college athletics
By Steve Williams
Two of Gibbs High School’s top male student-athletes over the past four years had their college signing in the front lobby of the Jerry H. Sharp Gymnasium last week.
A good turnout was on hand for the special morning.
Brady Hughes and Zack Turner excelled in different sports but wanted to have the ceremony together.
“They have been best friends since they were born,” said Brad Turner, Zack’s father and the school’s head football coach. “They played together in all sports their whole life.”
But in high school, they only got to play football together their freshman year. Zack suffered a broken collarbone in 7-on-7 the next summer prior to football season and had to have surgery.
They were on the basketball team all four years.
Other than that, Brady played baseball his freshman year and Zack played golf as a junior and senior.
“Brady and Zack’s sisters played everything together growing up as well,” added Coach Turner. “Both graduated in 2020 and are the same age. Our families are super close.”
Hughes signed with Carson-Newman University as a running back, while Turner signed with Milligan University as a shooting guard. They both feel very comfortable with their decision.
“The family atmosphere at Carson-Newman is just way different than any other place that I experienced and that’s what I enjoyed the most,” said Brady.
Zack said: “Milligan stuck out because of Coach Rob (head coach Bill Robinson). I went up there and watched a practice. I like how he and Coach (Alex) Biggerstaff (assistant coach and recruiting coordinator) ran things. Their practice is what got me. It’s real up tempo and fast.”
Turner thinks their type of game matches what he likes to do. “I feel like I would fit in well,” he said.
As for academics, Zack plans to major in Business and minor in Marketing.
“I’m not for sure, but I’m thinking Sports Science maybe,” said Hughes.
Both should do well in college academically. Hughes has a 4.0 grade point average at Gibbs and Turner a 3.9. They kidded each other about who is the smartest.
“He’s a little smarter than me,” said Zack. “Yeah, he got a better grade than me in pre-Cal.”
Athletic awards in high school
Both Hughes and Turner were first-team honorees on The Knoxville Focus / Coaches’ All-Knox County teams in football and basketball, respectively, during the 2024-25 school year.
Hughes, who stood out as a running back and linebacker, was listed as an “Athlete” on the first-team defense.
Turner had the top scoring average (24.2) on the All-Knox County team.
Both Brady and Zack received the Careacter Star Athlete award multiple times in their high school careers.
Their favorite sports memory in high school
“I would say my junior year against Northview Academy, the first round of the playoffs,” recalled Hughes. “We were down early in that game and it looked like our season was about to be over, but I had a strip fumble. I stripped it and ran it back 96 yards for a touchdown and got us back in the game and we ended up winning and going on to the second round.”
Zack remembers two great nights in basketball.
“Mine would probably be this year against Hardin Valley,” he said. “I scored 48 points in the game and broke the school record for a single game.
“I’d say another one would be at Union County in the district playoffs. I broke the all-time scoring record (2,219 points). That was pretty surreal.”
Zack also set a new single season scoring record of 770 points this year.
A neat thing too was former Gibbs standout Stuart Donahue (Class of 1976) attended Turner’s signing last week. Donahue had held the season and career records until this year.
‘Great athletes, but better young men’
“It’s a great day,” said Gibbs Athletic Director Dustin Mynatt. “These two young men have been fantastic for us not just on the football field and the basketball court, but in the classroom and the community.
“They are great athletes, but they’re better young men,” continued Mynatt, who got to coach both Brady and Zack when they were freshmen. “They see the big picture just from the peer tutoring program at the elementary school to peer tutoring in our school to our leadership program. They’re just two of the best young men that you can have come to the school. They embody what we want every student and athlete to be.
“We are super happy for them and excited to see the next part of their journey in college athletics,” added Mynatt. “We appreciate them and they are great young men above all else.”
