West’s Martin and Eggleston: Player and Coach of the Year
By Steve Williams
West High’s Devyn Martin and Coach Tommy Eggleston were almost unanimous selections for Knox County’s Player and Coach of the Year in boys basketball in 2024-25, with the awards being based on regular season play.
Martin, a 6-8 senior power forward, and Eggleston, in his first season as a head coach after 12 years of being an assistant, led the Rebels’ charge up the standings in District 4-4A, which is regarded as one of the toughest districts in the state.
“The thing that impressed me the most was Devyn’s consistency,” said Eggleston. “He was consistently a 20 and 10 guy (points and rebounds) against bad teams and good teams. We knew what we were getting out of Devyn every single game and even up to the very end (in post-season play), he fought like a warrior.”
Martin also complimented his new head coach.
“I think he was great,” said Devyn. “He helped motivate us to work hard during the off-season. He helped us through the tough times and adversity. That’s his best trait really.”
Two teams – West and Webb School – put three players each on The Knoxville Focus / Coaches’ All-Knox County team, which also was based on regular season play. Three other teams are represented by two players each and six teams have one player each who earned the All-Knox County distinction.
The Spartans, who took a 32-2 record and the No. 1 ranking in the state into the Division II-AA’s Final Four last week at Tennessee Tech, have Jaylen Pompey, Owen Lentz and Cam Swearengen on the All-Knox County team.
Gibbs’ Zack Turner, who scored a school record 48 points early in the season, finished with the top scoring average (24.2) in regular season play, followed by Cade Murphy of Catholic 22.6, Caden Owens of CAK 21.0, Dom VanAcker of Farragut 21.0, Chris Cowan of Carter 18.9, Nate Thompson of South-Doyle 18.9, Cam Mercer of Grace Christian 18.0 and Derrick Smith of Fulton 18.0.
ALL-KNOX COUNTY BOYS BASKETBALL TEAM 2024-25
FIRST TEAM
Chris Cowan, Carter 6-0 SG sr.
Jailon Hill, West 5-10 PG sr.
King Hubbard, Bearden 6-4 G sr.
Kevin Jack, West 6-3 C sr.
Owen Lentz, Webb 6-0 G jr.
Devyn Martin, West 6-8 PF sr.
Cam Mercer, GCA 6-2 G sr.
Cade Murphy, Catholic 6-5 SF jr.
Justin Nordin, Bearden 6-2 G jr.
Zion Oliver, Carter 6-4 PF sr.
Caden Owens, CAK 6-5 G-F sr.
Jaylen Pompey, Webb 5-9 PG sr.
Derrick Smith, Fulton 5-10 SG sr.
Nick Steen, Fulton 6-3 SF soph.
Cam Swearengen, Webb 6-4 F jr.
Nate Thompson, S-D 6-3 SF sr.
Zack Turner, Gibbs 5-10 G sr.
Dom VanAcker, Farragut 6-3 SF sr.
SECOND TEAM
Carson Asbaty, Catholic PG jr.
Sean Capshaw, Bearden G jr.
Colby Comparato, Halls PG jr.
Conner Copeland, Berean SG sr.
Javan Curry, Karns SF sr.
Neyland Dugger, Powell SG sr.
Elijah Elliott, Halls G sr.
Gabe Holmes, Halls G jr.
Parker Lane, Farragut PG jr.
Alex Leeth, Webb F jr.
John Martin, GCA PG jr.
Justin Pruitt, A-E PG jr.
T.J. Tipton, Catholic PF sr.
HONORABLE MENTION
Chris Belew, Berean sr.
Jamichael Blair, Bearden jr.
Kaden Duncan, Berean fr.
D’Andre Hundley, A-E jr.
Wilson Luton, Webb jr.
Noah Lakin, Powell sr.
Josh Myers, Berean sr.
Matthew Palmer, Berean sr.
Deuce Rodgers, Powell jr.
Hayden Scarbrough, Berean fr.
Larrione Winton, A-E jr.
