Jabin Talley: size doesn’t matter
Look out, I’m coming through !!
Or to quote Queens hit song Don’t
Stop me now , Jabin Talley was always the smallest athlete in every sport he participated in.
From the first time he played QB on his flag football team to becoming CCHS all time wins leader in tennis at the the no. 1 seed in singles and doubles with his doubles partner Ethan Richardson.
I was fortunate enough to coach Jabin in flag football, tee-ball , machine pitch , coach pitch , Dixie league baseball , and
His last 2 years of high school tennis . Jabin excelled in baseball
He played 2nd base and was the leadoff hitter for his crushers team that won the Dixie League championship. Jabin hit .800 that year , that’s right .800 . He went on to hit over .400 the second year for their 2nd place team the next year . Size never mattered as opposing head coach
Mo Davis said Jabin was a thorn
In his side.
Jabin started playing rec league
Basketball in elementary school where I coached him for 2 years .
No long after Russ Smoot told Kris Richardson about Jabin playing for his daughter team . That move started a relationship with the players that would eventually have 2 of the 5 greatest
Teams in CCHS history . Kris hooked up Jabin with Coach Crotts to play on his rec team during off aau time, where Jabin went on to average over 19 points
A game . Size didn’t matter . After
Winning multiple tournaments playing for Kris , Anthony Barnes ,
Russ Smoot Jabin finally made it to play JV basketball in the 9th and 10th grade, where he won offensive player of the year his sophomore year . Next up, he played varsity for coach Barnes
And Kris . He was the 6th man off the bench his junior year and starting
PG his senior year playing alongside his AAU teammates Davis Rietzel, Bryce, and Brayden Smoot
Cody Reece , Ethan Richardson, and Isiah Easter, where they put together 2 of the best teams in Cavs history. This is, of course, where I met Jerry Carter in the bleachers at a Cavs game where Jabin placed a perfect alley oop
Pass to Davis for a slam dunk that
Brought down the house . Size didn’t matter .
Now let’s talk about tennis, which wasn’t even on the radar . Jabins sister Hadassah started playing tennis for CCHS, and he would go down and practice with her so she could hit balls . He was 11 at the time . He picked it up pretty quickly, myself along with his mom and paw paw Rickie saw
Something special , so we hooked
Him up with long-time player and current Floyd County girls coach
Doug Hines . Doug coached him in his first usta tournament at Virginia Tech in the Blacksburg Midsummer Classic, in which Jabin won his age group beating the Commonwealth games champion
Size didn’t matter . By the 8th grade, he was working with former d2 college player Andy Sarver from Bland while still playing AAU basketball and Dixie baseball .
Jabins’ speed and ability to run down shots translated to his succes in usta and utr tennis tournaments where he won 4
Championships including 2 Blacksburg midsummer classics
A lake Norman title and an utr championship in Christiansburg where he won all 4 of his matches
All this before playing for CCHS .
Size didn’t matter.
Jabin won the no. 1 seed in the ninth grade for CCHS and held that spot until graduation. After going 4-4 in the covid, shortened freshman year, Jabin only lost 1 district match the next 3 years, including a 56-game winning streak . He and doubles partner
Ethan Richardson finished runner-up in his junior year in regionals and a top 8 team in state . Jabin was the no. 5 seed in singles in regionals his freshman year no. 4 seed in his sophomore and junior
Years and a no. 3 seed his senior
Year . Jabin finished his tennis career with 74 combined wins in
Singles and doubles at the no. 1
Seed . Ethan broke the doubles wins record as an individual as he and Jabin hold the record as a doubles team .
Glenvars long time head coach
Bob Haynie said Jabin was the best player he had seen and had the best top spin he had ever seen.
Jabin was getting recruited in his
Junior year by multiple d2 and d3
Schools including Emory and Henry, Wise , Tusculum, Lenoir Ryan , Ferrum, and others . He decided to accept a full ride offer to SW VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE to play at no.1 .
After his freshman year, SW VIRGINIA scrapped their tennis program , but he decided to finish out his sophomore year at SW. He did make the all district athletic academic team . He was offered
To play at Blufield University, but
Transfered to Virginia Tech to enroll in their school of communication.
I could go on for hours just how proud his family is of him of all his
Athletic achievements. He showed that truly size doesn’t matter . His mom , paw Rickie, and I were instrumental in his success. We traveled to every game of Dixie league, aau basketball, utr and usta tennis high school basketball and high school tennis . He more than exceeded our expectations in every sport he played .
We still think baseball was his sport , but he never let his size
Hinder his success. Seeing his
opponent look across the net at
This small guy and thinking this was going to be an easy win was a big mistake. He is, in my opinion, the best tennis player to ever play
At CCHS .
Special thanks to Doug Hines,
Andy Sarver, Scott John , former
Virginia Tech assistant coach Chip Webb, and present Virginia Tech head coach Jim Thompson for coaching the baby face assassin, the nickname I gave him his sophomore year. I’m very fortunate and honored to have coached my son in football, baseball, basketball, and the final 2 years of high school tennis.
Special thanks to Jerry Carter for
All the time he spent with us and the many other athletes at CCHS .
Jerry was instrumental in creating
The now famous fab 4 .
Jerry also showed that even just
A little kindness can go a long way
To quote from Denzel Washington
In Training Day : King Kong ain’t got nothing on me describes Jabins drive to succeed.
Who know we might might see him on TV after he graduates from Tech . High school wasn’t the end for Jabin , his story is just beginning . Don’t blink because the baby face assassin is coming through .
