Meet the UK football recruit who could keep Reed Sheppard out of the Sweet Sixteen
Knox Central honored its homecoming queen and court during a ceremony held about two hours before the Panthers’ postseason tip-off against Pineville. Gavin Chadwell, watching from the stands along with most of his teammates, snacked on a Slim Jim.
No one affiliated with the three-time defending 13th Region champs would ever say it out loud, but that game, like so many first-round bouts across the state, was a formality. Knox Central a month prior whooped Pineville, 94-51, at its place, so that the Panthers put a running clock on the Mountain Lions in a 107-61 win on Tuesday wasn’t shocking.
The contest was, however, Chadwell’s first after sitting out three weeks with a back injury. Last year’s 13th Region MVP came off the bench for four points and three rebounds in his return, playing about four minutes in the rout. He was winded but could have played as much as needed, if needed. His back felt good enough that, the day before, he was diving for loose balls in practice, for which he’d only been cleared for three days.
“It’s gonna take a little bit to get back in it, for sure,” Chadwell said.
It was a rare occasion that the 6-foot-5, 230-pound forward who some have begun calling “Thor” — because of his size, but also his Chris Hemsworth-like head of hair — appeared less like a Marvel superhero and more like a sophomore in high school. But make no mistake: He’s ready to re-integrate himself into a team that feels overlooked and underrated despite its recent run of success. In the month before his injury, Chadwell was averaging 15.8 points and 11.2 rebounds per game; that level of production would make a fourth straight Rupp Arena berth much more attainable for the Panthers.
“I think that, if these kids get healthy and they play, I like the way everything’s going right now,” Knox Central head coach Tony Patterson said.
Kentucky offer
The Slim Jims are working for “Thor.”
Chadwell’s first love was basketball, but his collegiate future is as a tight end on the football field. He received his first Power Five offer from UK last summer and he plans to attend a slew of camps following this basketball season. From a year ago when he first got on the state’s radar, his frame has chiseled out. He spends part of just about every day in the weight room, a fact confirmed by both his parents and an opposing head coach.
“We got back from our semifinal game and they had played right before us,” said Lexington Catholic’s Brandon Salsman, whose team edged Knox Central for the Class 2A championship in Owensboro earlier this year. “I look into the hotel weight room and he’s coming down the steps and says, ‘I can’t miss a lift coach.’ He went in after their game was over. I can’t imagine there was enough weight in there for him. He was probably lifting the elliptical machine.”
Chris and Heather Chadwell’s two older sons both eclipsed the 6-foot mark in height, but Gavin is by far the tallest. The genes arrived courtesy of Heather’s father, who stood 6-5 himself. Gavin sprouted in the eighth grade and started receiving attention from colleges in his freshman season, but his MVP run in last year’s 13th Region Tournament took things to another level. Chris and Heather cited Kentucky Sports Radio’s heavy coverage of that event as a difference-maker in their son getting a bigger share of the recruiting spotlight, too.
Handling the attention that comes with a UK offer, in any sport, has been easy for Gavin. Maturing into a more vocal leader in his sports is something that’s taken a little more time. He might look like a college athlete, but he’s still going through the same trials and rights of passage experienced by all high school sophomores.
His college decision is still a couple years away — chances are he’ll be considering great schools that haven’t even offered yet — but his family isn’t shy about where its allegiances lie. Chris was in the car with Gavin when Knox Central’s football coach notified him that UK was offering a scholarship. It was Gavin’s 16th birthday. Chris cried.
“In the mountains, that’s a big thing,” Chris said.
Underdogs?
Most teams that brought back their four leading scorers, and five of their top six, from a region-title squad would be laughed at for crying “disrespect.” In Knox Central’s case, it might be warranted.
The Panthers (23-7) play in the same region as North Laurel, home to standout junior and University of Kentucky basketball commit Reed Sheppard. The Jaguars boast the best record in the region (24-5) against a slightly tougher overall schedule than Knox (North Laurel participated in the King of the Bluegrass and the White, Greer and Maggard Holiday Classic, two marquee December events in Kentucky; the Panthers went to Florida). They were ranked No. 6 in the final Associated Press poll of the season. Knox Central never cracked the poll, its best showing a No. 15 overall selection in the Herald-Leader’s preseason coaches poll.
This year’s Knox Central team is mostly the same one that finished 18-6 after a first-round loss to Ashland Blazer in the Sweet Sixteen last March. Last year’s edition handled North Laurel 78-63 in last year’s 13th Region championship. The Jaguars were 25-2 entering that showdown but had a difficult time containing the combination of Chadwell and guard Jevonte Turner, a senior who returned for an additional year of eligibility this season under Kentucky Senate Bill 128.
“I really don’t know why people don’t respect us,” Turner said. “I mean, we’ve won three times in a row. It just adds fuel to the fire for us.”
Turner, who has battled a groin injury throughout the season, is averaging seven fewer points than he did in his first senior year but is attracting interest from Division I colleges that didn’t exist before due to poor grades, he admitted. Coastal Carolina has been following him the closest.
“I think whoever gets him is gonna steal him,” Patterson said. The 6-foot-3 guard shoots nearly 50 percent from the floor and is Knox Central’s second-leading rebounder (8.1 per game) after Chadwell. He’s also the Panthers’ best perimeter defender. A slew of fellow seniors and longtime backcourt mates, paced by Isaac Mills (16.1 points, 38% three-point shooter), will join him and Chadwell on the quest for a fourth straight region title.
A meeting between Knox Central and North Laurel isn’t inevitable, but a non-encounter certainly would be disappointing. The Panthers have eliminated the Jaguars each of the last three postseasons, twice in the championship game, but North Laurel got the better of them on the road, 90-86, a couple weeks ago (Chadwell missed that game). A rematch in the region tournament would be one of the most-watched games around the state.
While Knox Central would consider itself the underdog in that meeting, North Laurel head coach Nate Valentine doesn’t see it that way.
“Knox Central is so big and strong and physical,” Valentine said. “They can create a lot of matchup problems for people. And then, obviously, with Jevonte coming back for that fifth year, in my mind, that makes them the team to beat to get to Rupp Arena.”
The Panthers might not need an MVP effort from Chadwell to get the job done again, but they’ll need him do what he does best.
“I’m the guy that’ll do the dirty work,” Gavin said with a grin. “I just gotta let everybody know that’s what I’m here to do.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 6:20 AM.
