This is an opinion piece.

As 2024 comes to a close, I’m sure we will all reflect on the good times and challenging times in our personal lives in the past 12 months.

We can do the same with high school sports.

We certainly experienced both stunning highs and challenging lows in 2024 in the state of Alabama.

In my final column of 2024, I thought I would rank my top 10 high school sports stories of the year. There were so many powerful stories and moments that I combined a few into one entry.

Here’s my top 10 for 2024.

Did I miss one? Email me your thoughts on the top high school stories at [email protected], and I may use it in the first column of 2025.

Here we go:

10. AHSAA Super 7 on the move

In June, the Alabama High School Athletic Association officially removed Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium and Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium from the hosting rotation of the state’s high school football championships. The move was long rumored due to the expansion of the college football playoff. Ironically, neither Auburn nor Alabama made the 12-team field this year. Birmingham’s Protective Stadium hosted the Super 7 as scheduled earlier this month. The AHSAA has yet to announce a new rotation or plan moving forward. That is sure to be one of the top stories in 2025.

9. A long day at sea

Sylacauga head football coach and former SEC athlete Chris Smelley spent a long – and scary – day at sea in March. Smelley went out fishing in a kayak off the Gulf Coast of Florida while on vacation with his family and was gone nearly 11 hours before he was rescued with no injuries. “The big takeaway for me is the absolute power of prayer,” he told AL.com the next day. He was located by Coast Guard helicopters an estimated 2.5 or 3 miles off the beach.

8. Raising the flag on a new sport

The AHSAA officially sanctioned girls flag football for the first time this fall, dividing participating teams into two divisions. Central-Phenix City won Class 6A/7A and also finished as the No. 1 team in the nation, according to a USA Today poll. Montgomery Catholic won the 1A/5A title. In four years of existence – the first three unsanctioned – the sport has more than doubled in participation, moving from 50 teams in Year 1 to 113 in 2024. AL.com will name its first flag football Terrific 20 team on Monday.

7. Basketball departures

A disturbing trend continued this summer with multiple top high school basketball prospects leaving the state to finish their prep careers. Tops on the list was reigning Mr. Basketball Caleb Holt, who left after leading Buckhorn to back-to-back Class 6A state titles to transfer to Grayson, Ga. Class 3A Player of the Year Trey Simpson, who posted an impressive triple double with 24 points, 23 rebounds and 15 blocked shots in Hillcrest-Evergreen’s state title win, also announced his departure to DME Academy in Florida. Thompson’s Colben Landrew transferred to Wheeler, Ga.

6. A change in leadership

In April, Alvin Briggs announced he was stepping down as the AHSAA’s fifth full-time executive director after three years in the position. He was the AHSAA’s first minority executive director. In June, the AHSAA’s Central Board of Control named former Oxford High principal Heath Harmon as the new executive director. He officially started his new job in July.

5. National champs

The Orange Beach softball team finished the season at 46-1 and won its fourth straight state title – two in Class 2A and two more in Class 4A. The banner season led to Shane Alexander’s Makos being named No. 1 in MaxPreps nationwide high school softball rankings. “It’s gratifying for all this hard work we’ve put in to be honored with this MaxPreps national championship,” Alexander said. Last year’s roster included only three seniors.

4. Running for the record

Auburn signee Alvin Henderson became the AHSAA’s all-time leading rusher in his final season at Elba High and also became the first Alabama back to rush for more than 10,000 yards in his high school career. He rushed for 3,456 yards and 61 touchdowns as a senior and finished his high school career with 10,894 yards, passing former Alexander star Mac Campbell for the No. 1 spot in the record books. Henderson already has been named the Gatorade and MaxPreps Alabama Player of the Year. He is a finalist for the ASWA Class 1A Back of the Year, an award he’s already won twice, and a contender for the state’s Mr. Football Award.

3. A year of mourning

The state lost at least three current high school athletes in 2024. A pair of football players – Morgan Academy’s Caden Tellier and New Brockton’s Semaj Wilkins – both died during the season. Wilkins, a 14-year-old freshman, died after collapsing at a practice in August. Tellier, a 16-year-old junior, died after suffering an apparent brain injury in a game against Southern Academy. In January, Saint James in Montgomery mourned the loss of star baseball player Carter Carroll in a hunting accident. “Words can’t describe adequately just how special he was as a person,” baseball coach Keith Lucky said.

2. Controversial football coaching news

Three high-profile high school football coaches left their positions under unusual circumstances in 2024:

Rush Propst resigned his position at Pell City after a year as the Panthers’ head coach in May. The news came less than two weeks after the former Hoover coach survived an attempt to oust him during a board meeting.

Speaking of Hoover, the Bucs hired Drew Gilmer from state champion Clay-Chalkville to take over the program from Wade Waldrop. However, Gilmer stepped down before coaching Hoover in a game this summer after videos surfaced that appeared to show he and defensive coordinator Adam Helms participating in questionable behavior during a practice.

In April, former Alabama football player Lee Ozmint resigned as Arab’s head football coach one day after he was arrested and charged with distributing or soliciting obscene material to or from a student under the age of 19 while being a school employee.

1. The Ryan Williams saga

The former Saraland and current Alabama star was in the news throughout 2024. He made headlines on Jan. 10, decommitting from the Crimson Tide the same day Nick Saban announced his retirement as head coach. However, he recommitted to Alabama on Jan. 24 after a weekend meeting with new coach Kalen DeBoer, canceling scheduled recruiting trips to Texas and Auburn before National Signing Day. On Jan. 30, he was named the state’s Mr. Football by the Alabama Sports Writers Association – the only player to win the award twice. He finished the year by having a stellar freshman season at Alabama, catching 45 passes for 857 yards and 8 TDs for the Crimson Tide. He was a first-team All-SEC selection and a freshman All-American.

What will the No. 1 high school story of 2025 be?

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

“God is looking for hearts that are faithful, not just when the stakes are high, but when the task is humble.” – Pastor Ed Newton.

Ben Thomas is the high school sports managing producer at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected].