An athlete’s senior season can feature a mixed bag of emotions.
There’s the ongoing pressure to have the best campaign of one’s career while leading the team further than it’s ever been before.
There’s the bittersweet reflection on past accomplishments and memories combined with worries about what lies ahead.
There’s countless people expecting great things during the curtain call, and even more applauding the player for what he or she has already achieved.
Add on the exciting yet stressful process of college recruitment, and there can be a lot on an athlete’s plate heading into their final high school season.
Such was the case for South Pike’s Jovon Leavy.
The starting guard entered the 2024-2025 campaign with lofty goals as one of the few veterans on the Eagle roster. After injuries had put a damper on prior seasons, Leavy wanted to have a complete year where he could fully showcase his skills.
And on top of that, Reggie Chambers was entering his first season at the helm in Magnolia, meaning that there were plenty of question marks within the program.
Four months later, Leavy crossed the 1,000-point threshold in his career, won a District 7 title, earned Player of the Year Honors and helped lead South Pike to the 3A Final Four.
Safe to say all those questions were answered.
“Everything that has happened, Jovon and I spoke into existence during our first conversations,” Chambers said. “So it’s really just a testament to him believing in me and our vision.”
What needed to be done
Coming into the season, Leavy had specific goals in mind.
After tearing his ACL the previous year, he wanted to show what he was capable of when healthy while also leaving a lasting impact on South Pike and its community.
“I really just wanted to put a legendary stamp on the program and make my name known around the county and state,” Leavy said. “And that’s because of the type of work that I put in.”
On top of that, Leavy had some familial motivation as well. His grandmother passed away prior to his junior season, but she and Leavy had plenty of conversations about how special his senior campaign could be.
Thus, he wanted to make her proud while she watched him from above.
“I know she was still there in spirit, so I just wanted to shine for her,” Leavy said.
With the South Pike backcourt featuring multiple sophomore starters, a lot of responsibility would be on Leavy to step up for such a young team.
While it took him a bit to become a vocal presence, Leavy excels when leading by example, and he did a lot of that last season.
“I put him in a lot of adverse situations by pushing him into a leadership role,” Chambers said. “So for a kid, it shows real toughness that he found a way to lead his team the best he could while being such a strong player.”
And with Chambers stepping into the head coach role in July, he had plenty of early discussions with his senior leader regarding what his goals were and how he could achieve them.
“Before I took this job, there were a lot of negative narratives around him, so I made it a point to reverse that,” Chambers said. “I just think he was very misunderstood because he genuinely just didn’t know a lot of things. And to his credit, he was very coachable.”
South Pike head coach Reggie Chambers instructs Jovon Leavy.
Chambers emphasized that he would be tougher on Leavy than any other player in order for him to have the season he desired.
The pair then laid out a list of goals that included Leavy averaging over 24 points per game, winning District Player of the Year honors and earning scholarship offers.
“He told me from the jump that I would be the guy, and in turn that he would push me the hardest,” Leavy said. “He always says that you have to coach your best player the hardest, and he definitely did that. So I just bought in and kept going hard.”
A season to remember
With Chambers and Leavy on the same page, the season commenced.
The Eagles stumbled to a 2-9 start, signaling a potential rough campaign with a first-year head coach and youthful roster.
But many of those losses came against competition from higher classifications, and the trials by fire forced South Pike to grow up fast and understand what it took to win at this level.
“I was so proud of the way he carried himself on the court, with his attitude and demeanor,” Jovon’s mom, Stephanie, said. “He had such a positive attitude even when he wasn’t scoring as much or they were losing. He led his team by being humble.”
That even-keeled approach paid dividends, as a seven-game win streak that featured victories over Parklane and McComb ensued.
The upstart Eagles maintained that momentum and were eventually able to claim the District 7 regular season and tournament championship for the first time in over 20 years.
“Winning the district championship over Franklin County stands out to me just because there was so much adversity,” Leavy explained. “The crowd was really against us and I even fouled out, but the team stepped up to get it done.”
And ironically enough, the last South Pike team to accomplish such feats was coached by none other than Jovon’s father, Joe.
Much of Jovon’s success can be attributed to the work he put in with his family over the summer, as he and his father decided to forgo the AAU season and instead strictly train for his senior year.
Alongside his oldest son Philip, Joe put Jovon through a grueling summer program that featured plenty of mental lessons as well as physical ones.
Joe’s background as a pastor and his family’s deep-rooted faith shone through when Jovon was on the court as well, as the father was more than pleased with how his son carried himself.
“A key thing for Jovon was him being a Christian,” Joe said. “Teams would be beating him up, but he’d hold his post and be Christ-like in that he’d never get frustrated or upset.”
Thus, the rangy senior became a matchup nightmare for opposing teams, as he could shoot over most guards thanks to his length but had the speed and handle to beat forwards off the bounce.
As a true microwave scorer, Leavy reached the 24 point-per-game mark, eclipsed 30 multiple times and even poured in 40 on his Senior Night. The veteran also broke the 1,000 career-point threshold during that same game.
Jovon Leavy poses with his 1,000-point poster.
Obviously, opposing teams took notice of Leavy’s success during the season. He became the focal point of scouting reports and saw everything from double-teams to box-and-one defenses.
That amount of attention can hinder a player’s production, but Leavy and Chambers countered with some adjustments of their own to prevent a drop-off.
“He wasn’t really used to seeing a box-and-one or double teams from certain spots, so I tried to help the best I could with putting him in different places where he was comfortable,” Chambers said. “And then he also just had to understand that he needed to use his teammates or go screen for them at times.”
After the Eagles cruised to a district title, Leavy tallied 28 points in an opening-round win over Hazlehurst in the MHSAA 3A Playoffs.
And as its star continued to shine, South Pike mounted a magical postseason run.
The Eagles followed that up with a convincing 53-40 victory over Noxubee County, and a 62-47 win over fellow top-seed Crystal Springs in the Elite 8 meant that South Pike was heading to the Final 4 at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.
The Eagles fell short in “The Big House” against three-time defending champs Booneville, who are now four-time defenders.
But regardless of the defeat, Leavy spearheaded a season that will be remembered in Magnolia for generations, and the memories he made along the way will last a lifetime.
“He gave it all he had, because after his junior year he told me he had plans to be in The Big House next year,” Joe said. “So when they made it there, I had some emotions just because of how amazing it was to see him perform the way he did.”
What lies ahead
Throughout the season, Chambers went on record in saying that Leavy was one of the most underrated players in the state, and that insistence allowed his star guard to gain more and more confidence as the season progressed.
Now Leavy, who led the 3A level in scoring and finished third state-wide, is receiving plenty of attention from collegiate scouts.
The 3.5 student has picked up offers from East Mississippi, Meridian and Cleveland State to highlight a laundry list of junior colleges that desire his talents.
“It’s blown up a lot, because this season I think people saw a lot of what I’m capable of,” Leavy said of his recruitment. “My dad and brother told me during my freshman year: ‘If you want to be mediocre, then we’ll train you to be mediocre. But if you want to be a star, we’ll train for that.’ And it just came to life.”
And when it comes to his future with basketball, Leavy wants to follow in the footsteps of some past Pike County stars in making it to the highest level of college basketball, and he hopes the sport will be able to support his life one day.
But in the meantime, his mother is always there to remind him that there’s far more to life than just the hardwood.
“I want to make an impact right away at the next level and eventually make my way to a high-major like Alijah Martin [North Pike] or Ja’Borri McGhee [South Pike] did,” Leavy said. “The goal is to make a living off basketball and have a living off the court too, because my mom is always emphasizing the education aspect of it all.”
Jovon Leavy sizes up a defender.
His hoops journey is far from over, but Leavy has already made a lasting impact at South Pike, and his achievements have set the tone for future basketball success in Magnolia.
“He loves excellence, that’s the thing that makes him so great,” Stephanie said. “He’s going to strive to do his best in whatever he does because he’s willing to put in that extra effort.”
