Special act of kindness
FHS basketball players show up to support coach’s daughter
“Basketball is going to end one day, and those guys will go on to be unbelievable husbands, fathers and members in this community,” Burris said. “That is a testament to them. It is not anything I’ve done.”
For Burris and his guys, the moment in question began well before Saturday, Jan. 10. In fact, one could even trace it back to his start at Farragut High School in 2022.
Upon his arrival from Hardin Valley, Burris — then less than a decade removed from his own playing career at Maryville College — connected with his new players.
“He came in our freshman year, so we’ve been with him all four years,” said senior center Reid Vining. “This is probably the best team we’ve had in terms of everyone being together.
“We break it down on family, and he wouldn’t even let some other teams do that because he didn’t think they meant it. We’ve all been playing together since eighth grade, so it really is a family.”
With that in mind, it’s easy to see why Burris’ daughter, Briar, would be at practice. She drops by to spend time with her dad and his players when she has a break from her own youth basketball practices. Recently, that latter part sparked a question from the 7-year-old.
As the team circled up to begin a workout, Briar Burris asked her father if she could tell the team about her own career in the Alcoa Co-ed youth league.
When he said yes, she squeezed into the group, looked around and offered three statements.
“We won our first game.”
“I scored 16 points.”
Oh, and one more thing, as she nervously crammed 12 words into a quick burst of speech, “I’ve got a game on Saturday if you guys want to come.”
Each sentence from Briar Burris brought a cheer from her dad’s players. But that final part inspired some thought.
“She told us that at practice,” Vining said. “And we were just like, ‘When and where?’”
A couple days later, after Farragut’s win over West on Jan. 8, fellow senior Britton Lewis sent a text informing his head coach that a group would be coming. And when the day arrived, six Admirals — Vining, Lewis, Parker Lane, Matthew Dickens, Dan Lanning and Aiden Foshie — strolled into a Blount County gym to watch their coach’s daughter play basketball.
Upon their arrival, J.P. Burris broke into an ear-splitting grin. His daughter did too — but with a bit more reservation.
“All six of them walked in the gym together, and she was super excited but so nervous too and got all red,” Burris said with a laugh.
Once the game started, Briar Burris went to shoot and drew a foul. When she sank the free-throw, one might have thought she had just hit a buzzer-beater.
“People don’t usually go nuts for that,” Burris said. “But the guys kind of lost their minds, at least in relation to what you can do at a 7-year-old co-ed basketball game.”
“She had a big smile on her face,” added Vining. “We chirped the whole game too.”
Ultimately, Briar Burris’ team wound up losing the game. But the day as a whole counted as a win for the Burris family and the Farragut program as a whole.
“The relationship I have with those guys has allowed them to get to know my family, so it’s bigger than basketball,” Burris said. “It is not often you’ll get a group like that — where, on a Saturday that they don’t have practice, they drive 30 minutes to watch my daughter and support her. That’s something I don’t deserve, and it means a lot.”
