By Rubin E. Grant The stream of accolades coming in for Hoover junior volleyball player Rya McKinnon has become a flood. Recently, VolleyballMag.com named McKinnon to its high school All-American first team. The Over the Mountain volleyball coaches also just voted her the 2020 OTM Player of the Year. So, what does McKinnon think of all these honors that have … [Read more...]

For the first time in more than four decades, Vestavia Hills High School has a new head football coach. The Vestavia Hills Board of Education met this afternoon and approved Sean Calhoun, head football coach at Carrollton (Ga.) High School, for the job. Calhoun, 39, has served as Carrollton’s head football coach since 2016. He compiled a 51-12 record over five seasons with … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. Grant As the Vestavia Hills boys basketball team entered the middle of January, it already had surpassed the number of victories it had during the 2019-20 season. The Rebels finished 14-14 last season but started play this week with an 18-2 record. Vestavia Hills opened the season with eight consecutive wins before a 62-56 loss to arch-rival Hoover. Since then, … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. Grant Coming off his worst performance of the 2020 high school football season, Oak Mountain junior quarterback Evan Smith became nearly unstoppable. Smith, a dynamic dual-threat quarterback, finished with only 67 yards rushing on nine carries and completed only 3 of 11 passes for 40 yards in a 42-7 game at Hoover on Sept. 18. After that, Smith exploded, with his … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. GrantBriarwood Christian senior Tyler Waugh tried to deflect the spotlight, but it shined on him nonetheless.That’s what happens when you lead the Birmingham metro area with 165 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for losses, make three interceptions, force four fumbles, recover three fumbles and score two defensive touchdowns. And in short-yardage and goal-line … [Read more...]