On Braxton Sharp’s high school sporting resume was a 10.99, third-place finish in the State 100m Dash.
Also, the Liberty Bowl High School All-Star Offensive Player of the Year took home the Region 8-5A MVP award in 2022. With dozens of college football offers on the table and multiple Division I track scholarship chances, Sharp was a little overwhelmed.
Even thinking he should just attend the University of Memphis and be a regular student, Sharp was overwhelmed about his next step in life. Facing the burden of being a high-level student athlete, the son of Benny and Phyllis Sharp relied on the foundation taught to him by his family.
“I’ve prayed about this for a very, very long time,” Sharp noted. “And I’m just blessed to be in this situation.”
The perfect landing spot for Sharp ended up with University of Tennessee at Martin Track. Despite a hamstring injury limiting Sharp during his senior season of track, Martin was consistent about securing his talents.
“I really believe in the 100mm if he ran today, he would be the state champion,” Munford Track Coach Bernard Ivie declared. “After my 53 years of coaching track, I’ve had only two like Braxton, and the other is my son, Conrad Ivie. Both are powerful and have natural speed.”
The gifted runner came out the womb ready to move his feet.
“This is a child that never walked, didn’t crawl,” Phyllis recalled. “When he stood up, he started running. He was a racer, like Lightning McQueen in the movie. He loved those cars. So, he always had a need for speed.”
Berry saw his son gravitating toward athletics and gave him a subtle nudge early in his life.
“I started taking him to the SYS Little League games,” he said. “I know he was probably about 4 years old. I told him one day you’re going to play football and I used to hold him on my shoulder. ‘You gonna play football.’”
