Lee University and Gadsden State Athletics

Words by Suzie Walton | Images by Al Blanton 

Wins and losses matter to serious athletes and can motivate them to excel. However, family can play as vital a role in the drive to succeed. For Cordova High School graduates Jessica and Jayce Willingham, their father and grandfather paved the way for the siblings’ love of basketball. 

Jessica and Jayce’s father, Jody, was the first Cordova student to play college basketball, excelling under Coach Glen Clem at Walker College in the 1980s. Both Jessica and Jayce followed in their dad’s footsteps to play at the college level. Jessica became Cordova’s first female athlete to earn a basketball scholarship in 2014, and Jayce helped his team clinch the first boys’ basketball state title in school history four years later.

It’s true: Jessica and Jayce are “ballers.” They have a toughness and a competitive spirit driving them that they attribute to their parents. They laugh loudly at each other’s recollections and add forgotten tidbits as they recall childhood memories of playing sports. 

For most, childhood is a time of play and competitive fun. In the Willingham household, however, not every day was a typical “play day.” On any given afternoon, someone passing the Willingham house could see Jessica and Jayce jumping rope in the front yard or sitting on the front porch bench dribbling a basketball. 

“That was not our idea of fun,” Jayce says. “If you looked closer, you would see my dad sitting in the living room watching us through the front door.”

Jessica laughs and adds, “Dad is a ‘baller,’ and he was always pushing us, always encouraging us to work harder. Mom always had us at the pool from a very young age coaching and supporting us on the swim team. Our parents have high expectations for us.”  

Jayce says that he and his father would sometimes butt heads, but the ropes really paid off. That was evident last season when Jayce, a 6’4” guard at Lee University entering his senior year, recorded a jump of 12 feet. “The average is 10.5 feet,” he says. 

He expects to contribute again this year to a Flames team that finished 2nd in the Gulf South Conference with a 15-6 record. 

Along with their parents, the two credit their coaches as mentors who continued to inspire their love for the game, and their success in and beyond high school. “I wouldn’t be where I am today at Lee without Coach [Heath] Burns’ dedication,” Jayce says. “When I was younger, I wanted to be like my dad, and Coach Burns saw something in me and toughened me so I could excel at the next level.”  

Jessica began to hone her skills during her middle school years, but a coach helped her athletic career to flourish. “I was a shy little girl with a great coach,” she recalls. “Coach Cobb pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and made me tough. She is one reason I was able to earn that college scholarship to Gadsden State.”

Jessica played for two years for the Cardinals in 2014-15 and 2015-16. 

The preparation that began more than a decade ago still resonates deeply as Jayce and Jessica hold tight to the moments that paved the way to where they are now. “It’s been seven years since Dad has played ball with us, and I miss it so much,” Jayce says. “He would go so hard even though he was older. I want to carry on that legacy to my children one day.” 78