Karly Weathers builds family athletic prowess, wins Gatorade Tennessee POY
LORETTO, Tenn. (BVM) – The Weathers family name is well known throughout the state of Tennessee. The patriarch, David Weathers, was born in Lawrenceburg and went to Motlow State Community College in Tullahoma before he carved out a 17-year MLB career pitching for nine franchises and winning the 1996 World Series as a member of the New York Yankees. The matriarch, Kelli Weathers, formerly Kelli Davis, is third on Belmont women’s basketball’s all-time scoring list and is one of only three players to have their number retired by the program. Their son, Ryan, made his MLB debut last season for the San Diego Padres after being a top-10 selection by the team in 2018 straight out of Loretto High School. Now, the family’s eldest daughter, Karly, is leaving her own legacy at Loretto.
“Coming from my mom, my brother, my dad, my sister is competitive too, it’s a really competitive family,” Karly said. “I think just the competitiveness of our family has made me the player I am. We will go into the backyard and play a pick-up game or a game of wiffle ball and it’s just as competitive as if we were on the field or on the floor in a real competition. Everything we do I feel like is a competition in this household and so that spirit just translates to my regular season tournament games. It just comes naturally to me, the competing aspect.”
The stadium we grew up in❤️ surreal moment tonight. proud of you always @RyanDWeathers25 🤎 pic.twitter.com/hzJQp3J711
— Karly Weathers (@kjweathers25) July 2, 2021
On March 9, Karly was named the 2021-22 Gatorade Tennessee Girls Basketball Player of the Year, becoming the first player from Loretto High School to win the award. Karly earned the award thanks to a stellar senior season where she averaged 23.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 4.0 steals and 2.0 blocks per game and led her team to a 28-3 record and an appearance in the Class 2A Sectional final.
“I feel very honored. I feel like the state of Tennessee is really rich in basketball, especially in girls basketball and to be honored with that award, it meant a lot,” Karly said. “I was very shocked, I’m going to be honest. I thought I didn’t have as good of a chance being from a small school, you know there’s some very good basketball players in the metro area, so I was very shocked but I felt very blessed after I realized.”
This isn’t the first time that Karly has impressed at the statewide level either as she was also named the 2021 Class A Miss Tennessee Basketball after helping lead her team to the Class A state championship.
So honored to receive this award. I couldn’t have done anything without my coaches and teammates. The Lord has truly blessed me by placing me in the town of Loretto🖤 @Gatorade #GatoradePOY pic.twitter.com/53WBf9CuEu
— Karly Weathers (@kjweathers25) March 9, 2022
This isn’t the first time a Weathers family member has come away with a Gatorade Player of the Year award either. Ryan also won the Gatorade Player of the Year for Tennessee and was named the National Gatorade Player of the Year for Loretto baseball in 2018.
“It’s really cool because Ryan has a banner in our gym where he was named the Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year and to know that I’m going to have a banner sitting beside that and know that’s my brother it’s really cool,” Karly said. “We work hard but we appreciate the awards and it’s kind of cool to have a little brother-sister duo in the gym.”
Thank You To @Gatorade For Naming Me Gatorade National Baseball Player Of The Year🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/dNrSIAbvzU
— Ryan Weathers (@RyanDWeathers25) June 1, 2018
Karly has been a great asset for the Mustangs throughout her four years on the team. As a freshman, the 5-foot-11 guard scored 21.3 points per game before scoring 18.8 points as a sophomore. During her junior year, she averaged 22.4 points, her best outing to that point, leading to her statewide honors. Each season she would earn Tennessee Class A first team all-state. In total, Karly scored over 2,700 points during her Mustangs career becoming perhaps the most decorated player in program history.
“It really was a blessing for me to be born and raised in this small community.” Karly said. “We’ve had numerous women players come out of Loretto and they’ve been successful at the collegiate level and to just know I’m going to be a piece of that means a lot.”
With such an impressive career it comes as no surprise that Division I programs would be calling. Ranked No. 83 overall in the class of 2022, according to the Junior All-Star Report, Karly received plenty of attention from Division I schools but ultimately chose to join the University of Alabama.
“I’ve always loved the university itself,” Karly said. “We’ve always been Alabama football fans, we live right on the state line, seven minutes from Alabama, so to us the university has always been special. But, the coaching staff there I feel like they’re going to push me not only to be a better player but a better person…I love Coach Curry and what she’s doing with the program, I think it’s trending upward and I think she believed in me…I’m just thankful for the opportunity she’s given me.”
While the Mustangs will lose out on one of their star players, they won’t be left completely without help from the Weathers family. The youngest member of the Weathers family, freshman Ally, will have a few years left at Loretto with big shoes to fill. Though there may be pressure on the youngest child from outside the family, the Weathers are making sure that she has their support and understands that she just has to be her best.
“This year was a big year for her,” Karly said. “ She’s going to be a great player, she’s different than me, we have different body types, we have different styles, but I want her to believe in herself and have the confidence in herself that everybody else has in her because I think she could be a really good player by the time she graduates.”
In the meantime, Karly will look to bring similar success that she had at Loretto with her to Tuscaloosa. Given her family’s success at higher levels, it is likely that she will succeed. With another Weathers family member at the college level and another following close behind, expect to hear more about the family in the future.
“I’m hoping to be whatever [Alabama] needs me to be, whether that be a scorer, a defender, a facilitator, whatever I need to be coming in, that’s what my goal is, ” Karly said. “I know that I will be pushed, I’m going from a 2A school in Tennessee to an SEC school so I know it’s going to be a rude awakening for me once I get there but I hope to just take in whatever they give me and just thrive.”
