The Interview that Never Was

Over the course of the last 18 months, technology has become more and more prominent in our everyday lives due to the global pandemic. Being a school teacher, I know firsthand that technology became crucial to my job and, when it failed, it created detours that were never fun. This week, we at Tribe44 were pumped about our guests, Cameron and Jordan Lasley. These standout cousins in the class of 2016 were a crucial part of some of the most successful athletic teams in Adair County sports history, so we were beside ourselves that we had an opportunity to talk to them about their time at ACHS. The interview was fantastic. Cameron and Jordan shared some awesome experiences with us that took us on a brief tour of their successes at ACHS. Unfortunately, I have to share with you that, at the end of the interview, we looked down to see that the program had some sort of unexpected and unnoticed delay and started recording when the interview was all but over. In an effort to do right by Cameron, Jordan, and our listeners, we are releasing this article about the interview in an attempt to spotlight these two standout athletes.

To give you, the readers, an idea as to how much impact the Lasley’s had on a football game, the two cousins combined for 5,307 yards and 70 touchdowns on offense in three years of varsity football. Considering both Cameron and Jordan had lengthy injuries over the course of their careers, it’s truly untelling what kind of numbers our school record-setting offenses could’ve put up with a fully healthy Cameron and Jordan at their disposals for the entirety of their three varsity seasons. Individually, Cameron led the way for us in receiving during his tenure at ACHS, including a stellar senior season consisting of 886 yards and an astonishing 15 receiving touchdowns that year. Jordan posted over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing during his sophomore and junior seasons, and barely missed this feat during his senior season which saw him begin the season on injury reserve due to a leg injury during the Summer.

The interview started as most do here on Tribe44 with a question everyone likes to hear the answer to:

What game do you remember most during your time at ACHS? Jordan immediately chimed in naming a Taylor County game that he didn’t actually play in due to injury, noting how crazy the atmosphere was surrounding the game. Cameron then said that he, too, recalls that Taylor County game being one he remembers fondly because of the rivalry, plus it also didn’t hurt that Cameron started his senior season off with 142 yards and 3 touchdowns receiving, plus a game breaking kickoff return for a touchdown.

What team did you want to beat the most? Cameron stated that he wanted to beat Caldwell County his senior year more than anybody else because of the way they beat them the year prior. Cameron did his best to make that happen, with a touchdown and 94 yards receiving in a defensive battle against Caldwell County that ultimately ended in a 12-17 loss for the Tribe. Jordan said that it’s always Taylor County for him due to the rivalry and it being the first game of the year. It seems to be a common theme that beating Taylor County is just...the best.

What do you think you’ll always remember about playing sports at Adair County High School? Jordan started off by saying the memories, friendships, and the fun that he had while playing high school football would all be things that he’d remember forever. Cameron then added that he agreed with everything Jordan said but also playing for his hometown school and trying to make Adair County proud.

What motivated you guys the most when you were in high school to blow up like you did? Cameron stated that his growth spurt really helped motivate him because early in high school he wasn’t the long, tall, and insanely strong receiver we came to know him to be, but when he hit the growth spurt he started to realize what he could do. Jordan said that there were some rankings that came out after his freshman year that had Adair County at the bottom of the district and it sparked a fire in him that led him to set up drills in his own backyard that he ran through on a daily basis. These drills helped in developing the quick feet and agility that we all think about when we hear the name Jordan Lasley. (On a side note, we then asked if his dad helped him run those drills, to which Jordan said absolutely not--it was ALL HIM.)

Jordan and Cameron played for an absolutely prolific offensive mind in Coach Travis Gay. Our next question had them expand on that a little:

Your offenses were some of the best this county has ever had. Do you think that was mostly because of the personnel or because Coach Gay was so good offensively? Cameron immediately chimed in that Coach Gay’s scheme was a great one. Jordan then said that he thought it was probably a little of both. Cameron agreed and noted that with guys like Shymez Brabson, Chance Melton, Lonnie Grant, and an experienced, cohesive line, they definitely had the guys to run whatever offense Coach Gay asked.

In my own experiences with the Adair County Middle School program, I know that these guys put up crazy offensive numbers in 7th and 8th grade running the John Peck wishbone, so I think Cameron was onto something with this statement.

The Lasley’s have proven that they are excellent football and basketball players, but we wanted to branch out from those two sports and ask about others.

With the Olympics just ending, what Olympic sport do you think you guys would be best at? Jordan and Cameron both agreed that beach volleyball would be their best bet. This was funny to us because we had actually posed this question to each other, prior to them calling in and we had talked about how we wouldn’t want to play either of them in volleyball.

Here at Tribe44, we love talking sports, but we also love talking silliness. As we always do, we had to ask the Lasley cousins some silly questions as well. When you’ve got cousins as close as these two, we of course had to ask the question:

Who is more athletic between the two of you? Jordan, without hesitation, said it was definitely him. After a long pause and no response from Cameron, we asked him if he agreed and he laughed and mockingly asked if we actually thought that was a real question. It was clear that there was going to be no debating this question with these two, they were both the answer.

Who would win in an arm wrestling match? Cameron confidently says that he’s got that one easily. Jordan, with much less confidence than before, says he’s not sure about that. (For the readers- length is a huge advantage in arm wrestling, so you guys can be the judges for the arm wrestling match.)

Has there ever been a Nathan and Craig vs. Jordan and Cameron 2-on-2 game? Cameron speaks for them both on this one and says that the Lasley dad’s would want no part in a 2-on-2 game with their sons. We at Tribe44 still want to see this happen though.

Who was the funniest teammate you had during your time at ACHS? Both Cameron and Jordan named the same person here, local funny guy Daquan Smith.

If all of your teammates were in a wrestling ring, who is the last man standing? WITHOUT HESITATION, the Lasley’s simultaneously said that the only answer was Lonnie Grant. Cameron expanded on this question saying that Lonnie was the guy during practice who just went way too hard all the time. You didn’t want to do drills with Lonnie because there was going to be no let up. Having coached Lonnie, I can attest to this claim. Cameron is spot on.

Where are the Lasley boys now? Both Cameron and Jordan work for UPS driving trucks in Bowling Green, KY. It seems that even though their athletic careers are over, they can’t help but compete with one another in whatever endeavor they see fit--even in their careers.

Let me end this article by saying that we want to thank Cameron and Jordan immensely for their time in letting us interview them. Although the interview didn’t go as planned, we hope that our listeners still got some sense of how awesome these two standout cousins were for our sports programs here in Adair County.

-Seth Dunbar