Prep Notebook: Oakland DL Ty Nix commits to MTSU

Oakland senior Ty Nix made his college commitment on Wednesday, pledging to play football at Middle Tennessee State, where his father, Tyrone Nix, serves as defensive coordinator.

“We talked about it a lot before my senior season,” Nix said. “All (Tyrone Nix) told me was that he wanted me to go where I wanted to be. MT is where I want to be.”

The 6-foot, 270-pound Nix, a three-year starter, registered 70 tackles, five sacks and an interception this season, garnering Region 2-6A Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Nix, who recorded 87 tackles and 9.5 sacks as a junior, chose the Blue Raiders over offers from Appalachian State, Furman and Southern Illinois, among others.

Nashville area all-region football teams and awards

Lady Eagles head to Phoenix: Brentwood Academy is in the 19th annual Nike Tournament of Champions — a prestigious national high school girls basketball tournament in Phoenix.

The reigning Division II-AA champion Lady Eagles — one of 96 teams from 21 states competing — will be playing some of the top teams in the country during the four-day event held at four different Phoenix-area sites.

Headlining the field is consensus national preseason No. 1 St. Mary’s of Stockton, Calif.

Tournament play begins Friday and wraps up Tuesday.

Greenbrier coach resigns: Longtime Greenbrier softball coach Julie Head recently announced her retirement after spending 23 of the last 25 years leading the traditional power Lady Cats.

Head, who has taught at Greenbrier for 31 years, had 576 career wins, nine district titles, seven region championships, nine sectional appearances, a Class AA championship in 2003 and a runner-up finish in 2014.

“We’ve been working with the girls, doing weight training and conditioning, but doing that just showed me I was juggling too many things,” Head said. “After talking with my family and the faculty, I decided that it was time for me to step down.”

It didn’t take long for the Lady Cats to fill the position, though, as assistant coach Janna Harris was promptly promoted to head coach.

“It’s hard for me to even think about Greenbrier softball and not having Coach Head out there,” Harris said. “For me, this is a dream come true because I know how big of a job this is.”

More offers: They’ve had to wait a little longer than expected, but more scholarship offers started trickling in for a pair of standout Williamson County football players.

Ravenwood’s Chris Rowland, the Region 3-6A Most Valuable Player, entered this month’s Class 6A title game with just two Division II scholarship offers. Since then the versatile 5-foot-8, 170-pound running back, wide receiver and return specialist has picked up offers from Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech.

Independence’s Andrew Bunch, who threw for a Midstate-leading 3,405 yards and 41 touchdowns, has received offers from Tennessee Tech and Murray State since piling up 313 yards passing and six total touchdowns in the Eagles’ 49-14 Class 5A BlueBross Bowl win over Sevier County on Dec. 4.

Bunch, the Region 5-5A Co-Offensive MVP and a three-star prospect according to 247Sports, has also received  offers from Austin Peay, Charleston Southern, Eastern Michigan and Jacksonville State.

Reach Michael Murphy at 615-259-8262 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.