The odds of any player in any high school sport being recruited to play college sports are not in the favor of most high school athletes. To add to this, being offered to play at the top level, Division 1, is even more challenging. Finally, to play high school sports at the Class 3A level and then have a chance to play at Division 1 in perhaps the best Division 1 conference in the nation…well…let’s just say that does not happen every year. But for the Paris Lady Eagles softball and basketball player, Jayden Wells, that is exactly what she has accomplished.
Wells, a softball starter since her freshman year at Paris High School, verbally committed to the University of Arkansas earlier this year to play softball for the Lady Razorbacks. Wells will be a senior at Paris this upcoming school year, and with the opportunity to play college softball on her immediate horizon, Wells is resolute in being focused on her senior year of high school. She still has one more year of high school sports to play, and she plans to make the most of it.
Jayden is busy with sports on a year-round basis. Wells plays high school softball and basketball, and when she is not playing for the Lady Eagles, she is making the travel ball circuit throughout the summer with the Tulsa Elite team. But recently, I had the time to catch up with her for an interview for this story. As a follower of Paris sports, I have grown to know and like Jayden and her family, but her interview for this story really made an impression on me. Jayden is very sure of herself, but very realistic about her future. I very much enjoyed her interview, and I think our readers will enjoy it too.
So, on a warm summer morning at Paris Gymnasium, Jayden and I sat down in the coaches’ office and I recorded her comments. Off-season basketball practice was happening outside the office, and Jayden, was right at home in the gym. She is, the classic, “gym rat”, and I mean that with all respect. The gym and the playing fields are her home; she would rather be there than anywhere.
We started our conversation by looking at the travel ball part of her high school career coming to a quick conclusion. School will begin on August 15, and Jayden will be concentrating on starting the new school year and getting ready for the upcoming basketball season that will begin in early November. When I asked her if travel ball coming to an end was something she was thinking about more and more, Jayden responded by saying, “I don’t think it has really sunk in yet. This whole summer it was like, “Oh, it’s my senior year”, but I have seen the girls that I have spent four years of my life with, and it hit me that, “Oh, it’s (travel ball) over with”. I don’t feel like it sunk in until that last game in that last tournament, and the last out, and then it was like, “This is reality. I am 18 now. I am not a kid””.
Doubly hard for the Wells is the effect it has had on her family. Jayden’s family has provided every opportunity for her development as an athlete over the years, including building a relationship with the University of Arkansas softball coaching staff. Jayden said, for her family, “You definitely saw the parents (at the last travel game)…and the other parents…I spent over 70% of my time with them over the years…these parents put so much time and money, and effort into it…they are part of the process. They feel the losses, and they feel the pressure, too. Because they are so much of the process, it is weird that, when it was over, we were like, “What are we suppose to do now?”. You spend so much time. You start travel ball when you are eight years old, and you are 18, you spend ten years of your life. You spend more time of your life on the softball field than anywhere else.”
As I started out by saying at the start of this story, the odds of playing Division 1 softball are not very high. In fact, some sources have said that one in 59 high school players get the opportunity to make a Division 1 roster in the sport. And, that is not making a Southeastern Conference (SEC) team’s roster…the odds of that are certainly lower. So, I followed this with a question to Jayden to ask her if having the opportunity to do this at Arkansas has really hit her yet. Arkansas, at this point in time, may be one of the top five to top three softball programs in the nation, and Jayden will have the opportunity to play with a team at this lofty level. Jayden, speaking of the University of Arkansas softball program, said, “Oh, 100%. They (Lady Razorbacks) are one of the top three programs, if not the best program. And if they are not, they are coming. When I wanted to go to Arkansas, they were not Coach Deifel’s team (Coach Courtney Deifel who has elevated the Razorbacks softball program to its current status). Everyone thinks that I wanted to go to Arkansas because they are good now. But, I sat in those stands (Bogle Park) since I was 12 years old. And they weren’t very good then. So, to see the process, I almost felt like I was a part of it. Coach Deifel, even when I was like on my visit there, I felt like I had already been a part of it. I had been to their camps, I had seen this.” When I asked her about her realization of having the chance to play at Arkansas, she explained, “I don’t think it has really sunk in yet. Because the program is constantly breaking records now, and I am like, “This is the program I am going into”. This (Arkansas) could be potentially the next dynasty in softball.”
Jayden’s assessment of the Arkansas program as a potential future dynasty may not be too far off reality. The 2022 Lady Razorbacks recruiting list was ranked as the nation’s top class by some observers. Pretty salty company for a Class 3A high school athlete that will join them a year later. The fact that Arkansas has recruited so well with perennial power and current national champion Oklahoma just next door, the Arkansas program is clearly offering a culture to its recruits that most find appealing and want to be a part of during their collegiate careers.
Speaking of the Arkansas softball program culture, Jayden said, “It’s like I tell anyone who asks, it’s not only Coach Deifel, but it’s the whole coaching staff. And like, we just lost Coach Annie (Annie Smith), but she was like; there wasn’t a single person on that staff that does not play a huge role. Like, the director of operations. She is amazing. When you are there for a visit, she is on top of every detail. Everything was planned out perfectly, and they are all just the nicest people.” Jayden went on to describe every coach on the staff with great respect and admiration. In fact, she feels that the Arkansas coaches have created a family atmosphere in the program, and she thinks she will feel at home in Fayetteville.
I really enjoyed Jayden’s interview. Her maturity struck me throughout the time I spent recording her comments. But her courage that I have seen so many times on the field and the court, came out in the interview in another way that I was not expecting.
Everyone who has seen Jayden play will tell you that she plays with supreme confidence. She does this to the extent that you never have the image of her having weaknesses in her confidence or mental approach to the game, or in life. But during our interview, Jayden made a big omission. An omission of courage, and an omission that I deeply respect in her as a person. Jayden admitted that there have been times when, as she termed it, “struggled with my mental health”. Quite a courageous admission for an athlete to make in an interview. But then again, Jayden is a courageous person who plays sports with great courage and confidence, and as I reflected on her comments, it all made sense.
Mental health is becoming a topic that is moving more to the forefront of public discussion throughout our society. And no doubt, there are many athletes who quietly struggle and who either choose not to, or do not have the confidence to discuss their struggles publicly. But just as Jayden has been a leader on the field, she is now leading off the field in this important topic that can affect all of us.
Jayden said in our interview, “There have been times when I have struggled with my mental health on the field. That has become a new thing for athletes to talk about their mental health on the field. I am not scared to say that, but it is true. At a young age you face so many things that normal kids do not face, and you are constantly under pressure.”
Jayden described a situation recently when she was struggling with these types of issues and she contacted the Arkansas softball coaching staff for help. She could not say enough nice things about how positive and supportive the Arkansas coaches were for Jayden and how quickly they reacted to get her help and support. “Within 20 minutes, they (Arkansas coaches) gave me three different options. One was an online website for mental health support for athletes, gave her a phone number for help year-round, and offered to transfer these services to Arkansas once she arrived on campus to begin school and playing for the Lady Razorbacks. No stigma, no fear of loss of standing within the program. As an Arkansas alumnus, this makes me very proud. Jayden went on to say, “And to me, that’s when I knew I was safe.” This is a huge factor for a freshman student and athlete at a major university. Jayden will have a great support network with the Arkansas coaching staff. And according to her, this is not necessarily the case at other programs. “In a lot of other programs, this is not the case. You have these other programs where mental health is not a priority, and others where it is. It’s all mental and physical health (at Arkansas) and it is stable.”
This is such an important issue for a young adult moving forward in life, as well as her moving forward in her athletic career. The conversation of good mental health should not be tabu, and it should not be something to hide or to be ashamed of. To the contrary, I look forward to the day when it becomes accepted in society to reach out for mental health care just as it is for our physical ailments and related issues. “On the level that we (high school and prospective college athletes) play at all year, there isn’t a single girl on a team that has not struggled with mental health. It shouldn’t be a “you need to be tougher thing”. Mental health is not about being tough. Being mentally tough; that is a thing. But, it’s not about being mentally tough; it is about “I need help”. It’s about, “I am 17 years old, and I need help. It is about being a 17 year old kid, and an SEC athlete, and, I need help. Last year (last basketball and softball seasons at Paris) I got heckled all of the time. They would yell “Woo Pig” at me, “De-commit her”, and I would hear it from parents and fans in the stands. I got heckled constantly.”
As you can imagine, the uniqueness of a small school athlete committing to a Division 1 program with all of its publicity has been a target on Jayden’s back. Some of it is friendly competition, and a lot of it is not. Call it jealousy, envy, or just pure hatred that another school is receiving the publicity, the bottom line is that this is a teenage athlete dealing with the dark side of being a future college player. And by the way, according to Jayden, the heckling has not been limited to players and fans; she added that she has also taken the blunt end from some opposing coaches during games.
But Jayden has a healthy take on all of this. And certainly, when she does start play with Arkansas, she will only hear more of this, both at home from critical fans, and most certainly on the road when the Lady Razorbacks play in the SEC. I asked Jayden what her approach is with dealing with the pressures of being a high-profile athlete in the small high school market, as well as how she will handle Division 1 pressures. She said, “I think I believed all along that I would go somewhere to play college sports, but I did not think I would necessarily be going to a great program like Arkansas. I don’t mean that as being cocky, but it was just a known thing to me. I was born with some God-given ability, but, I worked hard to develop it. Most people have not seen or understand the hours, and the summers I have given up. To play at this level, you have to have a “chip on your shoulder”. And I think most people mistake that for cockiness, and I am not. It is confidence. When I committed, I knew it (the heckling) would get worse. I think I was prepared, but I did not know it would be as bad as it has been.” In basketball, one school’s fans would boo her anytime she touched the ball. “I have always taken incidents like that as a compliment. Some athletes would let it get to them, but I have always taken it as a compliment. My mom worries about it; she is my mom and she loves me. But I have said to her that there is a cost in life, and if you want to do something that is not as good, there will be not as much hate. But, if you want to do something that I want to do and be at the level that I want to be, it will come at a cost.” As I listened to Jayden, the respect that I already had for her continued to grow even more in my mind. In fact, I think Jayden’s maturity is appealing to the Arkansas coaching staff, and that combined with her work ethic and the coaching she will receive there will bode well for her chances to play in a very good program.
As many athletes do, adversity and great competition, particularly with rival on the field or on the court, often develop into a deep sense of respect for each other. Both sets of athletes and teams will play their hearts out to defeat the other, as they want to each win badly. But when the games are over, they develop great respect for each other. In Jayden’s interview, she described the rivalry with conference school Booneville, and her respect for their players. Jayden said, “In basketball and softball games, it was Booneville. It is a rivalry, and the games are always going to get “chippy”. But I have great respect for their players. They were incredible last year. All props to them; I was rooting for them (in the playoffs) to go far. Because, if it is not us, why not them? Even if they are our rival, I am going to root for a conference school. I wanted my conference to go as far as they could.” She mentioned the star softball pitcher and basketball player, Lexi Franklin of Booneville, along with her family. “They (the Franklins) have been very supportive. I played with Lexi at a young age. I respect her a ton; she is a great pitcher.”
Jayden’s maturity and leadership will be an asset to the Lady Eagles this year. As a senior, she is focused on helping the young talent develop, and perhaps pass along her experiences and knowledge to her teammates, especially with mental health issues that young players may experience. This is a huge responsibility that Jayden is willing to take on her senior year, but it is also an indicator that she is not looking past this year to her freshman year at Arkansas in August of 2023. To the contrary; she believes the Lady Eagles can win and that is something she is squarely focused on for the upcoming school year. “I really want to soak it up (he senior year).””
So, I hope our readers are now seeing why I was so impressed with this Paris athlete. To finish our story, I asked Jayden the question of, “What is it like being Jayden Wells?”. And like she did so well throughout this interview, she hit this question out of the park as well. Jayden shared, “I get a lot of support (in Paris) from the community. It has been a “backbone” for me to know that I get to come home to a place that supports me. I can be in a random place, like a Wal-Mart, or Dollar General, and people will say things like “Congratulations, so excited to see you!”, and I am like, I don’t even know that person. And I have already seen so much support from the Razorbacks fan base. If I go to a game, there are people who have recognized me. It is not necessarily like that for women’s sports; not like men’s. But in Arkansas, women’s sports are important. But other than this, I am just Jayden. Working at the pool as a lifeguard, goofing around with the kids, and I don’t see myself as different. But I do feel a sense of responsibility to young kids who look up to me.”
I, along with many Paris fans, and soon to be Arkansas fans, look forward to following Jayden over the next five to six years of her playing career at Paris and later at the University of Arkansas. Hats off to Lady Razorbacks coach Courtney Deifel for recruiting Jayden and giving her the chance to come to Fayetteville from a small town to pursue her dreams. I know Coach Deifel knows this, but Arkansas is getting a good person who will work her tail off to contribute to their program.
Congratulations to Jayden and her family, and RNN Sport looks forward to bringing our readers coverage of Jayden and the Lady Eagles, as well as her new future at the University of Arkansas in 2023.
