16th Clay County Sports Hall of Fame class includes three athletes & coaches, one contributor
CELINA-Voting for the Clay County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025 has come to a close and the results are in.
Four new members will be enshrined, including Faye (Strong) Watson, Jon Godwin, and Neal Bartlett into the athletes and coaches division, and Darrell Collins into the contributor division.
Over 100 previous hall of fame inductees were invited to cast their vote by electronic ballot to determine this year’s class, which will be inducted Friday, January 30 at halftime of the Lady Dawgs’ game versus Jackson County—which tips off at 6 p.m.
Prior to the induction, a meet-and-greet reception will be held beginning at 4:30 p.m. in the Clay County High School cafeteria and it is open to all inductees, their families, their friends, and all Clay County Sports Hall of Fame members.
The following summaries outline the outstanding achievements of the 2025 honorees:
Athletes & Coaches
Faye (Strong) Watson—who enjoyed one of the longest careers in local sports history, either playing or coaching for nearly six decades from 1960-2018. Her historic athletic career began on a dirt basketball court at Moss Elementary School, continued at Celina High School on the hardwood, kept rolling on the softball diamond, and culminated with an impressive tennis career.
Watson was the leading scorer on a Moss basketball team that defeated Celina in elementary school, before the two teams came together at Celina High to form one of the best squads legendary coach John Teeples ever had. Graduating in 1965, Watson was a three-year letterman and a part-time starter her senior year playing with four Clay County Hall of Fame members.
After playing slow-pitch softball for many years, Watson then became the first-ever Celina High School fast-pitch softball coach, when she started the program in 1986 and quickly turned them into the best team in the area. The Lady Dawgs finished as district runners-up in 1987, district champions in 1988, and district and region champions in 1989—which still stands as the only time in history a Lady Bulldog softball team has earned a sub-state game.
Outside of school sports, Watson also became a dominant tennis player who won over 300 matches over four decades (1978-2018) playing in leagues and tournaments all across Tennessee and Kentucky. She starred as a singles player, but also played doubles and mixed doubles. Among her many titles, Watson won the UTSA-sanctioned 40s age class tournament, the UTSA Regional Doubles State Championship, and played in the National Region Championship.
Jon Godwin—who was a star athlete for Clay County High School from 2004 to 2006, excelling in three sports, but was best known for his exploits on the basketball court, making TSWA All-State his senior year and becoming his conference’s MVP.
Godwin started his career at neighboring Jackson County and transferred to Clay County for his junior and senior seasons. Despite playing only two seasons as a Bulldog, Godwin compiled statistics that would rival four full years, including scoring 929 points in two years, grabbing 257 rebounds, and handing out 248 assists.
On the basketball court as a junior, he was named to the Nera White Holiday All-Tournament Team, earned the District 7-A Tournament MVP, and made the Region 4-A All-Tournament Team. He was also a starting tailback on the Clay County football team and a starting outfielder in baseball.
Godwin had a banner season as a senior in 2005-06. He helped lead Clay County High School to its first-ever appearance in the State Tournament. That appearance was the first by the new school in 20 years, with Celina High School having made it two decades before that.
In his final season as a Bulldog, Godwin was Tri-Lakes Conference MVP, District 7-A and Region 4-A Tournament MVP, made the Herald-Citizen All-Upper Cumberland 1st-team, and was named All-State by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association.
Neal Bartlett—who was a two-sport standout in both basketball and football at Celina High School from 1978 to 1981, where like his brother James, who was a member of the inaugural Clay County Sports Hall of Fame class, he had tremendous impact on sports in Bulldog Country during his career.
While playing basketball for four years for Thomas Watson and football three years for Harold Watson, Bartlett stood out as one of the best athletes of his era.
On the court, Bartlett helped the Bulldogs to the District 7-A championship over Rickman his sophomore season in 1978. Then as a junior in 1979, he was named to the All District Tournament team. His senior campaign saw him help defeat the state’s 2nd-ranked team, East Robertson, in the region quarterfinals, before claiming the Region 4-A championship over Pickett County and falling 55-56 against Sale Creek in the substate round.
On the gridiron, Bartlett’s highlights include an 83-yard rushing touchdown against Baxter and an 85-yard kickoff-return touchdown against Monterey, both as a sophomore. As a senior, Bartlett helped his team advance to the Boyce Smith Bowl against David Lipscomb, and he was also named to the All-Tri-Lakes Conference defensive team that year.
Contributor
Darrell Collins—who has lived his entire life as a diehard Bulldog player, fan, announcer, and coach, and though his playing career was cut short, the contributions he made to local sports will go down as some of the most influential ever.
Collins played baseball and football for two years, before suffering an injury that left him physically unable to participate as a traditional athlete. Unwilling to allow his circumstances to hinder his contributions, he turned to public address announcing and coaching.
Around 1990, when Celina High School was in need of a full time announcer, Collins, who was a regular at all sporting events, willingly accepted the job and made it his own. He became the “Voice of the Bulldogs” at Celina football and basketball games, and succeeded in his intention of creating a unique home-field and home-court advantage for his beloved Dawgs through a unique combination of charisma, music, and enthusiasm.
Collins, who also sang the national anthem, was such a master of his craft that he was hired to announce the district and region tournaments in basketball. He put much effort into the duties he performed, even though it wasn’t always physically easy for him to do so. Collins’ dedication was evident and it made his name synonymous with Clay County sports for multiple decades.
Besides announcing, drawing inspiration from his local heroes Bobby Bartlett and John Teeples, Collins spent time coaching the youth of the county and had a positive impact on young athletes for many years. He had a hand in Little League baseball (State Farm Reds), Babe Ruth baseball (Celina Rebels), AAU girls basketball (Lady Rockets), and was a co-founder of the youth football league alongside Clay County Sports Hall of Fame members Daryl and Dewayne Reecer (Clay County Cardinals).