NEELYVILLE -- State champion, leading scorer in a state championship game and a top contributor to her team's success the past three years. Jentri Worley has been all of those things, and now, she can add collegiate athlete to the list.
Wednesday, Worley signed her letter of intent to play college basketball at Murray State next season, something she said she always dreamed of accomplishing.
"This was always my goal," Worley said. "Ever since I started playing in like the second grade, I was like, 'I'm going to play Division I basketball,' so I'm happy that I could do it. It means so much to me. I'm so excited. I'm happy all of my friends are here and having a good time."
Worley had a multitude of options, but Murray State coach Rechelle Turner got her to buy into the program and commit to what the program is trying to build.
"I believed in coach Turner. She was a great coach at Murray High School in Kentucky, and I feel like she's going to do great at Murray State, and I believe in what she has for the program," Worley said. "I'm ready to play for her, and I respect her a lot."
Turner piled up a 460-178 record and a state championship at Murray High School in 21 seasons prior to coaching at Murray State.
Jill Worley, Jentri's mother, was proud to see Jentri achieve a goal she'd set forth so long ago.
"It's exciting just to see your kids succeed and have a goal," Jill said. "And that's the ultimate goal is to get your college paid for and become successful. Lots of thousands and thousands of miles and thousands of dollars spent traveling for AAU, and we've spent a lot of time in the car together traveling, and it's nice to see your kids succeed."
One thing Jill will remember is Jentri's reaction when she received her first letter from a college.
"We were so excited the first time, just the reaction on her face when she received her first letter from Old Dominion," Jill said. "It's just pretty exciting to see her have that reaction and that excitement to know that those types of colleges were looking at her."
Jill added that she was glad to see Jentri stay closer to home since Murray State is just three hours away, so she'll be able to attend games more often.
Neelyville coach Becky Hale saw the potential from Jentri as soon as she arrived to the team.
"She's a real versatile player," Hale said. "She can play all of the positions here, and you know, she'll be more in one or two spots at the college level. But that's just going to help the coaches even more on that."
Jentri's work ethic is something that stuck out to Hale, saying she always put in the necessary time to get better and never lacked effort.
Before she moves on to the next step, Jentri will try to help guide Neelyville back to the state tournament to contend for a title once again to cap her high school career.