Hiley Mazda Key Athlete of the Week: Huntsville basketball’s JD Gossett

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. ( WHNT ) — The Huntsville boys basketball team has high expectations for the upcoming season and the talent in their rising senior class is a big reason why.

In July, three rising seniors, including JD Gossett, committed to Division 1 programs.

Since Gossett was a freshman, he knew that college coaches were looking at him. When he got that first D1 offer, he knew the opportunity to play the next level had become a reality. Once he had multiple offers, Gossett had a tough choice to make, so he leaned on his faith to decide where to take his talents on the court.

“I was pretty torn. I was very nervous about it and just stressed out and I remember sitting in a worship service and we were singing Psalms 34,” Gossett said. “It just said ‘I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered’ and while I was singing that I just really felt just a peace come over me that only God provides and in that moment I just knew I was going to be a Lipscomb Bison.”

Now, Gossett has committed to play for Lennie Acuff and the Lipscomb Bison program.

“He told me that he was going to push me and that’s one thing that I love about Coach Acuff that he’s not only going to push me to be a better basketball player but he’ll also push me and my walk with the Lord,” Gossett said. “He’s going to just push me to be a better man and I’m just super excited. I’m just really looking forward to going up to Lipscomb.”

Huntsville head coach Christian Schweers has nothing but high praise for his senior guard and knows Coach Acuff is getting a great player and better young man.

“He’s such a competitive player on the floor, but just his humility as a person really comes through on the floor,” Schweers said. “He’s a great leader in so many ways for us. He’s been here almost as long as I have; he started in the seventh grade on our freshman team, so he has a lot of experience.”

Before he packs his bags to suit up in the purple and gold, JD still has one more year in the Huntsville uniform, and he can’t wait for his senior season here in North Alabama.

“As a team, we just want to get better each and every day, really reach our ceiling and just really just be unselfish and really bond together and if we do that, then we have a really chance to go make some noise,” Gossett said.

We are always looking for standout student-athletes in the Tennessee Valley to feature! If you have a high-school-aged athlete that you would like to nominate for Hiley Mazda Key Athlete of the Week, you can email olivia.whitmire@whnt.com, alexa.harley@whnt.com or sports@whnt.com.

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