How rivalry with sister Jayla Cobb pushed Upperman freshman star Ty Cobb to new heights

MURFREESBORO — Jayla Cobb is more than happy to trade places with her younger brother and Upperman freshman guard, Ty Cobb.

For years, Ty watched in the stands of Murphy Center while his older sister competed in TSSAA girls state basketball tournament games. Jayla sat in the stands on Thursday to watch her brother put the finishing touches on the Bees' 20-point win in a TSSAA boys basketball state tournament Class 3A quarterfinal against Hume-Fogg.

"I'm just so proud of him," Jayla said. "I remember competing there and it was a big deal for my teams. To watch him get here, it's really a lot of fun. I'm just enjoying him enjoy this moment."

Ty looked completely comfortable under the bright lights of the Glass House. He finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in Upperman's 61-41 win. The Bees (30-4) face Knoxville Fulton at 8:45 p.m. Friday in a semifinal.

"I don't know how many games I've watched here, maybe about 10 or 12," Ty said. "But I'm used to being here so there wasn't anything shocking to me. I knew what to expect. It was just a matter of me going out there and playing."

Jayla competed in three girls state tournaments during her four years at Upperman under girls coach Dana McWilliams. The Lady Bees captured the Class 3A state title in 2022 thanks in large part of Jayla Cobb's free-throws in the final 20 seconds of a 48-43 win over Jackson South Side.

"I just knew I wanted to experience that," Ty said. "I wanted to be a part of that kind of atmosphere."

Growing up, Jayla put her younger brother through the mental and physical strain of playing basketball against a sibling. But she also was the recipient of some mental strain, having to listen to Ty's constant trash-talking. The two are highly competitive and those "backyard" matchups often resulted in arguments.

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"He always had something to say to me when we played," said Jayla, who averaged 13.6 points as a freshman guard at Roane State this season. "He'd trash-talk with video games. He was always challenging me. He would ask me 'Jayla, lets go play basketball'. I had to tell him I would, but only if he would quit trash talking."

Ty toned it down, but he never fully stopped.

"I do talk a lot," he said laughing.

Over time, Ty developed confidence that he brought to the high school court. And Bees coach Bobby McWilliams took notice.

Freshmen aren't traditionally favored with large amounts of minutes by McWilliams. Most aren't ready physically or emotionally. But McWilliams knew he had a special one in Ty whose family has been close to McWilliams and his wife, Dana.

"He's been involved with our family since he was a baby," Bobby said. "But coming in as a freshman, I was skeptical."

McWilliams asks a lot of his point guards, but his 6-foot star calmed any reservations and has earned the trust and respect of his teammates. Ty came into the tournament averaging 19.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists.

"I knew the amount of workload he'd have to take on," McWilliams said. "Coming in as a freshman there's just not that many who are able to, at a high level, come in and not just handle the basketball component of it, but the physicality of the high school game, especially at our level, is very difficult."

This is the third state tournament trip for Upperman's boys in the past four years and the program is looking for its first state title. Ty has seen the gold ball up close. He saw it in the hands of his sister Jayla.

"I feel like I've been here all my life," Ty said about Murphy Center. "We're just trying to put our stamp on this tournament and hopefully it'll work out."

Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com and on the X platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports.