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Jayden Caira follows in coach’s footsteps to Vol State basketball




Jo Byrns guard Jayden Caira rises for a dunk during a game last season.Joel Clinger/Main Street Nashville/File

Jo Byrns guard Jayden Caira rises for a dunk during a game last season.Joel Clinger/Main Street Nashville/File

Recent Jo Byrns graduate Jayden Caira will continue his academic and basketball career at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin.

Caira averaged 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals per game as a senior to earn a college opportunity.

“I’m kind of just hoping to go there and develop my game a little more, just get better,” Caira said. “After that, we’ll see what happens from there. That’s what I want to do, to go somewhere after Vol State.”

For the last seven seasons, he has played under Jojo Northington, who said watching Caira grow has been a joy.

“From ninth grade to 12th grade, I got to see him grow and mature,” Northington said. “Once senior year hit, he was a total player. He understood it wasn’t all about scoring. It was about getting your team involved.

“He’s the reason we had a good team. He was the glue that made everybody better around him.”

Northington played as a Red Devil himself before going on to play at Vol State. He sees a lot of similarities between his journey and Caira’s.

Jayden Caira brings the ball up the floor.FILE/JOEL CLINGER

Jayden Caira brings the ball up the floor.FILE/JOEL CLINGER

“It’s a good feeling for me to know that a kid with potential is getting an opportunity,” Northington said. “I remember my senior year not having a lot of schools show interest in me. I started trying out for different teams, and people started hearing about me. Then, I got a few different offers.

“Jayden’s kind of doing the same thing. A lot of people won’t hear about you, so you’ll have to go show your talent. That’s what he did.”

Northington has worked to get his point guard an opportunity at the next level, wanting to see him reach his full potential.

“For me it was all about his growth,” Northington said. “Watching him grow, I could tell he has the potential, once he gets in somebody’s program, to take it to the next level. A lot of kids top out during high school, but some can take it to the next level and keep growing. He’s special.”

JoJo Northington has coached the same group of guys dating back to middle school.JOEL CLINGER

JoJo Northington has coached the same group of guys dating back to middle school.JOEL CLINGER

And who better to coach him than Vol State head coach Rusty Melvin, who was an assistant coach during Northington’s time at the college. Melvin helped him take the next step to Cumberland University, an NAIA school.

“He slowed the game down for me,” Northington said. “He made it easy. Once I got to Vol State, even though I was a good player in high school, the speed of the game, the aggression of the game went up a notch. He slowed the game down; he explained to me. He helped me to go to the next level.”

For Melvin, he already has a talented point guard at Vol State, but Northington sold him on his pupil–not necessarily on the player he is now, but on the player he could be.

“Jojo and I discussed that he needs a little work, a little strength,” Melvin said. “He’s a two-year project to get to the next level. I liked his size. My assistant liked the way he guarded people at a tryout, and really (I liked him) because of Jojo.

“Jojo believes in him, and I believe in Jojo.”

 

 

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