Success, whether achieved in the classroom or in the athletic arena, is all relative. That’s the philosophy of Matthew Bagley, the recently-graduated boys tennis ace at Ware County High School. The son of Wendell and Kim Bagley, he also graduated fourth in a class numbering 340. Bagley said such success is relative to how much work one is willing to put forth and how much one adheres to the advice of relatives.
“Tennis is just like anything else in life: If you want to be successful, you have to put in the work,” Bagley said. “That’s what my dad always tells me. I have to study like every other student, and it’s the same thing with tennis. You have to spend time on the court, run, exercise, and eat right. My mom doesn’t come from an athletic background. She is a musically talented person. She may not have the most knowledge of sports, but she always encourages me no matter what I do.”
Work ethic and a do-right attitude helped Bagley compile a 10-4 record this past spring as the No. 1 singles player for WCHS, which he helped lead to a postseason berth. He also finished within just hundredths of a point of classmates Kylie Wheeler, Destinee Johnson, and Manashi Patel, the school’s top three honor graduates. Bagley did, however, receive an AP diploma and was named an AP Scholar with Distinction by scoring an average grade of 3.5 on all AP exams taken. He finished high school with a 100.3 cumulative GPA.
“Matthew is a driven kid who wants to succeed in every aspect of life,” said Ross Bedford, WCHS head boys tennis coach. “He works hard to be the best both on and off the court. This attitude has driven many of the kids around Matthew to strive to be better players. He is focused, driven, and a competitor, and he made the team better by leading by example.”
College scouts noticed Bagley, who will play next season at Point University in West Point, Georgia. His offer pool included invites from several Division III schools and junior colleges. Ultimately, though, Bagley accepted the offer from Point, a private Christian school in the NAIA. Appealing factors included a desire to remain in state as well as Point’s 6-1 record last season against Division II schools in addition to its regular competition against D-I programs.
Bagley’s first love was baseball, but he missed the cut in middle school and subsequently cast his lot with cross country, basketball, and tennis. The latter pursuit stuck. In addition to his prep success on the courts, Bagley was also a GRPA state singles champion in 2015 and 2016 and runner-up in 2013. Additionally, he has played a number of USTA tournaments throughout Georgia and Florida and has already claimed his first tournament victory on that circuit. Most notable, though, have been his victories for the Green & Gold. He is also a bit of an anomaly with his playing style.
“In sports, I am naturally left handed,” Bagley said. “I throw, bat, and dribble with my left hand. Meanwhile, I eat and write right-handed. But when I picked up a tennis racket, the backhand stroke resembled a lefthanded batter, so I began playing with my right hand. If you hold the racket in your right hand and go for a two-handed backhand, it feels like you are batting lefthanded. I know. It’s weird.”
Rafael Nadal is the pro player Bagley most tries to emulate, citing an ability to generate topspin on serves. Of course, it all comes back to work ethic.
“Rafa’s mentality is that you can become the greatest through hard work,” Bagley said. “It’s not just about raw talent. You never see him out there with his head down. He always thinks he can come back.”
Similarly Bedford said of Bagley: “I’ll never forget Matthew’s freshman year. When the rankings came out at the beginning of that season, Matthew was seeded to play the JV No. 1 position. He came up to me after practice that day and said that he felt like he was talented enough to make the varsity. I simply told him to prove it. Over the course of the next week, Matthew outworked, outplayed, and out-hustled every player he faced. He earned his spot as a varsity doubles player and never looked back.”
The same goes for Bagley’s classroom mentality. A National Honor Society member, he scored 1240 on the SAT. His dual enrollment this past semester included two classes at South Georgia State College. Overall, he completed a half dozen AP courses. His favorite subject is history, though his favorite instructor, Danny Gill, teaches math. Consequently, Bagley looks to major in biology. It didn’t take long to figure out why his academic loyalties run the gamut, as Bagley himself explained.
“Mr. Gill is a really good teacher with a good personality who explains the concepts well,” Bagley said. “Now I enjoy math a lot more. History is something I enjoy because understanding the past is important to understanding the future. I find it fascinating how we can learn from the past. But as much as I love history, I think my major is going to be biology because I’d like to become a pharmacist. The idea really came from my dad. He wanted to become a pharmacist, and it didn’t work out, but when he described it to me, it appealed to me.”
Voted Most Intellectual among the senior class along with Wheeler, Bagley served this past year as chairman of First Southern Bank Junior Board of Directors in Ware County. He has won the tennis team’s Scholar-Athlete Award each year since his sophomore season. He attends Trinity United Methodist Church, where he participates in youth activities. He also assists with the church’s TV and audio programming. Bagley has one sibling, his sister Elizabeth, an eighth-grader and band member at Ware Middle School.
Describing himself as an “average teen,” Bagley’s pastimes include playing video games and watching Netflix. Other recreational pursuits include frisbee, basketball, and pick-up football. He also enjoys books and recently read “The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith. Bagley also studies up when he can on how to improve the mechanics of his game. He cited the influence of several people who have been instrumental in that area.
“I want to thank my high school coach, Ross Bedford, and middle school coach, Anne Fulford,” Bagley said. “For a while I also took lessons from Steven Howard, an assistant coach at the College of Coastal Georgia. He worked with me a lot on my serve and encouraged me to work to where I can play on the next level. Mitchell Tanner is someone I met a year and a half ago. He is a community coach, and from this past summer and ever since, we have been on the court, and I have gotten more topspin on the ball. These folks are why I’m getting to play at the next level.”
When asked how he wants to be remembered by Ware County folks, Bagley offered this take: “As the guy that did both. The smart guy who was a good athlete.”
Southeast/Academic Athlete /June 2017
Matthew Bagley
Ware County High School
Waycross, Georgia
Story by John DuPont
Photography by Jennifer Carter Johnson
Real Genius
