KJ Acree chooses Texas A&M

ALBANY — Kie’Aundria Acree sat at a table inside the Monroe High School gym Friday morning wearing the letter jacket of the school she has represented for the past three years.

She already knew what was underneath it.

Her classmates didn’t.

Neither did most of the people who had gathered to watch one of Southwest Georgia’s most accomplished basketball players reveal where she would spend what Acree called “the next five years” of her life.

First came the speeches.

Dougherty County Schools athletic director Khadijah Ali spoke. Monroe Principal Lawana Johnson spoke. Acree’s former track coach spoke. Then Jennifer Acree — KJ’s mother and basketball coach — spoke to her daughter.

By then, emotions were spilling over.

Finally, KJ stood.

She opened her Monroe jacket.

Texas A&M.

The decision ended a recruitment that began before Acree ever played a high school basketball game and eventually attracted interest from some of the country’s premier programs.

But there was one more secret.

Acree hadn’t actually made her decision Friday.

She had been an Aggie for nearly a month.

“I made the decision back earlier in September when I was out there for a visit,” Acree said. “I committed that day and shut down my recruitment when I was out there. I knew that is where I wanted to be.”

Basketball certainly helped take her there.

It wasn’t the only reason.

Acree carries a 4.14 GPA and plans to study engineering at Texas A&M. During her visit to College Station, she didn’t limit her tour to basketball facilities. She toured the engineering department and wanted to know how Texas A&M would help her manage the academic demands of engineering while playing a sport that will frequently take her away from campus.

For Acree, that mattered.

“It really felt like home, and I loved the coaches and the campus,” she said. “I got the opportunity to tour the engineering department and learned there would be help for me with academics because, as an athlete, I am going to be out of town a lot and will miss classes.

“The engineering aspect played a big part of my decision.”

It was a fitting explanation after what those gathered in the Monroe gym had just heard about her.

Acree’s former track coach encouraged Monroe students to learn from what she called “the book of KJ.”

Lesson No. 1: Be coachable.

“KJ listened,” she said. “I had to correct KJ once. She listened and made the adjustments.”

Lesson No. 2: Never allow athletic success to become an excuse for neglecting everything else.

“Just because you have athletic ability doesn’t give you an excuse to neglect other areas like academics,” she said.

Then came the line that may have explained Acree’s decision better than anything else said Friday.

“KJ doesn’t work on her jump shot,” she said. “She works on her future.”

Acrees’s future will include SEC basketball.

Texas A&M is coached by Joni Taylor, the former University of Georgia head coach who was the SEC Coach of the Year in 2021. Taylor led Georgia to four NCAA Tournament appearances before taking over the Aggies program. Texas A&M also has a national championship in its history, winning the NCAA title in 2011.

Acree will arrive in College Station with a résumé of her own.

She has already scored more than 2,600 career points at Monroe. As a junior, she averaged 30.6 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four blocks per game while leading the Lady Tornadoes to the Class AAA Final Four.

She had more than two dozen Division I offers by the end of her sophomore season.

The recruiting attention could easily have overwhelmed a teenager.

Ali’s message Friday was not about where Acree was going.

It was about appreciating where she still is.

“Keep doing what you’re doing. Stay in the moment,” Ali told her. “Your senior year is going to go fast. Enjoy your time and teammates and stay in the moment.

“You’ve got the skills, you’ve got the mindset, and you’ve got this community behind you.”

Jennifer Acree watched the recruiting process from two perspectives.

As KJ’s mother, she watched her daughter make perhaps the biggest decision of her young life.

As her coach, she watched one of the country’s most heavily recruited players evaluate what she wanted from basketball, college and life after both.

“Watching you during this recruiting journey, I’ve gotten to see you think seriously about your future and what you wanted, and I’m very happy with the decision you have made,” Jennifer Acree said. “Go ready to work and ready to learn.”

Then Mom gave way to Coach.

“But first, we have one more season together, goals to reach, and we have people depending on us,” she said. “One more year before you are leaving home, and we’ve got unfinished business.”

Nobody needed an explanation.

Acree helped Monroe reach the Class AAA Final Four as a freshman. The Lady Tornadoes made the Elite Eight during her sophomore season. Last year, they returned to the Final Four.

Final Four.

Elite Eight.

Final Four.

But no state championship.

That’s the unfinished business.

There is also an interesting Southwest Georgia connection waiting for Acree in College Station.

Lee County football standout Jaden Upshaw, one of the area’s top football recruits, committed to Texas A&M earlier this year. Two of Southwest Georgia’s most highly recruited athletes in the Class of 2027, playing different sports at neighboring schools, have independently arrived at the same destination.

Acree’s destination is settled.

Her recruitment is finished.

Her senior season isn’t.

Friday morning was about where KJ Acree is going.

The next few months are about finishing what she started at Monroe.