If there was a loose ball on the floor, a charge to take or a stop Morristown West needed, Julian Sexton was often the one willing to put his body on the line.

Sexton looks to bring that same mentality to Tusculum University, where he plans to major in business while continuing his basketball career.

“It’s great, I wasn’t planning on playing basketball, but they gave me an offer,” Sexton said. “It’s a good opportunity to go play and continue what I’ve been doing.”

Sexton will have the opportunity to hone his skills early with the JV program and adjust to the college game.

“It’s a small school, and they have a JV program that’slike a development thing,” Sexton said. “I can go through there, develop and hopefully go play.”

Sexton earned every minute that he played, and Trojans head coach Joe Dobyns expects Sexton to fight for a spot on the court the same way he did at West.

“It’s exciting to see guys get an opportunity to play in college, play at the next level,” Dobyns said. “They always dream about that, and it’s fun to watch them get that opportunity. Julian’s done a really good job for us. We’re gonna hate to see him go. He’s been a really good shooter this past season, close to 40% from three. Plays really hard, good hard-nosed kid, and so he’ll be a workhorse for him, and I’m excited to see him get this opportunity.”

Early in his time at West, Sexton came off the bench and contributed in any way he could. Whether it was an offensive or defensive spark, he played a key role in the Trojans’ run to the sectionals in the 2024-25 season.

“It’s sacrifice and doing whatever for the team,” Sexton said. “It’s not about me, I’m out there to play for my team and do what I need to do so we can come up with a win — play defense, shoot. I want to do at Tusculum everything I did here.”

That grit earned him a starting role as a senior, and he thrived, averaging 9.4 points and shooting around 40% from behind the arc on three attempts per game. He averaged a steal per game and drew 15 charges in 29 games.

“He certainly was willing to stick his nose in there and take a hit, which was something we really do take pride in,” Dobyns said. “He did a good job with that. He would always draw a tough matchup defensively, because we knew we could count on him to stick his nose in there and do those things. And so he set the tone with how hard he played, and he really shot the ball well this year for us.”

His play in the 2025-26 season got him named Second Team All-Conference as West clinched a share of the district championship.

“It was a great year,” Sexton said. “We put up a banner this year, beat Science Hill for the first time in 20-plus years, and we did that three times this year. We had a really good season. I love playing with the guys, and I’m gonna miss it, but there are more opportunities out there.”

After coaching Sexton for four seasons, Dobyns believes he will bring toughness to the Pioneers from day one.

“I think they’ll be pleased with the kind of player that they get,” Dobyns said. “Somebody that’s going to play hard and really give great effort on the floor, and if he continues to work at his shot and continues to shoot the ball, I think they’ll be excited to see how well he can actually shoot the basketball, but I know he’ll bring a good tough toughness to them and he’ll be good for them.”