Yellow Jacket Assistant Boys Soccer Coach Michael Adams (left) and Head Boys Soccer Coach Evinn Watson (right) have been selected to coach the North Half of the 2025 Randy West Boys Soccer All-Star Game.
Starkville High School Boys Soccer Head Coach, Evinn Watson, has been selected along with Assistant Coach Michael Adams to lead the North Half team for the 2025 Randy West North/South All-Star Soccer game. The Mississippi Association of Coaches (MAC) made the announcement in early March. The North/South All-Star game will be held on July 8 at Brandon High School.
"It is such a great honor to be a part of the North/South All-Star game," said Coach Watson. "I played in this game my senior year of high school, and it was one of my favorite achievements as a soccer player. Now, to be able to coach in it and hand pick some of the best players across the North half of the state is a special honor."
As a MHSAA soccer player himself, Watson knows first-hand how much the sport has grown and how important it is to recognize and grow outstanding players. Starkville High School junior, Silas Walker, was named to the North team as a 2025 All-Star in mid-March.
"We're very proud of Coach Watson and Coach Adams for being selected as coaches this year in a game which highlights the best players from around the state," said Jacket Director of Athletics, Jay Hopson. "It's a testament to their skill and commitment to the game to be selected, and there's no better mentor for great players than these guys."
Watson said being selected to coach in the annual game offers a great opportunity to get to know players that he has seen across the field for several years on opposing teams.
"I'm very excited to work with these players that I've been coaching against for the last few years," he said, "and even getting to meet and mentor new players from across the state."
A boys soccer All-Star game has been played in Mississippi each year since 1983, pitting North versus South, and it continues to serve as an opportunity to promote and support the sport and its outstanding high school players. Only two other Starkville coaches have ever been selected to coach in the All-Star game –– Ken Basil in 1986 and Bill Reeves in 1991. Being selected as part of the All-Star coaching staff gives honorees an opportunity to see some of the best players in the state up close and work with a variety of students.
"I'm hoping to create great memories for the guys," Watson said. "And it's all about growing the game of soccer in our state and continuing to see it thrive. I'm looking forward to representing Starkville High on the sidelines to the best of my ability."
Watson joined the Yellow Jacket Athletics staff in 2019 as an Assistant Coach and became Head Boys Soccer Coach in 2020. He also serves as a Physical Education teacher at Starkville High. Prior to joining Jacket Athletics, Watson coached recreational soccer for a number of years. He has developed a program that regularly sees postseason play and each year produces players that sign at the community college level.
Coach Michael Adams joined the Yellow Jacket staff in 2021 as an Assistant Coach and also teaches Mississippi Studies, Government and Advanced Placement Human Geography at Starkville High.
"This is a well-deserved honor for Evinn and Michael," said Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Superintendent, Dr. Tony McGee. "They have been great mentors for our Yellow Jacket student athletes as both coaches and teachers. Our state's best soccer players will learn a lot under their leadership during the All-Star experience."