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By Andrew Simonson | Photos by Jeremy Raines

JT Alvis’ journey has been anything but typical.

From his origins as a baseball star to returning to his football roots in middle school to becoming one of the Helena Huskies’ top talents while balancing his life as a homeschooler, Alvis has broken the mold of a typical football player over the past six years.

Now, as he enters his last ride with the Huskies ahead of a likely future in high-level college football, he hopes to make his mark while helping his team continue its rise in the Class 6A ranks.

A rapid rise

Alvis played football when he was young, but he quit and took a long time off to focus on playing baseball. While he was well-regarded by baseball scouting outlets like Perfect Game, he eventually made his way back to football in seventh grade.

He started that year as a receiver-defensive back hybrid, and under coach David Lee in eighth grade, he truly began to flourish as a two-way player.

Alvis caught varsity head coach Richie Busby’s eye in middle school, and before his freshman year, he started working out with the varsity team. He began the summer as a receiver and quickly made an impact, working his way to getting second team reps.

However, the coaches soon switched him over to the other side of the ball as a defensive back to get a read on his skills. Two weeks later, he worked his way into a starting cornerback role for offseason 7-on-7 games and never let go.

Alvis said that his work in that offseason helped reassure Busby that starting him as a freshman was the right call despite it being relatively unprecedented at the Class 6A level.

“I think that just helped Coach Busby see the potential in me,” Alvis said. “He took the risk for me starting as a freshman cause that’s not that’s not really popular for a freshman to be starting at a 6A school.”

Alvis succeeded from his first year as a starter, and by the end of his freshman year, he got his first offer from UAB.

That flipped the switch for Alvis to take the plunge and go all-in on football.

“When I got my first offer at the end of that season from UAB, I started taking football seriously and just expanded that sport after that,” Alvis said.

The improvements kept coming for him from there, as did the recruiting. As of late June, Alvis is rated as a three-star defensive back by 247Sports and has offers from eight Power 4 schools including Arkansas, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, Penn State and Texas A&M.

Over time, Alvis developed into a dynamic player who can not only lock down the passing game but drop into coverage or run defense, giving him the ability to play all three defensive back positions: safety, cornerback and nickel.

He believes that his early starting experience as a freshman helped him quickly adapt to the speed of 6A varsity football and keep developing.

“I think me coming in as a freshman, it showed me fast how real high school football will be a big transition from middle school and I think that helped me and it made me grow into the player I am today,” Alvis said.

The growth is even more remarkable since Alvis only resumed playing football in seventh grade. He credits his work ethic on the field and in the weight room with helping him close the gap between him and other players who have played the game longer.

“I feel like I’m a very hard worker,” Alvis said. “Even coach Busby will tell you this. You’ll see me at the fields almost every day with the guys up there. So, I’m always working and I’ll just think my work speaks for itself. And no one could take that away from me. So how hard I work and I just think that it’s showing right now with all the things happening and I just thank God for putting me in this position.”

Leading the way

While Alvis has ascended on the field, he has also grown greatly off the field as a person and a leader.

Starting as a freshman automatically put big expectations on Alvis’ shoulders, but over time, he’s grown into those. He has also accepted a bigger leadership role over the years as he’s grown up, and now, he feels responsible for keeping the team moving in a positive direction.

“I think my role has grown a lot,” Alvis said. “I’ve been starting since I was a freshman, so I feel like I’ve always had to lead but just not as a big role. So now with me being a senior, I still feel like I have to keep everybody in check and just lead the whole team and make sure we’re always going right so we can do big things this season.”

While many team leaders get to forge bonds with their teammates in the classroom and hallways of the high school, that’s not the case for Alvis. He is homeschooled and does not attend Helena High School like his teammates do, but he gets to play with the Huskies as a member of the Helena community.

One of the benefits Alvis finds in being homeschooled is the extra time he has to get his schoolwork and on-field work done.

“I think it helps me focus and I can also do football things, like after we’ve got real practice, I can go train and get my work done,” Alvis said.

Alvis still makes time to socialize and build bonds with his teammates. In particular, he gets together with his fellow defensive backs to hang out and train or do something outside of football.

“As far as the team, I’ll get all the DBs, we’ll come together, we’ll go eat out so we can come together as a unit,” Alvis said.

His work towards becoming a better teammate and leader hasn’t gone unnoticed. Busby has seen how he’s built relationships with his teammates and coaches, and he now trusts Alvis as one of the players who will tell him how the team is doing.

“I’ve seen it just more so in the building, the way he’s interacting with the guys and mainly the way he’s interacting with us,” Busby said. “He was always real quiet and sometimes you need players to come to you and go, ‘Coach, this is what’s going on, this is kind of the temperature of the team,’ or things like that. He’s done all those kinds of things.”

Busby has seen the growth in Alvis over time to the person he is now, and he believes those gains will help him thrive outside of Helena, not just in college football, but in life.

“If it’s not for football or 7-on-7 stuff, he’s not necessarily around people, but he’s really come out of his shell in my opinion,” Alvis said. “He’s more vocal now. All the things that we challenged him to do that we thought would help him at the next level, he’s done every bit of that, but he’s really made a change in the last eight to nine months in just the way he carries himself.

“I think he knows it’s his time. It’s his last go around as a senior.”

Going out strong

Alvis has continued working hard in preparation for his final go-around as a Husky. His work in the weight room and on the field has led to big improvements both physically and mentally.

Busby is impressed with how Alvis looks entering the season and believes he has become a more complete player as a result of his hard work.

“I mean, you look back there and he looks like a college safety right now,” Busby said. “And he’s always looked like that. Even when he came up as a ninth grader, he was a good-looking kid. But now he’s really filled out. He’s developed. I think he’s turned himself into just an all-around overall really good player that has a lot of versatility for the next level.”

Playing at the next level has been Alvis’ goal, and with offers and interest coming in ahead of his senior year, taking the field on Saturdays appears to be in the cards for him.

His athleticism, ability to play every position in the secondary and experience on defense, offense and special teams put him in a position where Busby believes he could make an impact early on wherever he goes.

“I think JT has the size and the maturity to play early where he goes, especially in special teams, and that versatility of playing all three spots (cornerback, safety, nickel), it gives him a better chance of getting on the field early in college football,” Busby said.

While his college decision will obviously be an important moment in the next few months, Alvis is focused on making the most of his final season at Helena.

He’s not just focused on his on-field performance as he wants to become an example for the kids around Helena and show them how to do things the right way.

“Off the field, I just want to become a mentor to the kids in Helena, just show the kids that this is possible,” Alvis said. “I want to be a leader in the community. I want kids to come and ask me for advice. I just want to be a role model for the kids around me and set a good example for this town of Helena, this small town.”

He also has lofty expectations for himself and his teammates on the field as he takes the field at Helena for the last time.

“On the field, I want to make First Team All-County, All-State, all those things like that, show people that I’m an all-around player and just show my talents off and help my team get to the ultimate goal to get us a ring for my seniors,” Alvis said.

Overall though, Alvis wants to leave a legacy in everything he does and represent Helena well both while he wears the Huskies uniform and in whatever college jersey he dons in 2025.