By JOHN MOOREHOUSE
It’s 1,902 miles between Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, TN, and the campus of Arizona State in Tempe.
It’s another 1,389 miles between ASU and the University of Louisiana.
After all of that, Julianne Tipton finds herself back where she started.
And she couldn’t be happier about it.
Tipton announced on her Instagram on Wednesday that she was transferring to East Tennessee State to continue her softball career. The next day, she discussed her decision on Thursday in a telephone interview with I-81 Sports.
“I get to play with some old high school teammates, possibly play with some kids who I knew who might come in,” Tipton said. “I know what the culture can be here. I know how big of a culture piece it is for programs to be successful and I know that I can bring that, especially with the group of girls at ETSU. We’re small town scrappy kids. We’re gonna get it done. It may not be the same thing as my first two schools but thank God for that.”
This was Tipton’s second time going into the transfer portal, and after beginning her college career at the power conference level, then joining a highly-regarded mid-major program, she had a different set of priorities this time. When she sat down and started looking at the pros and cons of every school she considered, ETSU being close to home – roughly a half hour drive, compared to the marathon treks or multiple flights it required to reach her two previous stops – was the obvious No. 1 plus for choosing the Bucs.
But it went beyond that, Tipton explained.
“I remember I looked at my mom and I was looking at this list. For me to show how important home is it would have to be 15 different points on the list,” she said. “I get to look out in the outfield and see my papaw watching me play. If I’m having a bad day at school, getting to go home and eat dinner with my family. That’s me getting to spend time with my mom’s side of the family. That’s a whole part of why I’m doing it.
“I got to go away and experience life and grow up a whole lot. I went to vists and everywhere I would go, it was like, this is awesome and everything is nice and shiny, until you’re homesick at 1 a.m., on a random Tuesday.”
Before deciding on ETSU, Tipton had another choice to make: whether she wanted to even continue her softball career.
“It was definitely day to day,” she said. “I could give you a percent but at some point it seemed stupid to try again. It seemed a little bit like insanity, to say, ‘No, this time will be different.’ Some days I was like, there is no way I can do this again. I’m too broken. I’m a shell of a human being trying to figure it out. That’s hard. But other days I’d get up and I’d go throw outside with my dad and we’d work on the mechanical things I needed to know for eight months. He’d help me fix it in two hours. Then it was, dang, maybe I can do this again. Maybe this can be fun again. I’m not miserable throwing a bullpen.
“When I first had decided that the portal was gonna be the route for me, I’m not gonna put a percentage on it, but I wasn’t sure. I would’ve been good to walk away. Which is really sad to say. I probably could have.
“Obviously I’ve played and I’ve been at the big level,” Tipton added. “All of the horror stories that you hear about, I’ve probably lived them. I wasn’t sure that I was gonna play again.”
That led to a tough conversation between Tipton and her parents. She had to make sure her folks would accept if she chose to walk away from the game. Their message: “We want you to be happy again.”
Re-entering the portal after spending the 2026 campaign at Louisiana, Tipton said she had opportunities to return to a Power 4 conference program.
She wasn’t interested.
“I’ve seen how that works,” Tipton said. “That’s not a road I’m interested in going down. I have full respect for all Power 4 softball players. There’s so much more that goes into that than just, they’re playing Power 4 softball. It’s just not what you think it is. There’s a whole other side that isn’t known to the public. I fully understand and have total respect for people who transfer out. And I have total utmost respect for those that stay. If it blows your mind that I don’t want to go back, then you don’t get it.
“It’s harder to find your joy once you go and compete at that level. I know a lot of girls from my travel team who went Power 4 and absolutely love it, wouldn’t change it for the world, love the culture, love the coaches, and love everything about it. It brings me so much joy to know people have found it and love it and can’t wait to go back. It’s not for me in this phase of what I’m looking for. I’m looking for the hometown feel. I want to come back and play for this community and these people who have loved and supported me forever. I have unfinished business here. I want to win here, in college, too.”
Followers of the Northeast Tennessee sports scene should know Tipton well. She was the primary pitcher for the Dobyns-Bennett softball team in 2024, when the Lady Indians captured the only state championship in program history. Tipton fired 10 shutouts and four no-hitters as a senior, tallying more than 600 strikeouts in her four-year high school career.
Coming back to ETSU reunites Tipton with two of her teammates on that 2024 D-B team: Hailey Porter and Payton Moore.
“I’m so excited,” Tipton said. “Genuinely. It’ll be fun. I reached out to both of them. Payton reached out to me before it was official. … Hailey was one of the only people I really called and talked to my freshman year. Hailey absolutely fully sung the praises of this coaching staff and the culture they created.
“Me and my teammates left a huge legacy here,” she added. “I left with a pretty emphasized name on the softball community in Kingsport, at D-B, period. I wanna leave a lasting legacy where it matters the most to me and that is my hometown.”
Tipton went 5-5 for the Ragin’ Cajuns last season, posting a 3.78 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 59 ⅓ innings of work. Before that, at ASU in 2025, Tipton had a 5-2 record with a 7.00 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 50 innings.
“I’ve grown a lot. And I know what’s expected and I know how to win and I know how to play the backroads of the game a little bit better now,” she said. “I’m just excited to be an upperclassman. I think I bring a new perspective and valuable experience from the two places I’ve been before this. I think that can be a really interesting piece to a new program.”
Tipton said one thing she will miss about Louisiana is the fans. The Cajuns ranked in the top 15 in the nation and first in their state in attendance for softball, regularly drawing thousands per game.
“I want to change the culture of the program but I also want to show ETSU is a softball school,” she said. “Sit back and watch us. Come watch us play. Come get entertained for a few hours. We’ll put on a show but we need the community to show up, too. People play better when people come out. Showing up is a big part of it.”
With the recent rule change by the NCAA to give athletes five years of age-based eligibility, Tipton will have three years available to play at ETSU.