‘It’s like I made it’: Over 40 Rock Hill-area athletes sign to play college sports
Cole Jordan had quite the family legacy to live up to.
For one, the Northwestern baseball first baseman said he had four other siblings come through Northwestern and sign to play college sports. (He became the fifth to do so on Thursday afternoon in Northwestern’s main gym in Rock Hill, when Trojan students and staff celebrated his signing to USC Sumter in the fall. He’ll be playing infield and pitching at the South Carolina school.)
“It’s like I made it, in a way,” he told The Herald Thursday.
But there was also something else that raised the family standard in sports: His half brother, Ryan Hunt, was his head baseball coach.
What was that like, Cole? When was he your coach and when was he your brother?
“He was a mixture of kind of both,” Jordan said with a smile, adding, “We tried, like at family dinners, to stay away from that and just try to talk about other stuff.”
Fair enough.
Cole was joined by 13 other Northwestern senior signees on Thursday:
▪ Four-time state champion wrestler, Kaleem Heard, signed to wrestle at Limestone University. Heard was The Herald’s All-Area Wrestler of the Year in 2021 and transferred to Northwestern after three years competing at York. Despite all his high school success, he shed a big smile on Thursday: “Today, I feel like I’m accomplishing something I’ve been working toward for a long time,” he told The Herald.
▪ Four women’s soccer players — Genesis Hernandez, Burns Brazzell, Danna Salas and Kaelyn Varnadore — all signed to continue their college careers at USC Lancaster.
▪ Riley Saverance of the Northwestern boys’ team signed to USC Lancaster as well.
▪ Emilee Carter signed to Converse College’s acrobatics and tumbling program.
▪ Gavin McFadden (Converse), Channing Ferguson (USC Upstate) and Michael Stinson (USC Upstate) of the boys’ Northwestern track team — which finished second at this year’s state championships — all signed to compete in college track on Thursday.
▪ And three football players also signed: Key’shard McCrorey (Georgia Military), Kyle Springs-McCottry (Beloit College in Wisconsin) and Nicholas Acus (Brevard).
South Pointe has 6 athletes sign
The South Pointe Stallions saw six sign to play at the next level.
Two will play football. Two-year varsity letterman Thomas Bailey will go to Iowa Wesleyan University, while Patrick Hill — who accumulated 44 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks as a senior starting linebacker — will play at Union College.
With 15 goals and 14 assists for his career, Wyatt Grantham is set to play soccer at Coker College. Ta’Cori Barber will be on the volleyball team at Columbia College.
Seven Roach will follow in his head coach’s footsteps and play baseball at Norfolk State University. He ended his senior season as the state leader in stolen bases and hitting .346. Makayla Jamerson, a two-time Upper State girls’ basketball champion, will participate in basketball at Johnson and Wales.
Legion Collegiate has 9 sign to play college sports
The Legion Collegiate Lancers will have nine playing at the college level.
Two will play volleyball. Gracie Hicklin will be at Columbia College, and Lauren Lynn is going to USC Lancaster. Kayleigh “Buggy” Reinke will play golf at James Madison.
Ty Jackson is set to play basketball at Erskine, while Johnnie Grace Garon will play soccer at Francis Marion. Sam Bush will be part of the first boys’ soccer team at Columbia College.
Lexi Wilkerson will continue her career in softball at North Greenville, Emma Pope will play tennis at USC Sumter, and Braeden Bruton will run track at Missouri Valley College.
York signs five athletes
The York Cougars had five sign to play at the next level.
Britton Adams (who recently broke the Cougar record for most pitching wins in a single season with 10) will play baseball at Coker College, while Anderson Fulk (who is the all-time hits leader in York history) will also participate in baseball at Florence-Darlington Tech.
Angel Avery will run track at Spartanburg Methodist College, Helena Alexander will play volleyball at USC Union, and TJ Barrett will play football at Presbyterian College.
Indian Land has 12 sign
The Indian Land Warriors had 12 ink scholarships.
Three will play football at the next level: Caleb Gleason will be at Erskine, Jonah Jupiter will play at Wingate, and Miegwel Lewis will participate at Newberry.
Three will play volleyball. Sarah Van Hoose will be at Birmingham Southern College, Baylee Vaught will play at the University of Akron, while Anya Wells goes to Pfeiffer.
Trace White will play baseball at St. Andrews, Grant Witherspoon will run track at Wofford, and Gabriel Burris will play soccer at Brevard College. Samantha Ammann will participate in soccer at Lees-McRae College, Faith Matthews will play softball at Lander, and Nathan Powell will be on the swimming team at George Mason University.
Clover signs seven
The Clover Blue Eagles had seven put their college athletic plans on paper recently.
JB Potts will play football at Limestone University, while Titus Walker will play the same sport at Christian Community College. Dawson Wainscot will play baseball at Averett University.
Dawson Malcolm will participate in soccer at Clemson, and Morgan Johnson will run track at Columbia International University. Kennedy Abbot is going to Roanoke College to play volleyball, while Marco Ward will be playing tennis at Mars Hill.
Westminster Catawba has 3 sign
Westminster Catawba Christian School in Rock Hill had three athletes sign National Letters of Intent recently, per its Facebook page: Spenser Bailey will run cross country at Converse College; Matthew Sheley will play soccer at Flagler University and Lucas Heckaman will play basketball for the University of Lynchburg.
Sam Copeland contributed reporting.
This story was originally published May 28, 2021 at 8:00 AM.
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