Rock Hill Bearcats to play college sports

Rock Hill’s Deshaun McFadden and Bayley Hinson have both played high school sports coached by their dads. Starting this fall, they’ll play for new coaches, college coaches.

The pair signed college papers on Thursday morning, Hinson to play volleyball at USC Lancaster and McFadden for a preferred football walk-on spot at N.C. A&T.

“They’re getting a super kid,” said Rock Hill coach Bubba Pittman. “He was the heart and soul of our football team last year. Not only with his athletic ability, but with his leadership. We hate to see him go, but we’re happy for him.”

McFadden was a second team All-Area selection after hauling in 53 passes for 720 yards and 11 touchdowns, despite missing several games after pulling his hamstring on an interception he returned for a touchdown against Gaffney. He also played defensive back for the Bearcats and was selected to play in the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl at that position. But A&T plans to use McFadden as a slot receiver and also as a special teams contributor. He’ll have a chance to earn a scholarship down the road, too.

“I think A&T is getting a very versatile player,” said Pittman. “And I think he can help them on both sides of the ball.”

McFadden also had an opportunity at Presbyterian but opted for A&T in part for the chance to begin work toward becoming an engineer or architect, specialties of the Greensboro, N.C.-based school. A visit to A&T on March 9 sealed the decision for McFadden.

“I just like doing the designing and using my hands,” he said.

Hinson became USC Lancaster’s first volleyball signing when she put pen to paper Thursday morning. The first-year program will use her as a libero, and Hinson plans to use her free schooling to become a math teacher. She has a 4.9 GPA thanks to advanced classes.

“I think this will help me decide a lot what I want to do,” Hinson said.

Hinson played as a defensive specialist for Rock Hill, with Elder positioning her wherever the opponent was most likely to hit the ball. Hinson wasn’t sure if she’ll continue volleyball after her two years in Lancaster, but she will be halfway to becoming a teacher without a tuition penny spent.

“I think a parent would be happy to sign that,” said Rock Hill volleyball coach Cindy Elder, whose volleyball team GPA was well over 4.0. “I’m interested to see how it works out at USC-L. That’d be great opportunity for a lot of our local kids. Volleyball is a tough sport to get recruited in and it’s really tough when you’re 5-foot-4.”

Billy Hinson coached his daughter Bayley in softball. Like Hinson, McFadden was coached by his father, Anthony McFadden, who was the Bearcats’ wide receivers coach. Being over two hours away will give McFadden some independence.

“I’m looking forward to it, to get to get out of the house now,” said McFadden, grinning as his mother walked away in a joking huff. “I’m not trying to come down on my parents, but you just get to go out and see new places and all.”

Hinson will still have her parent/coach nearby. One of the appeals of Lancaster to her, she’ll get to live at home.

This story was originally published March 26, 2015 at 1:57 PM with the headline "Rock Hill Bearcats to play college sports."