National Signing Day: A Rock Hill 1st-gen collegian; a Chester cancer survivor; 30+ more
Athletes across the country put their plans to play college sports on paper on National Signing Day, and The Herald caught up with dozens of them within York County, Lancaster County and Chester County. These are their stories.
Check back for updates throughout the day.
Jeremiah Days of Chester diagnosed with cancer in December, signs with The Citadel
Jeremiah Days wore a blue suit, red bow tie and a black boot on his left foot on Wednesday.
The boot wasn’t for a rolled ankle, or a fractured leg. Instead, Days said, he’d been wearing the boot because he was recently diagnosed with Fibromyxoid Sarcoma, a rare cancer.
“With my faith in God, there’s nothing to worry about,” said Days, who signed to play football at The Citadel on Wednesday. “One of my favorite quotes, from FDR, is, ‘There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.’ And so, you know, I’m not really worried about the cancer because I know it’s in the Lord’s hands.”
He continued: “Everybody has that realization of like, ‘Dang, it’s cancer.’ But you know, as I said again, it wasn’t something that I was up all night worried about. I trusted in my doctors, and my family who was there with me, and my friends, and I trusted in God. Whatever was going to happen would happen either way.”
Fibromyxoid Sarcoma is a soft tissue tumor that has a tendency to develop in the deep soft tissue of young adults. Days said he’s supposed to have the boot taken off on Feb. 25, and after that, he’ll need to get scanned every six months to monitor his condition.
Days was a three-year standout lineman for the Cyclones. He’ll be a preferred walk-on at The Citadel — entering the college with an academic scholarship and hoping that he could add an athletic scholarship later in his college career.
“I definitely like the military background and the discipline (emphasis) there,” Days said. “I think that’ll be good for me and help me grow as a person.”
In addition to Days, wide receiver/cornerback Jonathan Goldsborough signed to St. Augustine’s in Raleigh, and running back Jaden Simmons signed to Community Christian College in Rock Hill.
Goldsborough admitted that he quit football twice in the Victor Floyd-run Cyclones program, but he opened up Wednesday about what it took to come back — and then, ultimately, what it was like to get a chance to play college football: “I realized (Floyd) was only trying to push me to do the right thing,” Goldsborough said.
Simmons, an aspiring engineering student, said he sees Floyd like a father figure: “Coach always told me to believe in myself,” he said.
—Alex Zietlow
Many of Northwestern’s 13 signees changed the culture of their teams
Marc Wells Jr. woke up early on Wednesday. And that’s rare, he said.
“Going to the next level,” he told reporters Wednesday afternoon with a shy smile, “not everybody has a chance to do that. So I’m blessed to do it.”
Wells was a key defensive back for Northwestern in 2020. He, along with four other seniors who helped put together the resurgence of the Trojan football program, signed to play at the next level on Wednesday: Wells signed to Limestone. DJ Dunifer (defensive end) and Kyle Aldridge (tight end) signed to Benedict College. And Gregory Johnson III (linebacker) signed to Army.
“It was great, actually,” Dunifer said, talking about his senior year. “We overcame a lot of stuff. Most people didn’t think we were going to end where we did. Overcoming adversity, I mean, it was fun for me.”
Aldridge chimed in: “It was a ball because my 10th and 11th grade years were a struggle, but you know, in my senior year, we had to come out with a few wins.”
Northwestern didn’t just have an exceptional season in football. Its volleyball team, under the direction of first-year head coach Hunter Moxley, won a region championship.
If you told senior Anna Lucy Black before the 2020 season that the Trojans would see this kind of success in her senior year, she’d probably call you crazy.
“Honestly, speaking for the senior class, it was kind of a last-minute decision that we were going to play,” said Black, a defensive specialist who signed to play at William and Mary on Wednesday. “We were all like, ‘We can’t put up with another year of this.’ But then (Moxley) came in and from Day 1, he was like, ‘We’re going to win a region championship.’ And we were like, ‘We’d never have anyone tell us that.’ …
“He did not let us think for a second that that wasn’t going to happen.”
Seven other Trojans signed to play college sports this week: Donald Medley (Converse College, XC); Ben Venables (Florence-Darlington Technical College, baseball); Sydney Mullennix (USC Sumter, baseball); William Dorrell (Gardner-Webb, baseball); Jerzee Bochinski (USC Lancaster, soccer); Nic Parker (Wofford, soccer); Lamont Young Jr. (Brevard, soccer); and Abby Ross (Furman, soccer).
—Alex Zietlow
Rock Hill High has 3 signees, including one first-generation college student
When Ravion Cunningham goes to college in the fall, he’ll be a step closer to his NFL dreams, he said. But he’ll also be doing something pretty special in the present.
He’ll be a first-generation college student.
“That’s what I told him,” Rock Hill head coach Bubba Pittman told The Herald Wednesday. “‘You could change your whole family tree, ya know? You could be the first person to graduate from college. That would be outstanding.’”
Cunningham, who wore a white polo and two chains gifted to him by his mother and father, signed to play football at Union College in Kentucky on Wednesday. In the Rock Hill media center, he explained part of his journey — from a so-called “chubby” 10-year-old running around for the Rock Hill Cowboys, to a star on the Rock Hill High defensive line, to now a soon-to-be college student. He said he’ll most fondly remember spending time with his teammates off the field, and he credits his coaches for believing in him.
“I’d tell them and thank them for making me a better person and player, a better student-athlete,” Cunningham said of his coaches, “and thank them for not giving up on me and always pushing me to pursue my dreams.”
Pittman will remember his defensive tackle for his competitiveness and how the senior would “surprise” people at practice.
“The thing that just kind of pops in my head about Ray-Ray is you would never know where you would see him at practice,” Pittman said and laughed. “I mean, we would be in the middle of a drill, and we’re working against, you know, what’s supposed to be the scout team... And all of a sudden you’re like, who is that making plays? And boom, it’s Ray-Ray.”
In addition to Cunningham, Rock Hill had two others sign: Haley Rayfield signed to play softball at Guilford College, and Maddox Mobley signed to play baseball at USC Sumter.
Rayfield, Rock Hill High’s Student Body President and a utility player who was only introduced to softball three years ago, elaborated on one of her favorite moments in high school on Wednesday: “We have field cleanup days, and we’d spend all day together on a Saturday cleaning up and redoing the entire field,” she said. She then started laughing: “It was so much fun. One of my teammates, one time, she was trying to work the leaf blower and couldn’t figure out how to work it, and then she started spraying the leaf blower all around the field. That’s probably the best moment I’ve had off the field.”
Mobley, who plays center field, hopes to follow in the footsteps of others from Rock Hill who went to smaller schools before achieving notable success in high-level college baseball, like RJ Petit. He appeared to have the confidence and patience to make that happen.
“It really hit me when I was like 10-12 during travel ball that I knew that if I kept going at it, I would end up somewhere,” he said.
—Alex Zietlow
South Pointe has 3 sign, including 1 who lost his father before the season began
South Pointe star offensive lineman Ernie Greenwood said his father, Ernest, “would’ve loved today.”
The senior, who signed to play football at Newberry on Wednesday, lost his father on July 25, 2020. Ernest, whose cause of death isn’t specified in his obituary that ran in The Herald, was the president of the South Pointe Football Booster Club. He was as much a part of South Pointe as his son was, Ernie said.
“I think it’d be a great day for him,” Ernie Greenwood said.
Greenwood was the 2019 Tri-County Lineman of the Year and a two-time All-Region selection. The three-year starter ended his senior year grading out at 90%, with 13 pancakes and 19 knockdowns. But that’s not what made his senior year a positive one.
It was him leaning on his mother and his brother/teammate, Joshua. It was him throwing himself into his athletics training. It was him finding a home for the next few years.
“This is a happy day for me because I didn’t know what was going to happen with COVID,” Greenwood said, “you know, if I was going to get an offer or not.”
In addition to Greenwood, Colin Karhu, South Pointe’s placekicker and a 2020 captain, signed to North Greenville University. And strong safety and three-time All-Region selection Troy Frazier signed to Benedict College.
Frazier said he knew he wanted to play college football when he was 7 or 8 years old — when he was in the South Pointe auditorium to see Jadeveon Clowney announce that he’d go to the University of South Carolina.
“It’s just crazy,” said Frazier, who wore a locket of his late father over his black-striped T-shirt. “At first I just never thought that it would be a moment for me, but now it is, so it’s just overwhelming and crazy.”
—Alex Zietlow
Clover High School has 13 athletes sign
Wednesday was National Signing Day, and a baker’s dozen Clover High School Blue Eagles signed National Letters of Intent to continue their academic and athletic careers.
Breaking it down by sport, there were six football players, two softball players, two wrestlers, one lacrosse player, one soccer player and one track and field athlete.
Chance Mackey is going to UNC-Charlotte to play football at the young and improving 49ers program and major in computer science: “I chose Charlotte because it’s close to home and it can really help me academically,” Mackey said. “It’s only like an hour and a half away from home.”
Teammate J.D. Therrell is also going to be a 49er and major in criminal justice: “Chance had talked to me about it and I kind of helped him with figuring out what he wanted to do,” Therrell said. “I said ‘hey man, it’s your choice.’ They showed me a lot of love for a while now. I love the city and they also have my major.”
Other football players signing are Shamajay Poole to Pikeville University, Trey Brown to Catawba College, Rhyan Cheatham to Stetson University and Jahfonte Herbert to Clarke University.
“This is a special class because they were ninth-graders when I came here,” Clover football coach Brian Lane said. “Even with only playing six games this year we had six kids sign. And we hope we’ll have two more soon, so it’s been a challenging year but we made it through.”
Jenna Venturelli and Abbie Welborn will also continue to be teammates as they are both continuing their softball careers at Spartanburg Methodist College.
“I felt like they had that homey feel that I wanted,” Welborn said. “With COVID, I learned you can’t take anything for granted. Our season got taken away from us last year all of a sudden. This year it’s important to live in the moment, and I’m excited we get to play.”
Clover had its most successful wrestling season with its first region title, and Graysen Latham is going to pursue that further at Lander University. Amber Turner is going to North Central College as the first female Blue Eagle wrestler to sign to wrestle in college.
“My brother did it first (wrestle),” Turner said. “I tried it and fell in love with it. They push you to do as much as possible at Clover and be really successful, and I think it opened the door for future girls that come after me.”
Jon Honeycutt will be part of the first class of male college athletes at Columbia College and will play soccer and major in sports management.
Josh Marr will also stay close to home and continue his lacrosse career at Queens University in Charlotte.
The signee that will be traveling the longest distance for school and will also experience the nicest weather is Ariana Richardson. She will be a track and field athlete at the University of Hawaii.
“They have a really good biomedical science program,” Richardson said. “And who wouldn’t want to go to Hawaii?”
Her family does.
“The first thing they thought was vacation,” Richardson said.
—Steven Bowers
Other signees
▪ Indian Land had four signees recognized on Wednesday. Athletic director Vernon Hunter said in an email that the school plans to host a signing day event on campus in April: Gabe Burris (Brevard College, soccer); Jason Diaz (University of Central Lancashire, soccer); Sam Ammann (Lees-McRae, soccer); Baylee Vought (Akron, volleyball).
▪ Legion Collegiate hosted Nate Kelly when he signed to Newberry on Wednesday. The senior played linebacker, fullback and defensive end for the Lancers this season.
This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 6:04 PM.
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