Signing Day rewind: 13 more athletes from The Herald’s coverage area commit to college

In addition to those who signed to play college sports in December and on National Signing Day earlier this month, 13 more student-athletes in the area have signed to continue their careers at the next level.

Here are the names to remember.

Lewisville has 3 sign

The Lewisville Lions had three sign letters of intent to play at the next level.

▪ Deven McCrorey will play football at St. Andrews College. McCrorey, who had battled injuries throughout high school, finished his senior year with 609 all-purpose yards and nine touchdowns in the six games he played in 2020. (Seven of those touchdowns were rushing and two were receiving.)

“My coaches, my family, they pushed me to work harder,” McCrorey told The Herald. “Coach Mitchell, obviously, told me to stay in the weight room. It was all a family thing. I consider my coaches my family (and) my teammates my brothers. And then I got my actual family. They all helped me.”

▪ Jayden Barnes will play football at Methodist University. The senior, who was voted by fans as The Herald’s Football Player of the Week after his dominating performance against Great Falls in October, played several skill positions for Lewisville this year, including at running back.

When asked what his biggest fear is in college, Barnes thoughtfully The Herald it was “knowing the fact that I gotta grow up.” He continued: “Knowing that after these four years, I may not see half of these people that I go to school here with ever again. That’s a big fear in having to grow up.”

▪ James “Chip” Bowman has signed to play baseball at Montreat College. He said he played shortstop in high school but will likely play second base in college. He reflected on his high school career last week.

“I really loved my freshman year,” Bowman told The Herald. “Meeting all those guys who are playing collegiate football and collegiate baseball. They’re really good mentors of the game. They all showed me to not take practice lightly.”

York has 4 sign

The York Comprehensive High School Cougars had four to sign to play in the collegiate ranks.

▪ Alex Morrison and Hudson Robinson will both play baseball at USC Salkehatchie.

▪ Weston Hance — who, as quarterback threw for 780 yards and four touchdowns — will play football at Presbyterian College.

▪ Daveion Smith-Perry will play football at Ramah Junior College.

Catawba Ridge has 2 sign

The Catawba Ridge Copperheads had a pair of athletes sign to play in college.

▪ Kayden Hager will play football at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. Hager had an outstanding senior year. He completed 61 of 93 passes for 852 yards and seven touchdowns. He ran for 592 yards on 76 carries and scored nine touchdowns. On defense, he made 27 tackles and had six assists.

▪ Jaxen Ancisco will play football at Catawba College.

Nation Ford sees 3 sign

The Nation Ford Falcons had three to sign to play at the next level.

▪ Bryce Webb will attend the US Naval Academy and play football. In his senior year, Webb notched 32 tackles (20 solo); nine tackles for loss; four quarterback hurries; and four sacks.

▪ Payton Brookover will be playing basketball at Columbia College. She was named to the 2020-21 All-Region team.

▪ Austin Lockhart, who won two state titles and broke South Carolina state records in the process, will attend the U. S. Naval Academy and participate in swimming.

Fort Mill has one sign

The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets had one to move to the next level. Brooke Bonner will play soccer at William Peace.

— Alex Zietlow contributed to this report.

This story was originally published February 23, 2021 at 11:20 AM.