Spring signing days: 44 Rock Hill-area HS athletes sign to play college sports
Calique Cunningham wasn’t going to miss it.
The Trojan senior wide receiver and one of the team’s most influential leaders might’ve had to wear a jacket and jeans instead of a helmet and shoulderpads in the second half of the 2021 football season. He might’ve had to clutch crutches instead of snagging spirals. But still — despite sustaining a mid-season knee injury that put him out of commission for at least through the end of his high school football career — Cunningham wanted to be on the sideline.
In some ways, he needed to be there.
Nearly six months after Cunningham’s last high school football game, the wide receiver signed to play college football at Western Carolina. It was a triumphant day for the soft-spoken leader who worked hard to get back in football shape after his devastating injury.
It was also a triumphant day for the whole Northwestern football program — because being around the game and being around his teammates, Cunningham said, helped him get through that trying time.
“I feel like I was still on the field with them,” Cunningham told The Herald at the Rock Hill school’s spring signing day event on Tuesday. After his injury, he remembers getting calls and texts from coaches and teammates asking if he needed anything. He remembers what his mom would say the mornings when he felt particularly down: That was a setback. We’ll get through this together.
And he particularly remembers those Friday nights, the nights he couldn’t play: “Even though I wasn’t supposed to, I was still jumping on the sideline, cheering G-Watt (Gerell Watkins) and E (Elijah Caldwell) on when they scored, (cheering on) the defense when they made big stops, too,” Cunningham said. “So I still felt like one of the guys out there.”
Before his injury, Cunningham proved how important he was as a receiver: Through six games played, he notched 24 receptions for 368 yards and four touchdowns. He was the third leg of the triumvirate of talented Trojan wide receivers.
And after his injury, he proved he was still valuable to the team — just like the team was valuable to him.
“It was heartbreaking,” head coach Page Wofford said Tuesday of his receiver’s injury. “But once again, he has good support at home. He’s got people who care about him, people who make sure he’s OK. I knew we were going to do the best we could for him, which meant, ‘You’re still with us, man. You’re a big part of our program and what we do.’ And he continued that up until the last second.”
Wofford said he doesn’t often allow injured players on the sideline.
“That’s not something that we always do,” Wofford said. “But I knew Calique was going to be OK there. I knew he wasn’t going to be a distraction. He knew what we were trying to do. Like I said, he’s always been the guy in the right place, doing the right things. So he was a good example for everybody.”
Cunningham is one of 11 seniors from Northwestern who signed to play a sport in college on Tuesday afternoon. Of the 11, three are football players, three are basketball players, two are track/cross country runners, two are baseball players and two will join cheer programs.
Meet them here:
Austin Wilkes, Presbyterian College, football. Wilkes couldn’t describe Tuesday in any other way besides “crazy.” It felt like yesterday he was a sophomore trying to learn the ropes at Northwestern, he said. The linebacker finished with 51 tackles and two interceptions as a senior, and that helped him get a few Division I looks — including a look at PC, a place he liked from the beginning. “I like everything about them,” Wilkes said. “I’ve been to Presbyterian four times for visits. Loved the atmosphere, the coaching staff, the atmosphere. It just felt like home there.”
Ashton Latta, Lackawanna College, football. Northwestern’s hard-hitting and invaluable linebacker will play defensive back at the next level, and he said he’s looking forward to “getting after it” at Lackawanna College. He said one of his favorite memories was proving doubters wrong in his senior season. He also said, even though he knew the day was coming, that his signing day moment on Tuesday was still quite jarring (in a good way). “You already know your high school sports are over,” Latta said. “But once you sign, it’s like, ‘Dang, we’re really moving on to the next chapter.’ ... I don’t feel sad. I just feel like I’m doing the right thing.”
Michael Gibson, Charleston Southern, baseball. Gibson had watched a lot of signing days from the Northwestern gym bleachers. But Tuesday, with him being the one celebrated — that felt “surreal,” he said. The senior hit over .400 as a junior and a senior and has been in the Trojan program since he was a seventh-grader. “Every day is special because I’ve grown up with everybody for six years,” he said. “You had a lot of your firsts. Your first home runs. Your first hits. Your first varsity hits, first varsity games. Just to have those experiences with everybody you grow up with — to me, I was playing my favorite game with my best friends every day. ... It was awesome.”
Omari Bryson, Voorhees University, boys basketball. Bryson made a huge impact in the one season he played with the Trojans, averaging 13.8 points a game and playing invaluable minutes as the team’s point guard. He and his twin brother, Jecari, are both playing spots in college. Jecari is playing football at Gardner-Webb. “Really this is our first time splitting up,” Omari said. “We’ve been playing together our whole lives, ever since we were little. And loved every minute of it.”
Jalen Burnett, Spartanburg Methodist College, boys basketball. Burnett finished the season averaging 12.9 points, 4.4 assists and six rebounds a game. He was also an All-Region 4-5A selection.
Joseph Tindale, Erskine, cross country and track and field. Tindale was also a 3-point marksman on the Trojanbasketball team.
Addison Meeker, Presbyterian College, cross country and track and field. Meeker will compete in Class 5A track and field state championships on Saturday. The runner was also named to The Herald’s All-Area cross country second team in December.
Nathan Clack, USC Lancaster, baseball. Clack, like his signee counterpart on Tuesday, had been with the Trojan baseball program for six years — since he was in seventh-grade.
Calique Cunningham, Western Carolina, football. One last tidbit about Cunningham: He will join Northwestern defensive lineman Isaac McLellan in Cullowhee. “Reuniting with my boy Isaac, we’re going to make some big shows up there,” Cunningham said.
Two Trojans will also join cheer programs at the college level: Isabella Fazio is joining the program at Western Carolina, and Shania Easley is joining the program at Newberry.
Northwestern wasn’t the only school that recently celebrated athletes signing National Letters of Intent. See below for details on other signees from schools in York, Chester and Lancaster counties below.
Note: Several schools within The Herald’s coverage area have hosted signing days earlier this school year, including as recently as earlier this month.
Fort Mill hosts 9 signees
The Fort Mill athletics program is bidding a farewell to some special talent upon this year’s graduation. And that was particularly clear on Tuesday’s signing day. Meet the signees below.
Jackson Dawson — who earned a ton of accolades in high school and was the last leg on Fort Mill’s state-championship-winning 4x800 meter relay team in 2021 — is heading to the University of South Carolina to run track and field. Angel Kravitz is heading to Columbia College to run cross country.
State champion and four-time high school All-American and trailblazer Bella Hoffman will continue her wrestling career at Montreat College.
Joe Schepler (kicker) and Miller Shouse (linebacker) — both of whom earned a spot on one of The Herald’s 2021 All-Area football teams — will each play football in college. Schepler will compete for Lenoir-Rhyne, and Shouse will play for Erskine.
Kyle Neibch, the Region 3-5A Player of the Year who led Fort Mill to a deep playoff run this past winter, is heading to Wheaton College to play basketball.
Madison McCarty signed to play tennis at the University of Mary Washington. Ella Patel will join the dance team at Clemson University. And Olivia Giarrizzi will continue her soccer career at Converse.
Legion Collegiate Academy sees 15 athletes sign
Legion Collegiate Academy had 12 athletes sign in November — and the school saw another 15 do the same on Wednesday.
Erika Perry and Reagan Swain will both play beach volleyball at Erskine College. Daniel Penosky will join Grove City College’s men’s basketball program. Cameron Long is heading to Theil College to play men’s volleyball.
Jackson Coon is heading to Iowa Wesleyan University to play football. Liam Graham and Matt Scheiderer are going to the Community College of Baltimore County Essex to play men’s lacrosse.
Three Legion softball players will continue their careers in college: Joei Owens is going to North Greenville University; Gracelyn Teer will join the program at Florence-Darlington Technical College; and Taylor Watson is going to Coker University.
And four baseball players celebrated their decision to play college ball: Denis Drinkwalter is heading to Cleveland Community College. Roman Edwards is heading to USC Lancaster. Owen Majcina is heading to USC Salkehatchie. Jackson Weir is heading to Morehouse College. And Evan Vandenbosch is going to Queens University of Charlotte — which recently made headlines for its announcement that it’ll go Division I.
Great Falls sees 3 sign
This past year marked one of the best teams Great Falls has had in a long time. And three of the team’s best players got some shine earlier this month.
Xavien “Foxx” Moore signed to play at Benedict. Xavier Brown signed to play at Tennessee State. And Will Manning will play at Erskine.
Chester sees 4 sign with Allen University
Four athletes from Chester High School signed to play sports at the college level earlier this month, per reporting from The Chester News & Reporter.
Those guys were Trent Bowser, Jordan Bowser, DC Carter and Rathael Pendergrass, and they all will be joining the Allen University wrestling program.
Westminster Catawba Christian School sees 2 athletes sign
The private school in Rock Hill has made some noise because of its emerging athletic prowess over the past few years. And two more of its students will continue to rep WCCS athletics at the college level.
Richard Black III will play basketball at Converse University. Black was named to the 2002 MAC All-Conference team and was part of a program that achieved the most wins in a three-year run in WCCS history.
And Aiken Golightly will play golf at Erskine. The senior won the 2021 NCISAA individual state championship and helped lead his team to the 2021 state title, too.
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