After a long journey, Kenny Williams III made his college choice for the second time, choosing the University of North Carolina. Williams will play his college basketball there under famed head coach Roy Williams in the basketball crazed town of Chapel Hill, N.C. The announcement came Saturday via his Twitter account. The tweet was retweeted over 2,600 times with floods of excited Tar Heels fans welcoming him to the North Carolina family. The L.C. Bird standout originally signed to VCU, but after head coach Shaka Smart accepted a position at Texas, Williams asked for his release. The decision per many…
Browsing: Uncategorized
Though it wasn’t National Signing Day, three Matoaca athletes put the pen to paper last week, Neal Richards didn’t sign at school, he had his ceremony at home. Richards will attend Virginia Military Institute, where he will continue his wrestling and academic career. “I liked the school and I liked the coaches too,” Richards said. “The campus is beautiful – I know people as well. The decision was a mixture of those things.” Richards chose VMI over the Naval Academy and Maryland, the schools that recruited him most heavily. Neal made it easy for recruiters with a rock solid GPA…
When Mike Zuk was coaching junior varsity in 2013, he knew that a group of eighth graders just starting would have the potential to make a run at some points during their high school careers. Zuk took the head coaching post in 2014 and led the Knights to a 9-10 season. Not bad, considering the core of his team was a junior, four sophomores and a freshman. Now, the Thomas Dale softball team appears to be clicking on all cylinders, as they’ve gotten off to an 8-1 start in 2015. They’ve been a surprise, and have to be considered contenders…
Thomas Dale alum Roger Bothe’s athletic resume is impeccable. He was a member of the Knights’ back-to-back state championship teams in 2005 and 2006; including a header to win the match in the second overtime period for Thomas Dale’s first state crown. Bothe went on to have a successful career at William and Mary, and played a season for the Richmond Kickers professionally. If you watched Bothe ten years ago, you’d think he was superman. After his first professional season, Bothe fell ill and it was eventually found that he had advanced lyme disease. Things haven’t been the same since,…
Former Matoaca volleyball standout and 2014 Warriors graduate Jaelyn Jackson signed a National Letter of Intent to play college volleyball at Baylor University. If the name sounds familiar, it is because Jackson originally signed to play college volleyball at the University of Maryland, however, a second surgery for a stress fracture in her leg changed perspectives on her career as a Terrapin. After a coaching change, Jackson decided she would play volleyball elsewhere. “It opened up an opportunity for something better,” said Sheila Jackson, Jaelyn’s mother. When former Maryland coach Ryan McGuyre, the coach that initially recruited Jackson, was tabbed…
2015’s edition of “Shaka Watch” is over and former VCU Head Coach Shaka Smart took the head coaching post at the University of Texas – Austin. One local impact that the story could potentially have is on L.C. Bird standout Kenny Williams III, who signed with VCU this winter. Smart has been pursued every offseason since the Rams’ improbable run to the 2011 Final Four. One would think this information might have played a role in the decision making process for Williams, who built a strong relationship with Smart through the recruiting process. Williams always said that staying close to…
Chester has seen its share of professional athletes. Matoaca had James Farrior, Meadowbrook had Morgan Moses and Brandian Ross currently in the NFL. L.C. Bird has Jason Snelling, Thomas Dale has had four players reach the NFL including William Henderson and Rudi Johnson – but the next athlete to ascend to the pros – look no further than Thomas Dale softball alum Lacey Waldrop, who was drafted as the third pick in the first round of the National Pro Fast pitch (NPF) Softball League draft by the Chicago Bandits. “I’m really excited to know that I won’t have to hang…
Senior Alexis McCargo, a standout defender and most talented L.C. Bird girls’ soccer athlete, made her college decision last week. The Skyhawk will take her talents west to Rocky Mount and play for Ferrum College. “When I visited Ferrum, I felt like I was a part of their family,” McCargo said. “Ferrum has a very well organized program where the coaches want their student-athletes to succeed on and off the field.” McCargo reeled in Second Team All-Conference with 12 honors last year as defender for a L.C. Bird program that has struggled with building a winner at a school known…
Matoaca Girls No. 1 Rina Croston, Sophomore No. 2 Brittany Beverly, Freshman No. 3 Jackie Cheely, Senior No. 4 Zoey Coleman, Sophomore First year head coach Jen Wells is excited about the talent she has on a young Matoaca team as the top four seeds feature one athlete, do-it-all Jackie Cheely, who is an upperclassmen. “Croston is showing a lot of potential,” Wells said. “She’s aggressive, not afraid to hit it hard, and not afraid of the ball.” Beverly, a freshman, hits the ball with skill. While inexperienced at the high school level, she brings a rarity to schools south…
Thomas Dale’s first season of lacrosse was a success. Both the boys and girls teams were formed from the bottom up and both had success as teams, coupled with many individual successes. This year, it’s for real, these games count. 2015 marks the first season that the Knights will play Virginia High School League lacrosse and excitement has come with that accomplishment. “It’s starting to be talked about like any other sport,” said Latzi Ballint, a senior midfielder and team captain. “We’re not just playing in some park, we’re playing under the lights with our school’s name on our chests.”…