West Ashley High School hosted National Signing Day on Wednesday, Feb. 3 to recognize student-athletes who were accepting a scholarship and committing to play their respective sports at the collegiate level. This year WAHS had nine signees who are going to various colleges both in and out of state.
“It was a great day to be a Wildcat,” said WAHS athletic director Richard Luden. “We are very proud of the young men and women that have worked so hard to now be able to play at the next level. We will enjoy watching and following them as they take that next step in their careers.”
National Signing Day, typically the first Wednesday of February, is one of the first opportunities that a senior in high school has to sign a National Letter of Intent with a college or university that is a member of the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). When the National Letter of Intent program started back in 1964 it only consisted of seven conference and eight independent institutions. Today it is made up of more than 650 Division I and Division II institutions.
While student-athletes are not required to sign a national letter of intent, when they do it becomes a binding agreement between the student and the institution with which they signed. Once a student-athlete has signed with an institution they are no longer allowed to be recruited by any other school.
Less than 1 percent of high school student-athletes in the United States sign a college scholarship. “For a single school to produce a diverse signing class on Signing Day inclusive of soccer, football, and baseball players speaks to our high expectations, academic preparation, and character development programs,” said WAHS Principal William Runyon, “I am proud of the character of each of these signees and know they will represent themselves, their families, their school, and their community well during their college years.”
After the ceremony at WAHS, the student-athletes and their parents traveled to 75 Calhoun St. downtown to attend Charleston County School District’s National Signing Day Ceremony where students from all CCSD schools who signed to play sports in college were recognized. 34 students from Academic Magnet, James Island Charter, Wando, and West Ashley signed National Letters of Intent on Wednesday.
The following student-athletes were recognized during the ceremony:
Football
• Justin Berry, Indiana University
• Malik Brown, Charleston Southern University
• T’Qele Holmes, Coastal Carolina University
• Wade Rouse, Newberry College
Baseball
• Ryan McDonald, West Virginia University
Softball
• Ashton Coker, Converse College
Boys Soccer
• Cade Bergman, USC Aiken
Girls Soccer
• Devyn Brown, USC Beaufort
• Remi Olalere, USC Upstate
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