Southwestern 4A Media Day Observations

<p>High School Football Teams based in this conference out of Charlotte held their 3rd annual Media Day on Monday. Several players were in attendance, and we will share some observations here. </p>   <p>Charlotte Catholic started the media day off and emphasized that they were going back to running the Wing-T offense, which will feature their large offense line led by [player_tooltip player_id='1228881' first='Thomas' last='Wakefield'] and Connor Clendenin. Wakefield, the Cougars team captain, has a couple of Division 3 offers at 6'1 and 270 pounds. He was an All-Conference player last season. Clendenin at 6'3 and 280 pounds also has a few Division 3 offers himself. </p>   <p>Up next were the Butler Bulldogs. In attendance for them was QB [player_tooltip player_id='351827' first='Zach' last='Lawrence'] committed to Massachusetts, returning safety Jeremy Nixon who definitely spoke with confidence as a defensive leader, ATH [player_tooltip player_id='1094881' first='Dequadre' last='Currence'], and [player_tooltip player_id='693067' first='Jadyn' last='Farmer']. A couple of interesting notes - it appears that Currence will play a lot more defensive back this season. With a couple of offers, it will be interesting to see where he ends up playing on the next level. Head Coach Glenwood Ferebee also stated Farmer will play on both sides of the line this season. It will be interesting to see how well Farmer plays offensive line as all of his offers come from him as a defensive tackle. </p>   <p>The East Mecklenburg Eagles were next and it was great to hear from ATH [player_tooltip player_id='1600218' first='James' last='Bailey'] III who shared that he will be a player to watch this upcoming season. Expect to see Bailey all over the field including wide receiver, defensive back, running back, and quarterback this year.</p>   <p> </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1818084276593652032?t=2jQcqth4jmusosCmEMCcTg&s=19 </div></figure>   <p>Rocky River came up next and a lot of their players shared what they needed to do to make sure they had a strong season. That group includes linebacker Julian Platt who has offers from Shaw University and Ithaca College. At 6'0 and 210 pounds, it is clear Platt is a strong leader for the Ravens. The Ravens also had two big OL prospects in Sedecka Griffin Jr. and [player_tooltip player_id='1221584' first='Kayon' last='Mitchell']. Both players have worked hard in the weight room in the off-season and with a good start to the year, may see some recruiting attention come their way. Griffin Jr. is 6'4 and 250 pounds while Mitchell stands at 6'5 and 250 pounds. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1818085891320971731?t=0R_OkVrto4wE6A5KE9Ma4w&s=19 </div></figure>   <p>The Independence Patriots were up next and highly recruited players [player_tooltip player_id='771231' first='Dallas' last='Brannon'] and [player_tooltip player_id='402298' first='Nick' last='Reddish'] shared that while they were appreciative of their recruiting attention, they were both locked in on the upcoming season for the Patriots. Brannon at middle linebacker and Reddish at safety are national recruits with multiple Power 4 Division 1 offers. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1818087856667246753?t=UBbO8YJNdbRJvc5hMNLPbA&s=19 </div></figure>   <p>The Garinger Wildcats were up next and their players in attendance each shared the best things they do on the football. I observed the Wildcats in 7 on 7 action earlier this summer. They are playing with a lot of young guys, but their new Head Coach DeAngelo Lloyd, a former Independence Patriots star player, shared his thoughts on how they will move forward as a program. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1818088578318000162?t=gIYfF7X3RxEOcXHymxXOXQ&s=19 </div></figure>   <p>The Providence Panthers were the last team at Media Day and young WR [player_tooltip player_id='1106577' first='Otavio' last='Oliveira'] shared with us the fact that he is enjoying his recruiting process as a 2027 wide receiver coming off of a strong freshman season. Oliveira currently has offers from Connecticut, Marshall, Charlotte, Arkansas State, East Carolina, SMU, and Boston College. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1818089737489449444?t=MbCHPJUiOmOEFqABqD11Pw&s=19 </div></figure>

High School Football Teams based in this conference out of Charlotte held their 3rd annual Media Day on Monday. Several players were in attendance, and we will share some observations here.