On Feb. 4 at Maynard Jackson High School, 38 players representing nine Atlanta Public Schools signed letters of intent to play for a selected college or university.
According to APS, National Signing Day is the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for college football with a school that is a member of the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association. Although all NCAA sanctioned sports have a National Signing Day, college football’s version is the most widely followed by sports media outlets and fans.
While most of the students who signed letters of intent were for football, there were three girls basketball players who signed letters.
Grady seniors Amyr Smith and Jamond Glass signed letters of intent to football at Morehouse College and Samford University, respectively. Grady senior Aliya Maloof also signed a letter of intent for basketball for North Greenville University. Smith says he also intends to play baseball at Morehouse.
This was Grady head football coach Earthwind Moreland’s first signing day, as well as the first graduating class from KIPP Atlanta Collegiate.
Mays High School, whose football team finished the season 12-3, placed first in the division and seventh in the Class AAAAA standings, had 15 players sign letters of intent. Senior offensive guard Dallas Warmack, the 249th ranked player in the United States, was an early signee at the University of Alabama. Senior defensive end Natrez Patrick was an early signee at the University of Georgia.
Two girls from the Mays basketball team signed letters of intent as well. Center Kennedy Rushin committed to play at Louisiana Tech University, and forward Harlyn Wyatt will play for Tulane University. The team is currently first in the region and has a twenty game win streak.