APS student-athletes prepare for next step on National Signing Day

UPDATE: Watch interview with U.S. Naval Academy-bound football players Greg Eason (Mays High) and Marcus Mack (North Atlanta High) here. Watch interview with South Atlanta’s Nick Jacobs here.

We were so proud to watch as student-athletes from around Atlanta Public Schools signed on the dotted line to play for the college of their choice on National Signing Day, in a ceremony held Wednesday at Douglass High School. WXIA (11Alive) was on hand with sports anchor Sam Crenshaw to provide a livestream of the event, in which the student-athletes (mostly football players) signed the national letter of intent that seals their college commitment.

There were such nationally touted football players as Grady High’s Damian Swann (University of Georgia) and Marcus Caffey (Kentucky) as well as South Atlanta High star basketball center Nick Jacobs (Alabama) getting their moment in the sun, as well as other football players who will move on to Division I programs such as Mays High’s Darius Caldwell (Illinois) and North Atlanta’s Eddie Johnson, who made a last-second commitment to play for the University of Miami.

And then there were the feel-good stories of the day. Maynard H. Jackson High’s Lorenzo Mauldin walked onto the auditorium stage with about 15 supporters behind him. Why so many. Because, as  Jackson Coach Eric Williams explained, Mauldin had spent several years in a group home as he tried to work his way through high school. He’ll now play for the University of South Carolina, the runner-up in the Southeastern Conference.

Then there were some impressive athletic and academic success stories. Mays High lineman Greg Eason, for example, will become teammates with North Atlanta’s Marcus Mack at the U.S. Naval Academy. Another North Atlanta player, Zack Wootten, will attend Johns Hopkins University on an academic scholarship, while classmate Jim Russel is a Posse Scholar who will attend Boston University. Classmate Dara DeMateo also will attend Boston University, on a soccer scholarship; Grace Shea, her teammate, will play soccer at the University of Wisconsin (her father’s alma mater!).

It was the first National Signing Day for Jeff Beggs as the newly hired director of athletics for APS; he called National Signing Day one of the most memorable days of the year for him as an administrator.

Check out the complete list below, and come back to Talk Up APS later on for video interviews with some of these outstanding student-athletes!