On the eve of their senior season, two Catawba Ridge Copperheads have selected where they will be playing football in the future.
Jacobie Henderson and Andre Hodge will be going to Marshall University and Wake Forest University respectively to play college football. Both made their announcements on their personal Twitter pages recently, but can’t make the commitment official until they sign, which can happen as early as December.
A defensive back, Henderson had about 17 offers to choose from, but narrowed his main picks down to Yale, Coastal Carolina, Middle Tennessee, Liberty and Central Michigan. He took a visit to Marshall over the June 25 weekend and knew that was where he wanted to be.
“It is a real good family atmosphere,” Henderson said. “I thought it was the place to be. I thought it was a no-brainer.”
With so many colleges knocking on his door, Henderson said the selection process was difficult in the beginning. But as time went on, he said he knew which schools were really interested in him, and who wasn’t.
“When it came down to it, it was about the schools that liked me the most,” he said.
Henderson said he was impressed with what Marshall had to offer as a school and their facilities as well, which they are in the middle of renovating. He said he also liked Head Coach Charles Huff, who will be in his first year at the Huntington, WV school.
Henderson could continue in his role as a defensive back for Marshall when he sees playing time, and could also see some time at cornerback or may move to nickel some as well.
A three-sport athlete, who also runs track and plays basketball, Henderson has just one more semester left of high school and will be heading to Marshall in January. He plans on majoring in law.
Hodge committed to Wake Forest in mid-June as well. He has also offered by Marshall, as well as Ohio, Harvard, Lehigh, Air Force, Navy, Liberty, Appalachian State, and Georgia State, just to name a few.
Landing multiple offers from Division I schools shouldn’t come as a surprise as Hodge has a lengthy pedigree of NFL relatives including second cousin and Hall of Famer Ed Reed.
Despite never taking an official visit, Hodge got an offer to Wake Forest after attending a camp there. He knew when the offer came, he was ready to commit. He plans on majoring in architectural or civil engineering.
“It is a small school,” he said. “They have an engineering program. It feels like a good place to be.”
Hodge said he will be finishing his senior year and graduate next May. He said the three other top choices besides Wake was Harvard, Navy and Appalachian State. A cornerback, Hodge will be sticking to that position once he gets to the Winston-Salem school as well.
“Everything about Wake Forest seemed perfect for me,” he said.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
