PSJ's Smith and Parker Sign Scholarships

Parker Signs with Kentucky

Signing a national letter of intent is a passage of sorts to the next level in sports.

Kayla Parker is mindful she has unfinished business at Port St. Joe High School.

The sublime sprinter signed a letter of intent on Wednesday to attend the University of Kentucky on a track and field scholarship. National track and field signing day coincides with that of football.

Parker, arguably the most celebrated female track and field athlete in Port St. Joe High history, becomes the second track athlete of either gender to move directly from high school to a Southeastern Conference School.

“I’ve very excited about it,” Parker said, a copy of her letter on a table in front of her. “Just to be able to go to college, not just any college but a (NCAA) Division I school and a Southeastern Conference school.

“Everything I have worked for is paying off.”

For Kentucky also, in what could be described as the marathon Parker sweepstakes.

Parker began receiving mail and phone calls from coaches by her sophomore year in high school, the earliest coaches can contact a potential recruit. She said she received letters or offers from roughly 200 schools and expressed relief when she made her decision.

“I think they got a steal,” said Port St. Joe High assistant track coach Keion McNair. “She has the will to get the job done. We’ve never seen an athlete quite like her. She brings her coaches, her teammates, up with her. She’s a leader.”

Kentucky was her first official visit, last September, and despite subsequent trips to the University of South Carolina and University of South Florida, the Bluegrass State drew her.

“It was just a great place,” Parker said. “Every school was good, but at Kentucky they just seemed to care about their student athletes. I just felt a better fit at Kentucky.

“Their coaches worked together. Their facilities and academics are great. Their track team is ranked in the top 25 in the country. They are all about winning.”

Winners attract winners and vice versa.

Parker set a national AAU 12-13 age group record in the 100 meter hurdles that still stands.

She has won 11 medals at the past three state Class 1A high school track and fields meets and among those medals are eight gold, two silver and a bronze.

She is a three-time defending state champion in the 100 meters, a two-time defending champion in the 100 meter hurdles and 200 meters and has a gold and silver in the long jump in the last two years, respectively.

She set a record at the 2008 Class 1A meet for most individual events won at one state meet when she won the 100, 200, 100 hurdles and long jump.

Parker has been selected the Class 1A track and field athlete of the year by the Florida Dairy Farmers Association the past two years and been selected to the Class 1A all-state first team three years running.

Her individual point totals would have placed her in the top five of each of the past two team competitions as she has led the Lady Tiger Sharks to finishes of third, first and second, respectively, in the state meet her three years of high school.

“We want it all this year,” Parker said. “I’ve got some things I have to finish in high school.”

That includes running the point for the Lady Tiger Shark basketball team. The team, currently 18-2, reached the Region 1-2A title game last season and a trip to the Final Four is the goal this season as the district tournament gets underway this week.

Parker said that while not shutting the door completely, she does not plan to play basketball at Kentucky, even though two of her future track and field teammates play hoops at the university.

“I’m not planning that, but I’m not saying never,” Parker said.

Parker was recruited to Kentucky by Coach Thomas James as a sprinter, hurdler and jumper. She said Thomas has already talked to her about the potential of eventually taking up the five-event heptathlon.

And Parker definitely has dreams beyond college, where she will study exercise physiology – she is a 3.7 GPA student.

That dream is symbolized by five interlocking rings.

“(The Olympics) are in my thinking,” Parker said. “I feel I have the potential to go far.

“I need to keep working hard. (College) is on another level and of course I will go faster just being around that kind of competition. I just need to keep working.”

PSJ’s Smith Signs with Arkansas

There were no shortage of doubters about Darrell Smith’s chances of playing football at the college level.

Darrell was no doubter.

Smith proved that on Wednesday when he signed a national letter of intent to play at the University of Arkansas. He is believed to be the first Port St. Joe football player to move directly from high school to a Southeastern Conference school since Wayne Taylor made the trek to Georgia decades ago.

“It’s crazy, I never thought I’d be getting the chance to play (NCAA) Division I football, let alone the SEC,” Smith said. “I knew I had to work hard, buckle down and get some As and Bs in those core courses. But if you work hard, good things will happen for you.”

There has been scant doubt about Smith’s football abilities.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound linebacker/running back has led the Tiger Sharks in tackles each of the past two seasons, while also proving a dangerous between-the-tackles runner. He racked up 264 tackles the past two years, earning second-team all-state and All-Big Bend honors as a junior.

Smith is rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com.

“He figured out early on in his career that the guy who had the football was the guy he wanted to go after,” said Port St. Joe assistant coach Kesley Colbert with a chuckle. “He has two gears: standing still and full speed.”

Smith was nominated as Florida Athletic Coaches Association district player of the year in 2009, a season during which he was named a team captain.

“Arkansas is getting a highly energetic kid who loves football,” said Port St. Joe head coach Vern Barth. “He has great instincts for finding the ball carrier and he is not afraid of contact.”

Smith’s hurdle was academics, which scared off other potential suitors such as Florida State and the University of Florida. As Smith said Wednesday, a number of schools showed interest but were scared off over concerns about his being academically eligible.

“Arkansas stayed on me all the way and that said a lot to me,” Smith said. “Other schools telling me I wasn’t going to make it just motivated me. It will give me motivation at Arkansas.”

Thus motivated, Smith, with help from the Port St. Joe administration and faculty, undertook an arduous level of course work this school year and last summer, particularly in the core courses, to ensure his eligibility.

He made the grades, he made the test scores.

“I would tell anyone coming behind me to stay focused,” Smith said. “Don’t give up. Don’t ever let anybody tell you you can’t do something.

“If I can do it, anybody can do it.”

Arkansas recruited Smith as a safety, he said, and wants him to hit the weight room to put on 20 or so pounds.

“If they get him at 205 or 210, that’s what they want out of him,” Barth said. “He has the frame for that, broad shoulders, long. I can see him becoming a hybrid defensive back/linebacker.”

The challenge for Smith, said his high school coaches, will be maintaining the discipline he has shown this year in getting his grades in line while excelling on the field.

College is a new experience for any youngster, for an athlete even more so, and Smith must keep his priorities in line to succeed at the next level, Barth and Colbert said.

“He’s going to need to become more of a student of the game, understanding schemes and formations, understanding his role in the defense,” Barth said. “As long as he maintains self-discipline and remembers where he has come from, he should succeed.”

Smith, as mentioned, harbors few doubts.

“I’m going there and going to work and 1-2-3, I think I can play in the NFL,” Smith said. “Don’t let anybody else tell you what you can do.”

Smith can present a letter of intent as testament.