CALEDONIA — Robert Mims set it all in motion.
By the time it officially ended Friday morning, Northwest Mississippi Community College had gained four members of the Caledonia High School soccer program.
It often doesn’t work out like that, but Mims, who was the first Caledonia High player to talk to Northwest Mississippi C.C. men’s soccer coach Charlie Baldwin, told Baldwin he knew three friends who were capable of playing soccer at the next level and who would be great for his program. On Friday, Mims joined Chandler Lester, Will Jones, and James Longmire in signing to play for Baldwin at the school in Senatobia.
“It is going to be nice because I have played against James when he was little and I have played with Will and Chandler at least since fourth grade,” Mims said. “It is really unique (that they are all going to the same school) because I haven’t seen it before.”
Mims said he and his teammates went quickly through the recruiting process, so he said they didn’t have time to talk about if they all wanted to wind up at the same school. In fact, he said one night Baldwin called Jones and he asked Will, who gave Baldwin a verbal commitment, if he could talk to Baldwin. He then gave Baldwin a verbal commitment, too. Mims, Jones, and Longmire play their club soccer in Starkville.
Jones said he was “extremely excited” when he learned about the possibility of playing soccer in college with friends he feels are like his brothers. He said all four of them share a passion for soccer, which will aid the transition to the next level.
“I have seen them all play and I knew we were all going to go to college somewhere,” Jones said. “It just happened that we ended up at the same college, which is really remarkable.”
Caledonia High School boys soccer coach Mark Box has coached the seniors the past two years. He said Baldwin told him he asks players he recruits if they know any players who are capable of playing at the next level. It just so happens Baldwin hit the jackpot when he asked Mims. Box said the four players have developed as bigger leaders this season to complement the skills they already had when he arrived as coach.
“They all wanted to stay together and play because they have played together whether it has been on rec, or high school, or club teams since they were younger,” Box said. “I think that is really awesome.”
Box said Lester is a solid defender who never seems to get tired thanks to a strong cross country background. He said Mims plays midfield and uses “great” touch to set everything up. Box said Jones and Lester have good speed and technical ability and work really well together off each other.
“I think they will transition well to college soccer,” Box said. “In any sport when you move up a level, the speed of the game changes. All four of the boys will be able to adjust to the change and the speed. They will have to adjust, but I think they will.”
Box said the fact the four players will stay together will ease the transition and will enable them to continue to push each other, possibly to a four-year school.
Lester had an added edge on his teammates because his sister, Brooke, is a freshman player on the Northwest Mississippi C.C. women’s soccer team. He said he heard through the grapevine that his sister put in a good word for him. Those positive comments helped him build a case that he could play at the next level following what he felt was a solid showing with Jones and Longmire at an identification camp in October at the school.
“I have gotten faster by running cross country and competing in track and field,” said Lester, who has been with high school team for six seasons. “I also got stronger lifting weights.
“I didn’t care if I got a scholarship for running or soccer. I was originally going for cross country, but I like soccer, too.”
When asked if anything changed his thinking toward soccer, Lester liked Baldwin showed interest in him, that his sister is at the school, and that his friends are going to the school, too.
Jones said he remembers he and his friends talking last season about the prospects about playing soccer at the same school. They said they needed to do whatever they had to do to attract Baldwin’s attention. Thanks to Mims’ first contact, Jones said everything fell into place after that.
Longmire said he and Jones planned to visit Northwest Mississippi C.C. on the same day and toured the campus. He said he enjoyed the trip and quickly realized that was the place for him. By the time Baldwin called him and asked him for a commitment, he said yes.
On Friday, once all the dominoes fell, Jones, Lester, Longmire, and Mims realized how fortunate they were to get a shot to stay together and play the sport they love.
“It is going to feel amazing knowing I am going to college with three of my closest friends,” Jones said.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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