WEST POINT — Head coach Chris Chambless’s official final day at West Point High School was filled with excitement as three Green Wave players, past and current, signed to continue or further their football careers at the next level.
A pair of seniors from this season’s 12th state championship squad, Kahnen Daniels and Zay Lowery, as well as former West Point defensive back Jacoby McQuiller, were surrounded by coaches, teammates, family and friends for a signing-day ceremony.
“Three very good ones and three very good young men,” Chambless said. “That’s what I’m most proud of. Everyone knows they can play, but they don’t always see the off-the-field things that I get to see on a daily basis. There’s not a teacher in this school that’s not proud of them. Our principals are proud. Our administration is proud. Our coaches are certainly proud of them.”
Daniels, one of the highest-rated recruits from Mississippi in the Class of 2024, was the headliner of the bunch, and he’ll be headed to Florida for a taste of the Southeastern Conference.
“At the beginning of the year, I said I was going to choose a school and I was going to stick with it,” Daniels said. “… It’s a really big relief. I leave in three weeks. In those three weeks, I’m going to be training and taking time for myself and to spend with my family and I feel like it’s going to be good.”
The four-star running back will be enrolling early at Florida, beginning classes in the spring semester to get a head start on academics and to get an early jump in training with the team.
Coming off an appearance at the U.S. Army Bowl in Frisco, Texas, on Monday, it’s been a busy time for Daniels since helping lead the Green Wave to a state title at the beginning of the month, but his excitement to start his next chapter is palpable.
“They’re going to get a leader, a person that’s going to go past 100 percent,” Daniels said. “I feel like I’m different from all of these guys in my class and they’ll see. … It has set in. I’m ready.”
Alongside Daniels was Lowery, an all-state selection at defensive tackle and representative in the Bernard Blackwell North-South All-Star Game on Dec. 9.
The three-star tackle is headed to Southern Miss, a place he committed to in the summer and reaffirmed since.
The Golden Eagles will be getting a strong defensive presence who finished the regular season with 70 tackles, six sacks, 15 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles.
“It felt like home,” Lowery said. “All of the coaches were very supportive and they showed me that as long as I stay working hard and doing what I’m doing, these next 3-4 years, everything will go right. … I feel like there was no other option than Southern Miss.”
McQuiller, a 2022 West Point graduate who played at East Central Community College the past two season, rounded out the trio of signees.
McQuiller authored an impressive sophomore year with the Warriors, recording 50 total tackles, one sack, five tackles for loss and an interception in nine games played.
The defensive back announced he’ll be headed to FBS program Central Arkansas, where he’ll compete in the brand-new United Athletic Conference.
“It’s a big step from high school to juco,” McQuiller said. “You really have to be on your grind every day, all day. It was the best thing for me. … It feels good to come back to West Point where it all started from, just to show the guys that hard work will pay off going to juco.”
West Point expects more signings in February, but adding three more names to the ever-growing list of Green Wave players to earn scholarships to play college football is exciting.
“We have really smart football players here and that’s their goal: to get to the next level,” Chambless said. “Not everybody can, but it’s a joy to us to be able to help these kids get to where they want to go.”
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