Newsome Makes News at Hargrave.
By Doug Doughty
This article is reprinted online with permission from the The Roanoke Times. “Hargrave’s Post-Grad Team Lands Star” first appeared Thursday, June 26, 2008 in the The Roanoke Times. Doug Doughty is a Roanoke Times sports writer.
It attracted little attention statewide when the state’s top-rated junior basketball player Deshawn Painter left Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk to play for the postgraduate team at Hargrave Military Academy.
But, when one of the state’s top football prospects opted to do the same, that was news.
Kevin Newsome played quarterback for Western Branch High School in Chesapeake this past season as a junior, when he was considered one of the top two prospects in the state. He subsequently made an oral commitment to Michigan.
Newsome isn’t the first player to pass up his senior year of high school to play for the Hargrave postgraduate team, “but, Kevin is the most-prized player from Virginia that we’ve gotten for his senior year,” Hargrave coach Robert Prunty said Wednesday.
Some of the underclassmen who have come to Hargrave for their senior years include current Southern Cal wide receiver Vidal Hazelton and LSU running back Keiland Williams.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be a trend,” Prunty said, “but, if it does, what’s wrong with that? Kids do it in basketball all the time to get better.”
And, of course, Hargrave has offered a second chance to players who have graduated from high school without the academic requirements to go directly to college, but that was not the case with Newsome.
“This is an honor student, the president of his junior class,” Prunty said. “The kid just came to play against better competition. That’s it. Nothing controversial. He gets to play against [junior-varsity teams from] Marshall, East Carolina and the University of Tennessee.”
Hargrave also has had a regular series with the JV team from Virginia Tech. Former Western Branch coach Lew Johnston said this week that he didn’t think Newsome’s recruiting was over, which only fueled speculation that the Hokies could become a factor.
“The bottom line is, where the kid goes is his family’s decision,” said Prunty, who went to Chatham High School when Newsome’s mother was at Gretna. “I’m here to support the family. All I know is that the kid is committed to Michigan. I have no part in the recruiting process with this kid. We have not talked about it.”
