It made perfect sense all along, he just didn’t want to cause any distractions for his team during the grind of a high school football regular season.
Warhill senior Devonte Dedmon gave his verbal commitment to play football for the College of William and Mary after attending the Tribe’s 15-9 loss against Towson on Saturday.
“It’s where I felt most comfortable,” said Dedmon, who was also pondering offers from James Madison University and the University of Richmond. “I’ve been going to their football camps since I was seven, the coaches know me and my abilities and I feel like education-wise [William and Mary] is one of the best in the nation and that’s the key to success. And their football team is on the way up, too.”
Dedmon’s decision came a day after Lafayette senior Jahlil Green, a childhood friend and teammate of Dedmon’s on the Williams Hornets pop warner team, gave his commitment to play for William and Mary next year.
That’s good news for Tribe coach Jimmye Laycock and his staff, who received commitments from the two best football players in the Bay Rivers District during a 24-hour span over the weekend.
Dedmon said the timing was simply coincidental; he planned a few weeks ago to announce his decision at Saturday’s game. Nonetheless, Dedmon looks forward to reuniting with his longtime friend on the same field they grew up roaming countless Saturday afternoons.
He announced his decision via Twitter on Saturday: “My dreams have become a reality. I will be attending the College of William and Mary for the next four years. Williamsburg is my home. …Looks like Williamsburg will get to see Jahlil and I on the same team. Watch out for us. Go Tribe.”
At 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, Dedmon said he is being recruited by the Tribe as a wide receiver, but said coaches have also expressed interest in looking at him at running back and even seeing him throw the ball, too.
Makes sense given he lined up and was virtually unstoppable at all three positions during his three-year career at Warhill.
During his first year on varsity as a sophomore, he accounted for well over 1,000 total yards (958 rushing, 556 receiving) and 19 touchdowns in leading the Lions to the program’s first postseason appearance.
As a junior, he earned Bay Rivers District Offensive Player of the Year Honors after accumulating more than 1,800 combined yards (1,473 rushing, 366 receiving) and 25 total touchdowns.
He got off to another fantastic start during his senior season this fall: In five starts, he rushed for 1,110 yards and 18 touchdowns, passed for 265 yards and three touchdowns and caught seven balls for 139 yards and one touchdown before suffering a leg injury that caused him to miss nearly all of the final four games. He returned for the final 15 minutes of his last high school game and left one more memorable, lasting impression.
With Warhill trailing New Kent 10-0 in both team’s final regular-season game, Dedmon entered the game with roughly three minutes remaining in the third quarter. On his first play from scrimmage — his first live touch in nearly a month — he broke off a 20-yard touchdown run. He later hooked up with his younger brother, Keron Dedmon, for a 31-yard touchdown pass before driving the Lions to the goal line and scoring the game-winning touchdown with 32 seconds left on the clock. He finished the game with 88 total yards and found the end zone three times in just 15 minutes.
“I remember telling coach [Obie] Boykin, ‘I’ve got to play, you got to put me in,’” Dedmon said. “He did and it felt good to cross that end zone again.”
After his team struggled to move the ball offensively for nearly three quarters, Boykin said he could do nothing but shake his head and grin after watching Dedmon take his first snap of the game to pay dirt.
“There’s nothing you can do against someone who plays with that type of passion,” Boykin said. “It’s fun to watch a guy like that, but most of all I was just happy for him. Not only because of the hard work he put in over his four years here, but the hard work he put in just to get back in shape and help his team get a much-needed win and end a seven-game losing streak on the final game of the season.”
Dedmon said he is glad the process of weighing offers and having to answer the, ‘Where are you going to play in college?’ questions are over. Combined with the frustrations of having to sit out a large chunk of his senior season due to injury, he said the various pressures were becoming “annoying.”
But the past two weeks could not have gone much better.
“I still wish that I could have played more games my senior year, but overall the ending was what I wanted,” Dedmon said. “It was nice to be able to help my team come from behind and get a win in my final game, and now that I’ve got this [college decision] out of the way, it’s like a weight off my shoulders.”
