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Seated left to right : A.J. McKinney, Gary Jackson, Jesse Rose, Connor Short. Standing left to right: Jakey Williams, Bryant Watts, Mathew Hawkins Photo by Crockett Uber
February 3, 2021 was National College Signing day at the Kingston KMAC. What a day for some well-deserving young athletes across the states. More to the point, what a great day for seven awesome young people in Kingston, Okla.
To choose a college could be a dream come true for some high school seniors, and for seven Kingston High School athletes, they got the chance to do that on Wednesday. Mathew Hawkins chose NEO A&M for football, Gary Jackson chose to run track for USAO, AJ McKinney opted for football at Southwestern Kansas, Jesse Rose picked to play football for Central Missouri, Connor Short went for golf at Murray State College, Bryan Watts chose to play football for Oklahoma Baptist, and Jakey Williams decided on Southeastern Oklahoma State University for football.
Watts said this has been his dream for many years.
“I’ve been waiting for this day since I started playing the game,” Watts said. “To be able to go and play at a school like OBU is really good. It’s a really good football school and it’s on the up and coming and it’s going to be good in a couple years. It just excites me to be able to play football.”
As for choosing OBU, Watts said the coaches and campus sealed the deal for him. “Well, I just checked on [the] campus and met the coaches and all the other players, I just knew it was the place I wanted to be.”
Rose said this was a bucket list item, something he has waited for, “I mean it's awesome. I looked forward to it my whole life.”
Rose said he chose Central Missouri because of the welcome feeling he got from the campus. “They made me feel like family the first day,” Rose said. “I loved the energy the coaches brought.”
Rose said he had many supporters there to support him at the signing and throughout his journey.
“They supported me since I was young, always pushing me to do my best.”
Williams has been playing football since he was little, and stated his decision was based on what the school had to offer along with the sports program.
“It’s exciting,” Williams said. “Southeastern has a good safety program. That's what I’m going to go into.”
Williams said one of the things he likes about the football program is Coach Fenwick.
“He’s a pretty cool guy,” Williams said. “He’s a really nice, really smart football guy.”
Williams also had many supporters along the way. “It’s crazy, how many people are out here, just showing how much they love us all. Crazy”
“William’s mom Trina said this is an extremely proud moment.
“I’m extremely proud.” Trina Williams said. “He has worked extremely hard to get to this point and to see it come through is just a huge blessing. I’ve always tried to instill in him to be true to himself and he’s always tried to put the best foot forward and with the younger kids and being football buddies.”
Hawkins, like the other athletes, said he worked hard to get here. “I’ve been playing football since my sixth-grade year and it’s been my most motivating thing to just get through high school.” When he received the scholarship, he said he put all the time and effort into it he could. “I’ve just worked for everything I got.”
Hawkins' mom, who was too emotional to give her name said she was not surprised that he obtained his goal. “We were ecstatic,” she said. “He’s a goal setter. He’s just worked really hard to reach his goal.”
Coach Tommy Bare, who has been a coach in Kingston for three years, said the athletes have worked hard to achieve their goals.
“Throughout the summer and throughout the season they’re willing to do anything and everything to make themselves and the team better.”
Bare also said having an opportunity to have so many student athletes sign their college intent is amazing. “We have great leadership out of these seniors, again it shows, having five kids obviously having the opportunity to go play college football, you don’t have that happen very often.”
Coach Taylor Weibner explained what makes these kids unbelievable.
“They’re really high-quality kids,” Weibner said. “That’s the big thing of it is – as coaches, you win with kids with a lot of character and a lot of fight in them. And these kids have a lot of character, a lot of fight in them and they don’t know what the word quit is.”
“Weibner said he considers himself lucky to be able to spend time with the boys.” “
They’re enjoyable to be around,” Weibner said. “Every day that you get up to go spend a day with them, they make your day and your life better. I’m lucky to get to spend a day with them. They make my life better. I’ve never been around kids in my life like this and they’re just wonderful. They’re work ethic and everything they do is great.”