NSD 2021: Catholic stars follow special season with big signing day
By TIM GAYLE
ED Note: Montgomery Catholic football enjoyed its greatest season in school history in 2020, making the Class 3A championship game for the first time in school history.
On Wednesday, the program enjoyed another special moment with three key players signing football scholarships.
Here is a breakdown of each players’ signing.
Myles Butler
With his statistics and his status as a finalist for the Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 3A Back of the Year, you would think Catholic receiver Myles Butler would have his choice of college offers.
Initially, there were offers from Indiana, Troy, South Alabama, Austin Peay and Bethune Cookman, but as signing day approached the schools came up with alternative plans because of seniors returning for an extra year, altering the scholarships available to high school seniors.
Butler took the court on Tuesday night for his basketball team’s final home game of the regular season, uncertain what the next day might bring, when he received an offer from Central Arkansas.
“It was last minute,” Butler said. “It happened last night during my basketball game with BTW Magnet. I was playing in the game and was looking for my parents, wondering where they went. Then my coach took me out and my athletic director came up behind me and said, ‘You’ve got a full ride.’
“To be honest, this has really been a stressful thing. I told my coaches this has probably been the most stressful thing I’ve been through since the passing of my sister. It’s been very stressful but God made a way. All I did was pray and believe in Him and He made a way for me.”
Butler was among the 21 players signed by UCA coach Nathan Brown and his staff, including four other receivers: Jalin Moore of Wilmer Hutchins High in Dallas; Kam Robinson of White Hall (Ark.) High; Kristian Scott of Lakeland (Fla.) Christian High; and Hayden Schrader of Bryant (Ark.) High.
“They pass the ball a lot and they’ll get you touches that you need,” Butler said. “They give you opportunities to make plays.”
Catholic coach Kirk Johnson, who oversees the recruitment of his players, called Butler’s signing a “crazy wild ride” for the senior who rewrote virtually all of the single-season receiving records set by teammate DJ Carter.
“I can remember sitting in the coach’s office at the old fieldhouse two and a half years ago and him telling me he was going to be the best receiver to ever play at Catholic,” Johnson said. “I’m hard pressed to say that he isn’t. He’s done everything from grow to getting faster to working to perfect his craft. He is probably one of my favorite kids I’ve ever coached.”
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior earned all-state honors the past two seasons at Catholic and was selected to play for the South squad in the North-South all star football game. He had 64 receptions for 1,342 yards and 14 touchdowns this past year in leading the Knights to the 3A championship game and finished his career with 119 receptions for 2,314 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Marcus Dees
Catholic senior defensive lineman Marcus Dees could have waited to see if more collegiate offers would come his way, but he knew the changing atmosphere of college athletics could leave him without a scholarship if he waited too long.
“I knew spots would be filling up quick,” Dees said. “Everyone is scared because of the rules in place. With everything that is going on, we need to make a quick decision.”
Dees had four offers but quickly settled on Wofford College, choosing the Terriers to continue his playing career. Wofford has reached the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs in each of the past four seasons and opens the 2020 season on Feb. 20 against Mercer.
“Because of COVID, everything (in recruiting) is kind of slow,” Dees said. “Wofford was the ones that really talked to me constantly, telling me how I could fit into their program and what a good school it is.
“From what I’ve seen and the research I did, it looks like a great atmosphere. It’s not too big of a school and they have a great team. It’s a place I want to be.”
Wofford added four to its signing class on Wednesday, bringing the total to 17 signees that make up the Class of 2021. Dees was among the 13 who signed in December, but wanted Catholic to withhold the announcement so he could join his teammates in a signing ceremony on Wednesday.
“In the end we signed an exceptional class,” Wofford head coach Josh Conklin said. “Our recruiting process is becoming stronger every year. The type of men joining our program today have been vetted and selected in great detail. They are incredible people, they are competitors, they love football, they understand the value of challenging academics, and they believe in the culture of Wofford football. I could not be more excited to welcome this group of men to our family.”
With Dees, they’ll get the undisputed leader of a talented football team that reached the 3A championship game this past December. Dees is a two-time captain for Catholic and had 88 tackles, including 13 for loss, this season.
“He is every bit of what I would want in a son,” Catholic coach Kirk Johnson said. “He continues to do the right things. He came here not only for academics but also for baseball. He probably squats the house and bench presses the stars. He is, by far, the strongest kid who ever came through Catholic and he continues to break (weight room) records.”
Dees has a career batting average of .330 with the Knights, but his football exploits have far overshadowed anything he’s done on the diamond. In his career on the gridiron, he has 138 solo tackles, 104 assists, 45 tackles for loss and 15 sacks.
DJ Carter
DJ Carter had 13 college offers from recruiters over the last two years, but the Catholic senior knew the effects of the coronavirus pandemic that allowed collegiate players to gain an extra year of eligibility would greatly affect recruiting and scholarship offers.
“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of, especially with schools just being unable to offer you,” he said. “It’s real humbling. It makes you appreciate everything that you already have and not take it for granted.”
Carter elected to sign a certificate of intent to play football at the Air Force Academy on Wednesday. During a year in college athletics when universities are uncertain of scholarship limitations, Carter said the academy’s continual interest paid dividends when it was time to choose which college to attend.
“They communicated with me on a regular basis,” he said. “They’re one of the few that actually talked to me pretty much every week. I looked at their football program, watching them on TV, getting to know all the coaches, I just felt like they give me the best chance.”
Air Force officials did not release details of their signing class on Wednesday, citing privacy laws that would prevent them from releasing information until the signees arrived on campus in the summer.
Catholic coach Kirk Johnson said he remembers when Carter went out for the basketball team and had to be coaxed out to the football field.
“I remember DJ when he was a basketball player, when he only cared about basketball.” Johnson recalled. “It was real hard to get him to come out and play football but as you look up four years later, five years later, he’s signing a Division I scholarship. DJ is one of those kids that you don’t have to ask to do anything, he’s going to work real hard for you. He cares about his community and he cares about his family.”
Carter emerged as one of the state’s top playmakers, accounting for 367 rushing yards, more than 2,300 receiving yards and 721 return yards in his career as Catholic coaches moved Carter to a variety of positions in an effort to get him the ball. Air Force coaches, he said, have a similar plan.
“I consider myself a versatile player so I think I could line up in a lot of different positions and affect the game,” he said. “They were telling me they plan on moving me around a lot and I think that’s where I excel. It’s hard to game-plan against me because I’ll be everywhere. That’s another thing that drew me to them.”
Ironically, as his basketball team makes a push to return to the state tournament after last year’s semifinal appearance, Carter is sitting out while recovering from surgery on his right wrist to repair a football injury.