Lakeland's Hardy signs with Navy despite injury plus all of Wednesday's signings
LAKELAND — It has quite been a memorable year athletically for Lakeland senior Derajah Hardy. An injured shoulder forced him to miss most of the football season, leaving him as a spectator when the Dreadnaughts repeated as state champion, and it has wiped out all of the basketball season, so far.
Yet the Naval Academy never lost interest, and on Wednesday, Hardy, a defensive back, signed with Navy. He was one of 11 Lakeland seniors to sign a letter of intent on National Signing Day. He is the third Hardy sibling to sign with a military academy. Older sister Trinity signed with Army for women’s basketball and is a junior and the team’s leading scorer. Rolijah, The Ledger’s Big School Defensive Player in 2022, signed with Navy last year.
Overall, 20 football players, one baseball player and one softball player from Polk County signed.
Early signings: National Signing Day: Which Polk County athletes will sign in early signing period?
Hardy said Navy coaches started talking to him prior to his shoulder injury and had plenty of video to see his explosiveness. He’s looking forward to rejoining his brother but that is secondary.
“I’m excited just to get back into football,” he said.
Hardy described his injury as a continuous dislocation. He first dislocated it during spring football then dislocated over the summer in basketball and eventually dislocated the shoulder six times and required surgery.
“The doctor said there was too much damage,” he said. “I had a lot of damage to my labrum.”
The only good thing about the injury was that it was to his left shoulder and Hardy is right-handed. So he was about to shoot and has been working out with the basketball team. He’ll find out Thursday if his doctor will clear him to return to action for the district tournament and playoffs.
“I’m pretty confident, but that all I can do,” he said. “I’m hoping he’ll clear me, but if he doesn’t, it would be unfortunate. Maybe in the long run it would be good because I don’t want to hurt myself next year.”
Hardy first burst on the high school sports scene when he was in middle school at McKeel and played varsity basketball as McKeel’s top player. He joined his brother for a year at Winter Haven as a freshman.
Hardy then transferred with his brother and Tyler Williams to Lakeland to improve their football prospects. He was looking forward to his senior year to emerge from the shadow of his brother for the first time since he was in the eighth grade.
“We did everything together (growing up) because we played the same sports until we came to Lakeland when I also did track,” he said. “He always pushed me. He was always big and strong. I think the main reason I was able to be as good as I was in sports was because I had to go up against him.”
Hardy said it has been tough sitting out in football and basketball, and he did his best to support his teammates.
“I had to adjust quickly because it's out of my control,” he said.
Hardy, the son of Roger Hardy and the former Felicia Hawkins who were both standout athletes in high school at Lake Gibson and Winter Haven, respectively, and college, made sure he kept his grades up while he was injured. He takes classes with Polk Collegiate.
As for the future, Hardy isn’t sure if he’ll pursue a career in the Navy but acknowledges that having a degree from one of the military academies will open a lot of doors.
“I want to pursue a law degree right now, but I don’t know what it will be like four years from now,” he said.
WEDNESDAY’S SIGNINGS
Davenport
Aiden George, Minot State University (N.D.). (Football)
Frostproof
Treston Ward, North Carolina A&T. (Football)
Kathleen
Marcellous Washington, Alcorn State. (Football)
Corion Abram, Edward Waters.
Lake Gibson
Dilyon Link, Sul Ross State University (Football)
Amoriah Ramos, Webber International. (Softball)
Kordell Lewis, Glenville State. (Football)
Lakeland
C.J. Mitchell, Wester Michigan. (Football)
D’Marius Rucker, Coastal Carolina. (Football)
Derajah Hardy, Navy. (Football)
Brayshon Williams, Butler C.C. (Football)
Jayren “Pat” Dennis, Western Michigan. (Football)
Josh Smith, Bryant. (Football)
Jamar Taylor Jr., Temple. (Football)
Caleb Stokes, Livingstone. (Football)
Davontae Kendrick, Livingstone. (Football)
Omari Mixon, UNC Pembroke. (Football)
Santa Fe Catholic
Jacob Knisley, Florida Southern (Baseball)
Jayden McPherson, St. Thomas (Football)
Victory Christian
Kooper Jones, Graceland (Football)
Winter Haven
Cedrick Carter, Southeastern University. (Football)
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Hardy signs with Navy despite injury plus all of Wednesday's signings
