Legion Collegiate Academy celebrates record number of college athlete signings

Being the first Black athlete from York County to receive a full-ride scholarship in golf is a huge achievement, and it’s one that Jordan Williams wears with pride after committing to Southern University.

From picking up the sport in the seventh grade to golfing on Stephen Curry’s Underrated Tour in the summer, Williams is excited for the next chapter in his life.

“It’s surreal,” Williams said. “This is a dream come true. I’ve been waiting on this moment since I started playing golf. It’s good to see all the hard work I put in is finally getting recognized.”

Williams was one of 22 signees to participate in Legion Collegiate’s signing day Wednesday morning, the largest signing class in school history.

Williams, a former basketball and football athlete, said he knew he had the physical traits to be a good at golf, but it was the mental part of it that he had to get used to — the largest piece of which was being the lone Black golfer at most tournaments.

However, with his commitment to Southern, an HBCU that brought back its golf program this school year, Williams hopes to contribute to increasing the presence of golf in the Black community.

“You can see the growth of the game with all of the help it’s getting,” Williams said. “Stephen Curry is helping Howard University. They’re probably the biggest Black collegiate golf program right now, and we got a chance at Southern University. I hope I can continue to change things, and we’ll be growing just like Howard is.”

Another signee from Legion’s signing day was two-sport athlete and Limestone commit Malachi Thomas.

Thomas played lacrosse for Legion Collegiate and wrestled for Rock Hill High School, participating in the Bearcats’ spring signing day last week.

Thomas said it took a lot of advice from family, friends and coaches to get him here, and he couldn’t be more grateful.

“I came (to Rock Hill from New York) in tenth grade, and I wasn’t the greatest wrestler,” Thomas said. “Now, I’ve been progressing to where I’ve made the national team and have been traveling nationally for wrestling. I’m just looking to take in everything I can and try to do the best I can and earn a starting position. For lacrosse, I’ve played since the seventh grade. It was fun, and I progressed greatly, but this year, I stopped because I didn’t think I was going to go to college for lacrosse. Now, I’m going to be picking up the stick again, and I’m so excited.”

Here’s a full list of signees from Wednesday’s ceremony:

• Aiden Cherikos, basketball, Coker University

• Riley Stiles, baseball, Newberry College

• Jeremiah Fletcher, Lacrosse, Pfeiffer

• Dylan Sullivan, lacrosse, VMI

• Connor McCauley, lacrosse, Lander

• Kevin Gonzalez, soccer Pfeiffer

• Alyssa Ramadanovic, lacrosse, Lander

• Sierra McClure, lacrosse,Southern Wesleyan University

• Bella Marz, golf, Spartanburg Methodist College

• Elijah Coleman, football, Coffeyville JC

• Tyler Rosario, baseball, Gaston College

• Alfonzo Cruz III, football, University of Mt. Union

• Jordan Williams, golf, Southern University

• Malachi Thomas, lacrosse/wrestling, Limestone University

• Addison Burke, volleyball, Eastern Kentucky

• Margaret Olson, golf, Erskine

• Max Johnson, lacrosse, Newberry College

• Aurielle Freeman, track, Claflin University

• Kaylee Totherow, volleyball, St. Andrew’s University

• Zanis Sinclair, soccer, USC Lancaster

More from Legion Collegiate’s athletic director

Athletic director Rich Posipanko said that Wednesday’s signing class included more than half of Legion’s graduating class, with a few more athletes expected to commit to schools before the end of the school year.

In the current climate of college recruiting, Posipanko knows that high school athletes are less of a priority, so he recognizes the level of commitment his athletes have shown to get to where they are.

“One thing I tell these athletes is you have to be appreciative of whatever you get today because the transfer portal and NIL money has completely changed athletics,” Posipanko said. “A lot of schools are no longer recruiting just high school players; they’re recruiting transfers or post-grad. Any offer you get is impressive.”

Posipanko still envisions an even brighter future for Legion. After being hired as the athletic director in August 2022, he’s had two goals for his tenure there, and he’s making good progress on both of them.

“One was to straighten the athletic department up and try to make it more or less running like a junior college and making it more professional,” Posipanko said. “The other was to get our facilities built. We’re behind schedule on the field, but that’s going to be done before August. I feel really good about where we’re at as an athletic program in our student-athletes as well as the coaches we hire.”

The school also recognized 53 National High School Coaches Association Academic All-Americans during Wednesday’s ceremony.