Wiggins starting to generate buzz for Smithville
SMITHVILLE – The first thing one might notice when looking at Smithville’s spring practice is, for a school playing in Class 1A, there’s a pretty healthy number of participants.
Numbers are always a challenge at this level, but the team’s turnout has head coach Chad Collums excited.
“This is what I told the kids earlier; ‘This might be one of the first years I’ve been this excited for spring practice’,” Collums said. “We’ve got quite a few kids that have come out. We’ve got a big eighth-grade class coming up to be ninth graders. Then we’ve got seven, eight new kids out that we convinced to come out here and just excited to see what they’re able to do.”
The Seminoles are coming off a 3-9 season where they made it to the second round of the playoffs before getting eliminated by Baldwyn. Smithville will have an edge in the trenches with rising junior Wes Wiggins, especially against Class 1A competition. Wiggins stands at 6-foot-3 and 270 pounds.
“Wes has started for us since his ninth-grade year,” Collums said. “He’s kind of into the camp circuit and everything, and his name is starting to get out there pretty good. He’s going to show what he can do in the fall once we start playing people.”
Wiggins is starting to get some attention from colleges, and he is looking to take a big step forward heading into his junior season. Jumping from Class 1A football in Mississippi to the Division I college ranks does not happen all that often, but that is what Wiggins is aiming to do.
“It’s really cool,” he said. “Not many people are able to get that kind of attention from a 1A school. I’m excited about it, and I’m really hoping I can get that offer and all of that.”
Collums applauded Wiggins for how hard he has been working to gain recognition from bigger colleges.
“It’s huge, especially in 1A football,” Collums added. “The bigger kids you can get, the better. We’ve got some big kids in 1A in that age group, and he’s worked really, really hard. He’s earned the recognition he’s gotten.”
The Seminoles plan to continue working hard over the summer, hosting and participating in 7-on-7s and other drills throughout June and July.
