Kevin Boozer
Staff Writer
WINNSBORO — Fairfield Central High School Senior Rakeem Shaq Owens will trade in his black and gold colors this fall for scarlet and gray.
The defensive end signed last Thursday to play football just down S.C. 34 at Newberry College. He plans to major in business administration and looks forward to joining high school teammate Damian Bell on campus this fall.
Ken Lathan, a guidance counselor at FCHS, congratulated Owens and his parents on a job well done.
“We expect great things from Shaq as a student-athlete,” Lathan said. “He worked hard at FCHS in the classroom and on the field (and now that is paying off).”
His coaches reminded Owens that he represents the FCHS program and that his days as a Griffin don’t end at graduation. Instead they said he has a duty to come back and share with the younger Griffin players the work ethic, study habits and techniques that contributed to his success.
“This story is bigger than football,” FCHS Head Football Coach Demetrius Davis said. “This young man did the little things to make it easier to sell him to an institution of higher education. Academically, we could tell them he was good to go (from early in the process). He has such character and that goes into it when you are sending a young man to represent your future guys also. Rakeem exemplifies what we, as coaches, want to send out into the world.”
Owens thanked God, his parents, his supporters and his coaches for their roles in getting him where he is today. He said he is looking forward to joining a Wolves program that puts a premium on leadership and character development and hopes Griffin fans will make it to see him play this fall.
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