Four Titans celebrate National Signing Day; share college decisions for athletics
Published 4:30 pm Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Pictured, from left, are Brian Morgan, Nolan White, Daevon Iles, Cobe Stoever, Dekarra Anderson and Edolia Anderson. (Chris Moore/The News)
Dekarra Anderson, sitting, is celebrated for signing to play softball at Kilgore College. (Chris Moore/The News)
Deavon Iles celebrates his signing to play football at Old Dominion. (Chris Moore/The News)
Memorial Titans quarterback Cobe Stoever is looking to continue his playing career in college at McPherson. (Chris Moore/The News)
Nolan White is excited to be part of the inaugural University of Texas-Rio Grand Valley signing class. (Chris Moore/The News)
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Three football players and a softball player celebrated National Signing Day at Memorial High School.
Dekarra Anderson, Deavon Iles, Cobe Stoever and Nolan White took turns Wednesday ceremoniously signing their letters of intent to continue their playing careers at their respective colleges.
Anderson is going to play softball at Kilgore College, while Iles is going to play football at Old Dominion.
Stoever is going to play quarterback at McPherson, while White is going to suit up for the University of Texas-Rio Grand Valley.
Anderson played varsity volleyball and softball at Memorial. She had a unique opportunity to have her mother, who is also head softball coach Edolia Anderson, introduce her.
Iles, who will graduate with an associate’s degree from Woodrow Wilson Early College High School this year, was one of the Titans’ brightest stars on defense.
He started at safety for Memorial as a sophomore.
“He is a guy that came to work every day,” Head Coach Brian Morgan said. “He was a really smart guy on the field. He is probably a guy that we are going to miss more than we realize right now. He is going to hard to replace. He really took his academic IQ and translated it on the field.”
Stoever started at quarterback for the Titans in 2023 after serving as the backup for the previous two seasons.
“He fought through a lot of adversity,” Morgan said. “He developed some toughness. Unfortunately, his season ended with the injury. We are excited to see him play more. He really took coaching well and developed into a better player as the season went on. He really understood what we were trying to do. I am happy for him to play at the next level because he has a super talented arm. He really put it together his senior year.”
White, who transferred to Memorial for his junior year, played corner for the Titans defense. Morgan praised White for running track to improve his skills despite initial reluctance from the defensive back.
“We knew that he needed it to become a better football player,” Morgan said. “He is a great weight-room guy, but we told him that if he wanted to be a college football player, he needed to run better. He bought into it. He played hard and physical.”
White is part of the first Rio Grand Valley signing class, as the college is adding football to its athletic program.
Morgan said he is proud of all of the student athletes who are able to let sports pay for college.
“If you can get your education free or mostly free, take advantage of it,” he said to the players. “Don’t leave school without a degree. You get a degree, your life changes. It changes for your future life and kids. It changes for them more than you realize at this age.”
