Warriors storm college path
Published 10:38 pm Friday, May 2, 2014
![Six seniors from Nansemond River High School's basketball team announced their plans on Friday. Front row, from left: Jalen Warren, Adrian Coleman, Devon Oakley, Marvin Branch, Adrian Drew and Jalen Ruffin; in back, coach Ed Young.](https://www.suffolknewsherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2014/05/DSCN3494.jpg)
Six seniors from Nansemond River High School’s basketball team announced their plans on Friday. Front row, from left: Jalen Warren, Adrian Coleman, Devon Oakley, Marvin Branch, Adrian Drew and Jalen Ruffin; in back, coach Ed Young.
Nansemond River High School recognized six of its senior basketball players heading off to become student-athletes at the next level during a ceremony on Friday.
The group included Devon Oakley, Adrian Drew, Marvin Branch, Jalen Ruffin, Jalen Warren and Adrian Coleman.
“Each of them, I’m really proud to see them get this point where they can announce,” Warriors head basketball coach Ed Young said. “I go back and look at them as eighth-graders and freshman and I think I didn’t know if they would ever get to this point, because some of the were a big question mark, but they all got to this point.”
Devon Oakley received a full ride to play Division I basketball at Hampton University. He said it was the “best fit, close to home, I really like the program, school-wise and basketball-wise, so I thought that’s why I should go.”
He will major in electrical engineering.
Oakley is a two-year letterman in basketball and was a first team all-state selection this past year.
Adrian Drew will be attending Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C.
“Coach said he really liked my style of play,” Drew said, identifying why he chose the school. “The chemistry of the team, they really welcomed me in as a player and as a person, and I liked the atmosphere of the campus itself and the class size and the professors.”
He will major in computer information systems.
Marvin Branch is going to Old Dominion University as a preferred walk-on to play football.
He said he chose ODU because it is “close to home, parents come to the games, I fell in love with the campus… They have a really good physical therapy school.”
And he will major in physical therapy.
Though his primary sport is football, Branch is a two-year letterman in basketball and was a second team all-conference selection this past year.
Jalen Ruffin is going to the Apprentice School and will play basketball.
“I chose the school because I know the coaches there, so I know they can help me improve as a player,” he said.
He aims to become either an electrician or an outside machinist.
Jalen Warren will go to Virginia State University and hopes to be a walk-on for the basketball team.
“I just think that’s the best place for me to try to play to further my basketball career and my education,” he said.
He will major in sports management.
Warren is a two-year letterman in basketball and received all-conference honorable mention this past season.
Adrian Coleman will attend Thomasville Preparatory Academy in Thomasville, N.C. for one year to improve his game and fine-tune his academic performance for another chance at being recruited to play college basketball.
“I thought I’d have a better chance of getting more looks and becoming a better player going through the prep school,” he said.
Coleman is a three-year letterman in basketball.
It was previously announced that another Warriors senior player, Daniel Wallace, received a full ride to play D-I basketball at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pa.