Lakeland High School has lost the captain of its defense and one of the most sought-after 2016 prospects in the country as rising junior linebacker Jaquan Yulee is transferring to Indian River High School.

Gregory Rountree, Lakeland activities director, said he learned the news on Tuesday. He expressed his disappointment, but said some things are not controllable, and the Cavaliers would move on.

A major factor in Yulee’s decision was the chance to play for Indian River’s new coach Glenwood Ferebee, who coached Yulee during his freshman year at Lakeland.

Explaining the motivation behind the transfer, Yulee said, “It was just that I wanted to go to a winning program, so I decided to go and rejoin with Coach Ferebee.”

Ferebee had great success at Lakeland and will be working to turn around an Indian River program that went 1-9 last year, getting its lone win against Lakeland, which also went 1-9.

Cavaliers coach Bryan Potts said the Yulee family has a connection with Ferebee, and they thought he would work better with Yulee.

Yulee, who has already drawn interest from some of the highest profile college programs in the nation, including the University of Alabama, said he will also be changing linebacker positions with the Braves.

“Basically, I’m playing outside like I was my freshman year,” he said.

Potts outlined his and the Cavaliers’ approach to the loss of Yulee.

“In 36 years I’ve been on this earth, I can sum up in three words everything I’ve learned about life — it goes on,” he said. “That’s how we’re going to treat this Yulee situation.”

He said he and his staff will proceed with the guys they have, and Yulee’s departure has not yet been a source of conversation amongst the team.

“Right now, it’s not an issue,” he said during practice on Wednesday. “The kids haven’t mentioned one thing about it. I’m not going to bring it up.”

Yulee hopes to join in with Braves practices soon.