The University of Georgia may be the team of choice of a majority of football fans nearby, but fans of the Greyhounds will have multiple reasons to train their eyes on the ACC next season.
Three reasons, to be exact. During last Wednesday afternoon’s early signing day ceremony at the JCHS cafeteria, three Jones County football players made their college decisions official during a ceremony in front of a packed room. Receiver Jaivon Solomon inked with Duke, linebacker Zacari Thomas signed with Boston College and defensive back Javion Butts chose North Carolina.
Of the three, the actual signing day held little drama for two of them as the morning began with the decisions of Solomon and Thomas being officially announced on social media, making the afternoon ceremony a formality.
Solomon, whose recent offers after initially committing to Duke included Georgia Tech, continues a recent pipeline of Greyhound receivers to Durham as Jontavis Robertston is part of the Blue Devils offense.
“It feels really good. I’m glad that I got it over with,” Solomon said. “I’m so thankful for my family and everyone who has helped me get here.”
Thomas had multiple suitors down the stretch toward signing day as well, receiving late offers from North Carolina and NC State, among others. In the end, he opted for the maroon and gold of the Golden Eagles.
“It feels good; I was kind of hesitant at first. It was stressful, but I felt like Boston College was family,” Thomas said. “When they offered me, I felt the love immediately and me and everyone clicked instantly when I went up there for my visit; it felt like home.”
Butts was another story. While Solomon and Thomas began the event wearing apparel of their future college choice, Butts wore a fleece pullover covering what would later on after initial photo ops be revealed as a shirt of his future school – North Carolina.
Butts, who earlier in the year committed to UNC, made his final decision after a whirlwind week in which it was announced that Mack Brown would not return as the Tar Heels head coach in 2025. Butts had no advance warning of the veteran head coach’s plans ahead of time.
“I found out around the same time as everyone else did. There were coaches texting me before I found out,” Butts said. “It’s been very chaotic. Schools were texting me trying to figure out my next move.”
One of those moves came the weekend before early signing day on an official visit to Missouri, giving the Tigers the final chance at making their pitch to Butts.
One that apparently nearly worked.
“I actually committed on Sunday and then flipped back to North Carolina,” Butts said.
In the end, UNC won out. “I committed because of the school itself, not the coach,” Butts said. “When I visited, I just fell in love with the school. This is the school I wanted to go to.
And he won’t have to wait long to head there, as Butts will go to Chapel Hill within days as an early enrollee.
“It’s been a journey since the 10th grade. I’m ready to get up there and get to work,” Butts said. “It’ll give me an advantage mentally and physically and help me get in the playbook. It’ll be a big help, overall.”
