RB Duhon signs with Yale
A jack-of-all-trades on the field and star in the classroom, Sam Houston’s Gerron Duhon is looking forward to reaching the next level, athletically and academically, after signing a letter of intent to play football at Yale.
“I am so excited,” Duhon said. “I am just ready to get up there and play me some ball. It is what God put me on this earth to do.”
Duhon said he could not pass up the opportunity to play football and get an Ivy League education.
“When I went up there (New Haven, Connecticut), all the coaches knew me,” Duhon said. “It was real family-like.
“All the players, I could tell they really had a bond and they all embraced me and it just made me feel like this is the right move. And then why not go play some top-level football and receive an Ivy League education?”
The Ivy League does not provide athletic scholarships but instead finds other means of financial aid.
Duhon has a 4.0 grade point average and scored a 25 on the ACT while earning the District 3-5A offensive most valuable player honor this past season after rushing for 1,346 yards and 18 touchdowns on 198 carries. He also caught 13 passes for 354 yards and three scores.
Washington-Marion’s celebration honored three signees — defensive end Jaylon Ned (Southern University), safety Carrington McClinton (Southeastern Louisiana) and linebacker Christian Guillory (Houston Baptist).
“When I looked at graduation rates, Southeastern had one of the highest and the (Hammond) community has really bought into the program,” McClinton said. “I’m going to study business. Their system is the same as ours so I should be able to adapt quickly.”
McClinton and Guillory will be Southland Conference foes at the next level.
“The trash talk has already started; I’m looking forward to competing against (McClinton),” Guillory said. “I like the diversity at Houston Baptist, it is a different environment and the coaches are cool. I want to get academic honors and all-American honors. I’m looking into studying cyber engineering.”
Ned said he felt a personal connection at Southern.
“It is family, it is home,” he said. “It is an HBCU and has a high graduation rate. I’m going to play defensive end and linebacker there. It was great here at Washington-Marion; I can’t single out one highlight, I just loved playing next to these guys every day.”
Class 2A state runner-up Welsh had a pair of signees in defensive end John Daigle (Northwestern State) and offensive lineman Ryan McKenzie (Alcorn State).
Sam Houston running back Gerron Duhon signs with Yale University on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. He was the District 3-5A most valuable player and honorable mention all-state.
Washington-Marion had a busy signing day Wednesday with three players signing with Football Championship Subdivision schools: (L to R) Carrington McClinton (Southeastern Louisiana), Christian Guillory (Houston Baptist) and Jaylon Ned (Southern University).