When Kendrioun Boatman signed a letter-of-intent on Monday afternoon to play football at Belhaven University it was literally the answer to prayers for the 6-foot-3, 300-pound McAdams High School senior.
Boatman, who played offensive guard and defensive tackle for the Bulldogs, went virtually unnoticed by college football recruiters following his senior season, but he believed his dream of playing college football and getting a stellar education was still attainable.
"I was concerned," Boatman said about the lack of attention he was getting from college coaches. "But I'm a God-fearing man and I know he's always there for me."
In the spring he battened a tryout camp at East Central Community College in Decatur and also began to hear from a handful of smaller four-year schools such as Belhaven, Millsaps, LaGrange (Georgia), Sewanee (Tennessee), and Maryville (Tennessee).
When he took his visit to Belhaven, he felt not only comfortable, but wanted.
"I saw that it was a really good educational program and they really wanted me to play for them bad," he said.
"They really stayed after him," McAdams head football coach Jim Risen said of Belhaven's recruitment of Boatman. "I think he can make an immediate impact for Belhaven because he's still not through growing. Belhaven will help him mature and help him define what he needs to do to improve."
Belhaven is an NCAA Division III school which cannot offer athletic scholarships, but based on academics and other criteria, it can offer financial help.
When Boatman got on Belhaven's radar, it was the combination of his athletic prowess, his GPA of 3.85 ,and the fact that he scored a 22 on the ACT that really put the wheels into motion.
Risen said Boatman's work ethic will be a difference maker, noting that he has been holding a job at a local fast-food restaurant throughout his high school career, while playing multiple sports and keeping up with his academics.
"I knew education was important because my family has stressed that to me," Boatman said.
Belhaven, which plays in the American Southwest Conference, finished 2-8 overall last year and 2-7 in ASC play. The Blazers are set to open the 2019 season in Jackson on Thursday, Sept. 5 when they pay a visit to arch-rival Millsaps.
Both Boatman and Risen believe having more individual coaching and a more stringent workout plan will be a benefit for the two-time MHSAA Class 1A All-State performer.
"He has the ambition and the desire to do anything he wants to do, because that's the mindset he has. He will work hard to make the best of himself. It's a pattern he has already set," Risen said. "I think being in a program that is structured will turn his key."
Boatman agrees.
"I feel like they will help develop me as a player," he said. "I will have coaches who will be coaching me one-on-one at times and that will help me take it to the next level."
