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WELDON - Antione Lyons was probably a long shot to play college football four years ago.
He wasn't a model student and didn't appear to be college-bound on an athletic scholarship. Good thing high school lasts four years and not just one.
Lyons has come full circle since he first stepped foot on the campus of Weldon High after transferring from Southeast Halifax. And when he leaves Weldon after graduation, he'll be headed to North Carolina A&T with an athletic scholarship in hand.
Wednesday afternoon in the high school's media center, Lyons signed a letter of intent to play football with the Aggies this fall.
The 6-3, 250-pound defensive linemen said he is relieved it's official, especially considering where he has come from.
“It feels great to me,” he said. “Coming from Southeast Halifax, being always in fights and different situations, then coming to a school like Weldon and getting my mind straight.”
According to the coaches at Weldon, it took some time for the big man to adjust to being a student-athlete.
“It's a big day. Where he has come from to where he is now...” Weldon assistant coach Corey Odom said. “His freshman year, he wasn't focused on his class work and wasn't doing what he was supposed to do. But once we got him in the weight room you could see him grow (toward) this day. He lacked a little confidence when he first came, but he built his confidence.”
Odom said he watched Lyons grow into a leadership role his final year on the field and the Aggies, along with several other schools, took notice. A two-time Daily Herald All-Area selection, Lyons' name kept coming up when Aggie recruiter Dwike Wilson kept making trips to the region. “I would be walking down the halls of other schools and everybody kept telling me to check him out,” Wilson said.
From watching Lyons, he notices how quick the big man is, and that the defensive coaches at A&T loved him.
Odom said Lyons has transformed right before his eyes. “He got in the weight room and lost a lot of weight. We used to call him ‘Big Baby'.”
Odom also went as far to say that Lyons reminds him of former Weldon standout Kentwan Balmer, who went on to play four years at the University of North Carolina and is expected to be a first-round draft pick in April's NFL Draft.
“He has all the tools and technique,” Odom added. “His thing this year was aggressiveness. The last two years he did his job, but he didn't have that mean streak. This year he had that mean streak.”
Lyons said he hopes, if he keeps up the hard work, to contribute next season for the Aggies. “I'm doing the same routine I did every year. Eating, lifting weights and running. Even though it's college, I'm not changing.”
Odom said he and Weldon head coach Grady Williams felt Lyons showed the potential to play on the next level his junior season. Lyons said it took him a little longer. “To tell you the truth, I think it was the beginning of my senior year. My junior year I had a lot of leadership around me. But my senior year I was the only senior linemen so I felt like I needed to take the biggest step.”
Now Lyons will step into Greensboro to show the Aggies and the rest of the MEAC what he can do.
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