Football standouts face bright future

URIAH A. KISER / Stafford County Sun
Published: February 27, 2008

The 17-year-old Brooke Point High School senior linebacker, who has played for the Black-Hawks for the past two years, has accepted a full ride to the mountains of Morgantown to play for West Virginia University, a team that took the top spot in the 2007 overall Big East standings.

When joined by teammate and defensive end Isaiah Hamlette, 17, the bond between these two athletic standouts shows. Hamlette has accepted a full scholarship to Virginia Tech, putting both seniors in division one schools next year.

"It's just crazy," said Miles, talking about his role at both school and the community. "People come up to me at work and say 'you're Donovan Miles,' I never thought I would reach this point in my life."

For Hamlette, he knows that playing for a history-rich school like Tech comes with a lot of fans' hopes and expectations attached.

"One of the big things for me when deciding on a school was that I wanted to represent the ACC, I wanted to represent Virginia and that's one of the big reasons that I wanted to stay home," said Thomas.

Other top schools including Maryland, the University of Virginia, and Wake Forest have courted both players, but their commitment to their respective schools remains strong, they say because of the many challenges they have faced, and the dedication they have cemented at Brooke Point.

When Miles moved to the Stafford school after playing junior varsity football at West Springfield in Fairfax County, he says his less-than stellar grades were an issue that was holding him back. He persisted however, and utilized some of the resources the school made available to him to turn his classroom performance around.

"I went to my counselor every day, and once I was able to walk on my own, I started checking on my grades through e-mail with the counselor, instead of waiting for interim time with the teacher because then it would be too late," said Miles.

Both players know that going pro may one day be an option for them. It's one they have given some thought to, but never truly dwelled on.

"I know there's a lot of hard work to go that far, and you have to have goals to make goals," said Hamlette. "I made a lot of goals in high school and have made a lot of those goals. It's worked for me and I'm going to keep doing it."

Miles, who will pursue a degree in criminal justice from Virginia Tech was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in a Maryland suburb. He started playing football when he moved to Virginia in the fourth-grade. Living with his mother, grandmother, aunt and sixth-grade sister, Miles said he hopes to do all he can to be a role model for his family.

Originally from Suffolk, Hamlette said that playing sports in Stafford County since he was in the ninth grade has given him more hands-on experience with his sport, and the ability to better his craft.

"If it wasn't for Donovan I would have had a harder time getting looks," said Hamlette, "but I think that Donovan and I have really opened the doors for schools to come by and look at the players we've got, and as far as hard work, we're showing people that if you work hard enough, that dream you've got can come true."

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