High School Sports
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Thomasville's Abrams-Ward named NCHSAA's top male athlete
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Published: May 1, 2008
E.J. Abrams-Ward was too busy excelling in athletics and being a student at Thomasville to ever take notice of the N.C. High School Athletic Association's Pat Best Memorial Trophy.
That changed today when Abrams-Ward was named this year's boys winner at the NCHSAA's annual meeting in Chapel Hill. Jannetta Robinson of Pender County, also a three-sport standout, won the girls award.
Sportswriters around the state nominate athletes and vote for winners of the Best Award, which recognizes the state's top male and female athletes. The awards were first presented in 1986 and were later named for Best, a Goldsboro High principal and NCHSAA president and board member who died in 1988.
Abrams-Ward (6-5, 220) plays football, basketball and baseball. He has signed to play football at Tennessee and said he intends to play a second sport.
"I was surprised, very surprised," he said. "All the athletes we have in this state, great guys all around. Just being nominated and selected for it is a great honor. Coach (Woody) Huneycutt told me a couple of days back, and it really did surprise me. It takes a lot to get nominated for this, so it says a lot."
Abrams-Ward is playing on Thomasville's baseball team this spring and has been scouted as an outfielder and pitcher.
In football, he was a linebacker on 1-AA state championships teams as a freshman and sophomore. He was moved to quarterback late in his junior season of 2006 and led Thomasville to another state title. He played quarterback as a senior, when he rushed for 1,288 yards and nine touchdowns and passed for more than 2,000 yards and 24 touchdowns. He was an AP all-state selection and Shrine Bowl linebacker.
Abrams-Ward also played on two state-championship basketball teams. As a senior, he averaged 20 points, eight rebounds and two steals while leading his team to the Western Regional.
He was selected to the Journal's All-Northwest teams in football and basketball.
Huneycutt, Thomasville's basketball coach and athletics director, said that Abrams-Ward is one of the elite athletes to come through the school.
"This is the first time we have ever had anybody to get an award like this," Huneycutt said. "To be noticed by his peers and newspeople around the state from a little old 1-A school is pretty impressive. We are really proud of E.J. He has been a great athlete since his freshman year and has done well in everything he has done. We are real proud and hopeful for his future.
"There are an awful lot of good athletes in the state. This is quite an honor. He has gotten a lot of other honors, but this is one of the top things that can happen to you."
Abrams-Ward said he will play receiver at Tennessee and that he has already started working out for the position. He said that a factor in whether he plays basketball or baseball could be feedback he receives from pro baseball scouts.
"We haven't talked much about (being drafted)," Abrams-Ward said. "I'm just trying to focus on what's ahead…. Right now we are talking a little about it, but nothing definite or serious right now."
Pender's Robinson starred in basketball, softball and volleyball and this spring added track to her resume and is a regional qualifier in three events. She led Pender to the 1-A softball title last spring and to the 1-A basketball title game this past season, averaging 17.1 points and 8.6 rebounds.
n Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.
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