‘Officially a Bulldog’
- Updated: November 16, 2016
Sacred Heart’s Nolan signs to play at Samford, bringing to reality the signing ceremonies he used to stage as a youngster
Sacred Heart coach Ralph Graves (R) lets everyone know Kevion Nolan is the school’s first-ever Division I sports signee. Below, Nolan is surrounded by the three biggest influences on his success on the court (from left) D.J. Heath, Graves and Diante Wood. (Photos by Kristen Stringer/KrispPics Photography)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
ANNISTON (Nov. 16) — Sacred Heart guard Kevion Nolan signed his letter of intent to play basketball at Samford University Wednesday in a ceremony steeped in emotion in the school library.
He fought hard to hold back tears as he thanked family, teammates, coaches and teachers who helped make the historic day possible. Actually, it was a ceremony he had “practiced” like 10 years ago and the reason Wednesday’s event drew such an emotional response from him.
“It just got to me, a surreal feeling,” Nolan said. “It was me and D.J. (Heath) sitting at the table when we were 7-8 years old and signing a blank sheet of paper with our names and where we were going to a school and now it was really happening.
“And as soon as D.J. signs in the late signing period I know I’ll be emotional again because I know he was proud of me and I was proud for myself and it was a surreal feeling that it was actually happening. Tears of joy I guess.”
Typically, the schools they were “signing” for were different, usually rival, schools like North Carolina and Duke. Nolan thinks his mother still has that paper tucked away somewhere at the house. Now the family has the real scholarship papers to put with it.
“I’m now officially a Bulldog,” Nolan said after making the final pen stroke on the form.
Nolan chose Samford over UC-Santa Barbara, as well as Austin Peay and Jacksonville University. He had official visits lined up for the other three, but there was no need taking them after he visited the Bulldogs.
He is the first athlete in Sacred Heart history to sign a Division I scholarship and the first in the county to sign in D-I men’s basketball out of high school since current Sacred Heart assistant Quintarius (Mook) Hutchison signed with Alabama A&M out of Anniston a decade ago.
That was just about the time Nolan and Heath were sitting around a kitchen table signing a pretend LOI, the memory of which reduced Nolan to tears Wednesday.
“This is the same kid they said you had to pay to make him come here to get an education, that they want to go back to where he comes from, but look where he’s going,” Sacred Heart coach Ralph Graves said. “This is a big day for him signing a scholarship, but this journey doesn’t end.”
The “signing periods” Nolan and Heath used to stage as youngsters usually came during the weeklong stays in each other’s homes. There was a lot of basketball played in those days and Nolan admits Heath used to always beat him.
Early on confidence was an issue in Nolan’s game. He was always the “scrawny 5-foot-4 seventh grader” who was capable of going for 35 in a game but never thought he could hold his own with the bigger kids in the gym.
Now, he’s one of the fiercest competitors on the floor, a player who can beat you driving to the basket or burying you from beyond the arc. He even has aspirations of playing beyond college.
“Me being the smallest one on the court I always had to play like with a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “I used to go to the eighth grade and complain about them being too big. Me and D.J. would sit up and talk all night about it wasn’t just fun for us anymore. We had to take our bumps and bruises and it there were learning lessons in there. It bettered me as a player.
“They had to get me to understand that my time was coming and being patient was the thing. As I stayed patient and kept working hard it started paying off and things started happening like we talked about.”
With him taking that game to a Southern Conference program there are now the inevitable comparisons to Steph Curry.
“They’re just getting Kevion Nolan,” he said.
Cover photo: Sacred Heart’s Kevion Nolan puts pen to paper and signs to play basketball at Samford. (Photo by Kristen Stringer/Krisp Pics Photography). See more of Kristen’s work at www.krisppicsphotography.photoreflect.com
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