On Wednesday, Randolph-Henry High School senior Dajour Davis signed a national letter of intent to play football for Averett University.

“First, I’d like to thank God and my parents for putting me in this situation to get here today,” said Davis. He also thanked his coaches and teammates throughout his entire career.

“I really love the game of football more than anything.”

According to R-H Athletic Director and Assistant Principal Chris Holt, there are over 8 million students in the United States currently playing high school sports.

However, only 5.7 percent will compete at an NCAA school. “Dajour is in a very elite group right now,” Holt said.

Randolph-Henry football coach Mark McPherson said that after the final game of the season, Davis was emotional. “To me, that certainly spoke to how much Dajour loved football and loved the teammates that he played with, and his friends that were on that team.”

McPherson said while he was only with Davis for one year during his entire football career, it takes a lot of hard work and determination to reach the NCAA level.

“That was a special year for me and I got to develop a nice bond with him, but he faced a lot of challenges in his high school football career,” McPherson said.

McPherson said that Davis played under the direction of three different head coaches while at Randolph-Henry. “Every year you have to learn something new,” he said.

Davis’s mom, Angela Ward Davis, expressed her thanks to a variety of special people who helped contribute throughout his football career. “Dajour, we’re very proud of you,” she said.

Averett University is a NCAA Division III school in Danville. Davis is the son of Angela Ward Davis and Lamont Davis, of Saxe.

“He’s a Statesmsn now and he’ll always be a Statesmsn,” McPherson said.