Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Sports
Sports

Congrats: Da’Shawn Hand Commits to Alabama

Posted byBy ABS Contributor | Published on: | Updated on September 2, 2016 CommentsComments (0)

Da'Shawn Hand

Da’Shawn Hand of Woodbridge High School in Virginia has just announced his commitment to attend  Alabama on Thursday.

Hand made frequent trips to Alabama to establish a relationship with the entire coaching staff and he thought it was, “Amazing.”

“The campus life is amazing,” Hand said. “I know half the team already. The coaching staff is amazing. Why not go where it’s a great possibility you could win a national championship?

When I took my visit, I took two visits. I got to see what the campus life is outside of football season as well as my official. I saw how the gameday atmosphere is, the culture. They have a winning tradition. They don’t lie to you. I know when I go in, I won’t be No. 1 on the depth chart.”

Hand will be joining offensive lineman Cameron Robinson, giving the Crimson Tide two five-star prospects.

According to Hand’s mentor John Harris, the coaches were honest and caring and expressed that they wanted to see hand excel in the classroom and the football field.

“The coaches showed him you can go into civil engineering and be an elite football player,” said Harris. “They made him a believer on that, and that meant a lot.”

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top