MYRTLE BEACH Everett Golson, one of the most accomplished athletes in Myrtle Beach High School history, is leaving the school after the fall semester, according to Seahawks football coach Mickey Wilson.
Wilson said Golson will complete the requirements for graduation this semester and will forego the final semester of his senior year, instead choosing to become an early college enrollee in January.
Wilson said Golson didn’t want to discuss the decision with the media until after he plays Friday night’s first round Class AAA playoff football game against Brookland-Cayce at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.
08-13-10/Friday---Myrtle Beach quarterback Everett Golson looks for a break in the Loris defense Friday at the 2010 CNB Kick Off Classic.Photo By Randall Hillrhill@thesunnews.com
The NCAA-approved early college enrollment program will allow Golson to participate in spring practices and get a jump on his college academics without affecting his remaining four years of academic eligibility.
Where Golson will enroll in January has yet to be concretely determined. He verbally committed to North Carolina in February but has yet to sign a letter of intent, and the Tar Heels football program is the subject of an NCAA investigation into possible impermissible player involvement with agents and possible academic misconduct.
Thirteen players missed the team’s season-opener on Sept. 4 against LSU because of the investigation, nine are still ineligible, and coach Butch Davis appears to be on the hot seat.
“He’s still firmly committed to North Carolina but we are looking at other options now just because of the investigation at North Carolina,” Wilson said. “We want to make sure everything is good to go there. So we feel we need to explore some other options and make sure we’re headed in the right direction.”
According to Notre Dame fan website BlueandGold.com, Golson is also considering Notre Dame, Clemson and Tennessee, and has a visit to the Irish’s South Bend, Ind., campus scheduled on Nov. 13.
“The next month we’ll definitely come to a firm decision where we’re going, but right now it’s North Carolina,” Wilson said. Golson, a football quarterback and basketball point guard, was planning to play both sports at UNC.
Wilson said the basketball team’s ban from the postseason and invitational tournaments, including the Beach Ball Classic, because of illegal offseason practices did not factor into Golson’s decision to leave the school.
“He had already made up his mind he was going to leave,” Wilson said.
Last basketball season, Golson averaged 19.6 points, 5 assists and 4.7 rebounds and was named to the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association all-state team, and as a freshman starting point guard he helped the Seahawks win the 2007-08 Class AAA state championship.
Golson will play in a football game Friday for the first time since he suffered hand and foot injuries during the first half of the Seahawks’ only loss this season to nationally ranked Byrnes.
The injuries caused him to miss eight games and kept Golson from chasing some national high school quarterback records. Golson has started since his freshman year and entered the 2010 season with 659 completions in 1,056 attempts, 9,864 yards passing, 126 touchdown passes and 24 interceptions.
He was just seven TD passes from Tim Couch at No. 10 all-time nationally and 59 from Chris Leak’s national record of 185, and he was headed into the top-10 all-time in completions and passing yards, as well.
At the time of his injury, Golson was 28 of 43 for 429 yards and four touchdowns on the season.
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