Julian Noble signs with Rochester

Last week New Brockton senior football star Julian Noble signed his letter-of-intent to accept a scholarship to play football at the University of Rochester in New York.

Noble announced his decision to attend Rochester at a signing ceremony at New Brockton High School on Feb. 12 after a senior season in which he earned Southeast Sun Elite 11 and Gamecock Defensive Player of the Year honors and was voted team captain.

“I think Julian has understood the weight of this decision and has taken this decision as seriously as any person that I’ve talked to or any kid that I’ve coached,” New Brockton coach Zack Holmes said. “He was kind of stressed because he understands how important this is and his priorities in making this decision have been mature.

“When we talked about the different schools he was looking at he kept talking about the academics, while I was talking about the facilities and stuff like that. He said, ‘Playing college football is great but my degree is what is going to carry me through life’ and that is obviously a very mature perspective and guided him through his decision.”

After leading the Gamecock defense as a senior, Noble was also selected to compete in the Blue-Gray All-America game in Dallas, TX and was selected by his coaches as the linebacker to make the calls on defense throughout the game.

Noble said that the advice from his parents helped guide him as he was making his decision.

“As long as I can remember my parents wanted for me to get a good education because a good education will last me longer than athletic abilities,” Noble said. “So, instead of thinking about the next four years I started thinking about the next 40 years.

“I’ve been recruited by every division but my parents advice to me was to look for what was best for me. So, I started looking at ‘Division Me” schools. I’ve invested everything into achieving my goals. So, I wanted the best return on my investment. When I was offered an opportunity to play football and receive a scholarship to attend one of the new Ivy League schools, I did a lot of research on the school and I knew that this was the university that would change my life.”