VIDEO: MCC’s Zamari Walton, LaVonte Valentine Announce Their College Football Choices
By Space Coast Daily // July 4, 2017
SPACE COAST DAILY SPORTS TV EXCLUSIVE
SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Space Coast Daily is live at the Melbourne Central Catholic Hustlers football stadium for the live college announcement of Zamari Walton and Lavonte Valentine.
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Looking to add some high school and college football suspense to your Fourth of July festivities?
Join Space Coast Daily and The Friday Night Locker Room’s Alan Zlotorzynski today at 4:15 p.m. from Melbourne Central Catholic High School, as two of Brevard’s outstanding prep football players make their announcements where they will play their college football.
The players announcing their commitments today are up-coming seniors Zamari Walton and LaVonte Valentine.
Walton was a major contributor for the Hustlers last season as they came within one game of playing for the FHSAA Class 3A State Title.
Being recruited as a defensive back, Walton is a solid three-star recruit who registered 69 total tackles last season, three interceptions and scored three touchdowns for MCC, including a 63-yard rushing touchdown.
Walton also returned a kick-off 90 yards for a touchdown.
ABOVE VIDEO: Being recruited as a defensive back, Zamari Walton is a solid three-star recruit who registered 69 total tackles last season, three interceptions and scored three touchdowns for MCC, including a 63-yard rushing touchdown.
Walton is a tough and versatile athlete. He is a team player and willing to do play wherever he is needed.
Walton also excelled on the basketball court for head coach Rob Terry where he was part of a team that won a district tournament championship over rival Holy Trinity.
He led the team with 66 steals last season.
Walton is listed at 6-feet-2-inches tall and 160-pounds, and he runs a 4.65 40-yard dash.
Since the beginning of March, Zamari has received offers to play football from Vanderbilt, Cincinnati, Mercer, Georgia Tech and Samford.
ABOVE VIDEO: Zamari Walton also excelled on the basketball court for head coach Rob Terry where he was part of a team that won a district tournament championship over rival Holy Trinity.
After taking a couple of unofficial visits Walton has narrowed his choices down to the Commodores of the SEC, the Yellow Jackets of the ACC and the Bearcats of the AAC.
LaVonte Valentine has emerged as one of the most heavily recruited running backs in the state of Florida.
Valentine, a 3-star prospect, is the No. 13 all-purpose back in the 2018 recruiting class and a top-100 recruit from Florida, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Valentine was electric in the Hustler backfield in 2016.
The 6’2” 190-pound speedster has been clocked running a 4.31 40-yard dash and has the frame to deliver a pounding to opposing defenses.
He rushed for nearly 700 yards in head coach Stacey Sizemore’s pass first up-tempo offense and scored 10 rushing touchdowns, including four from beyond the 50-yard line.
Valentine can also catch the football, which puts him high demand.
He averaged 29-yards per catch and scored two touchdowns on six catches.
For his career, Valentine averages a first down every time he carries the ball (9.9 ypc) and has scored 16 total touchdowns at MCC.
The list of suitors is impressive for Valentine.
ABOVE VIDEO: LaVonte Valentine rushed for nearly 700 yards in head coach Stacey Sizemore’s pass first up-tempo offense and scored 10 rushing touchdowns – including four from beyond the 50-yard line.
He’s been offered by over a dozen of some of the nation’s top Power 5 schools.
The list includes Florida, USC, Notre Dame, UCLA, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Louisville and Kentucky.
The list also includes the two schools that have emerged as front runners, the South Carolina Gamecocks led by former Gators head coach Will Muschamp and the LSU Tigers, who played Louisville this past year in the New Year’s Day Bowl game in Orlando.
What makes Valentine even more intriguing is that he plans to play football and run track in college and could be every bit as good as former Florida Gator running back Jeff Demps was in both roles.
Demps is the only athlete in UF history to win a national championship in two different sports.
Valentine set the national record for the fastest time in the 60-meter dash at 6.77 seconds on December 30 and It was his first time ever running that race. He also hadn’t trained in three weeks as the Hustlers played deep into the month.
Then came the 100 meters in May where Valentine won the FHSAA state title with a 10.61 time.
Valentine and Walton still have unfinished business for the Hustlers this fall before their college teams can utilize their talents. MCC finished 11-1 last season, averaged 46 points per game and allowed just 89-points during the regular season on defense.
The Hustlers played in one of the most memorable Florida High School playoff games in state history.
Trailing 21-0 late in the second quarter, MCC would come all the way back defeating Clearwater Central Catholic 69-62, requiring a state record nine overtimes to settle the contest.
ABOVE VIDEO: Valentine won the FHSAA state title with a 10.61 time in the 100 meters.
They would lose the following week to eventual State runner-up Chaminade-Madonna at home is the state semi-final game.
Including Valentine and Walton, the Hustlers return the core of last year’s team, including Central Florida’s leading passer Joaquin Collazo, all-purpose athlete Lorenzo Hardy and the team’s leading tackler on defense, Cameron Rivamonte.
The task won’t be easy, as the Hustlers move from a three-team district to newly aligned Class 3A District 2, which has nine teams.
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ABOVE VIDEO: Relive MCC’s 9 overtime thrilling 69-62 playoff win versus Clearwater Central Catholic last season.
