Signing day
Seniors commit to play college sports
February 4, 2015
Seniors DJ Wilkinson and Joe Warner walked into the athletic office dressed in buttoned shirts and ties, ready to sign their letters of intent to play college football next year.
The signing took place at 2:45 p.m. Feb. 4 in the athletic office. Wilkinson signed for D2 at Concordia University-St. Paul while Warner signed for NJCAA at Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC).
According to Wilkinson, the letters both him and Warner signed were letters of intent, meaning they will be enrolled to those colleges next fall.
Wilkinson said he chose Concordia because he feels it is a good match and somewhere he could see himself attending.
“I chose Concordia because it was the best fit for me and it felt like a place I wanted to spend four or five years,” Wilkinson said.
Warner also chose RCTC because he feels it is the best match and he really enjoyed his time when he visited the campus.
“RCTC seems like the best fit for me,” Warner said. “I was on campus and I really liked it and my parents liked it so we thought it would be a good fit for me.”
Junior Sam Miller, who has played with both of them since freshman year said he is proud to know his teammates are given the opportunity to join college football teams, especially considering the bad reputation of Park’s football team.
“I think it’s really impressive considering we’re St. Louis Park,” Miller said. “We get a bad football rep so the fact that coaches are even looking at them from (Park) is actually really impressive and great for us and them.”
Both Wilkinson and Warner have been playing football for nine years and said it’s hard to let go of something they have done for so long, therefore signing their letters allowed them to easily continue football.
“We have played for eight to nine years which definitely influenced just wanting to play at the next level because it’s hard to say bye to something after eight or nine years of playing it,” Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson said he would like to thank the football coaches for allowing him to reach such heights.
“Thanks to the coaching staff for putting up with me for my time here and helping me develop physically into a young man,” Wilkinson said.
In addition to Warner and Wilkinson, senior Skyler Nagorski verbally committed to playing D3 basketball for Gustavus Adolphus College next year.
