The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.
No other school does signing day quite like Long Beach Poly, where a typical year sees more than two dozen athletes sign NCAA scholarships to four-year universities across a variety of sports. This year was no exception, as Poly boys’ athletic director Rob Shock hosted three signing day ceremonies, one for each of the NCAA National Letter of Intent windows. The Jackrabbits celebrated all 33 of their NCAA-bound athletes at a ceremony last week.
“Please go and get those degrees and come back to talk to our student-athletes about what it takes to succeed,” said Shock. “Remember, athletics is temporary, but that degree is forever.”
Among those honored at the most recent ceremony was Brooklyn Taylor, Poly’s senior basketball star who had previously signed to Cal State Bakersfield, then had her NLI released due to a coaching change at the school. That can be a stressful situation for a high school senior, but Taylor had plenty of other interest, and ended up signing with Sacramento State.
“It was a long time where it felt like I was behind because a lot of other people had already signed,” she said. “Coaches reached out, they were super great groups of people. At Sacramento State they had a plan for what they want for me, a clear plan, so I was all the way into it. It turned out great for me thankfully, I’m so excited to go there.”
Poly senior hurdler Anise Becker is one of many Jackrabbits who stayed dedicated to both academics and athletics, and had a surge in success bring scholarship offers her way later in her high school career. After a breakthrough senior campaign that saw her post some of the top hurdler times in the state, she signed last week with Idaho State.
“It’s really exciting because I’ve dreamed of this moment of getting a scholarship,” said Becker. “I’m really proud of myself for making it this far and having a chance to continue on at the next level.”
Becker has been a talented runner her whole life, but took to hurdles two years ago and pursued them relentlessly.
“I’ve been running track since I was six, but when I tried hurdles my sophomore year I had good times and I started working really hard at it,” she said. “Doing extra work after practice, being mentally ready for races.”
The full list of Poly’s 33 honorees for the 23-24 school year (starting with the 16 recent honorees from the most recent ceremony) is:
Andrea Perkins (basketball, Redlands), Anise Becker (track, Idaho State), Jonas Gutierrez (volleyball, Mount Mercy), Brianna Bailey (softball, Dartmouth), Anna Mor (water polo, Claremont McKenna), Gianna Diaz (rugby, Lindenwood), Favio Lopez (soccer, Azusa Pacific), Chazz Brown (track, LSU), Morgan King (track, LSU), Elle Denison (track, Prairie View A&M), Mai Ricks (track, Sacramento State), Brooklyn Taylor (basketball, Sacramento State), Carter Mather (cross country, Wheaton), Daylynn Sierra (football, Nevada), Jordan Malau’ulu (football, Fresno State), Max Pemberton (baseball, Claremont McKenna), Dylan Williams (football, Oregon), Taylor Mercado (volleyball, Georgetown), Tiare Ho-Ching (softball, Arizona State), Xai Ricks (track, Georgia), Kate Montemayor (golf, Cal State Bakersfield), Sydney Corder Boyd (basketball, UC Merced), Charles Clinton (football, Utah Tech), Darius Curry (football, Colorado State), Cameron Gherardi (football, Idaho State), Titus Bordeaux (football, Black Hills State), Madison Williams (golf, Prairie View A&M), Quimari Shemwell (Utah), Luke Buggs (football, Davidson), Connor English (baseball, Eastern University), Colin Powell (football, Graceland), Jebbadiah Tuupo (football, Western New Mexico), and Evan Jue (swimming, NYU).
Subscribe to the562 on GiveButter to make a recurring donation and keep Long Beach sports coverage free!
