Calhoun County's own Alshon Jeffery is on the brink of a NFL championship. Before he was catching touchdowns for the Gamecocks and soaring with the Eagles Alshon was winning titles as basketball player for the Calhoun Country Saints.
"He was a tremendous basketball player and I think he could've very easily played Division I basketball.," Calhoun County head basketball coach Zambolist Fredrick said.
"But football came calling. You know you had the likes of Nick Saban, Pete Carroll and that crew coming in here to recruit him, I think with that being the case football basically chose him rather then him choosing them."
Fredrick has been the head coach for the Calhoun County Saints for almost 30 years. He coached Alshon in high school and they won four straight state titles. The first coming in 2006. Alshon was a almost like a throwback to point guards like Oscar Robertson or even Russell Westbrook.
"He was one of those that could-very rare guys who could dominate the game without scoring 30 or 40 points. You look at his stat sheet and he might have 10 or 12 points but his signature was all over the game. So he did a little bit of everything, rebound, assists. At his size, he played the 1 for us. He was our point guard at 6'4" and did everything," Fredrick added.
The quiet lead by example leader has winning in his blood. Coach Zam also coached Alshon's three brothers. The oldest of the boys, Charles Ben aka Boochie is a three-time state champion.
Charles set the bar for Alshon as Coach Zam puts it. He said Boochie was also a star football and basketball player and might have been the one to make to the NFL if not for a knee injury in high school during his senior season. Now Alshon is going down the road his brother paved out of Calhoun County.
Now the longtime Saints coach is watching his former player reach another pinnacle. A NFL championship from a local product would mean the world to Calhoun County because of who Alshon is. He is a symbol.
"We never had that guy that made that big jump you know that we thought we could make and Alshon basically represents that. There's no envy here where he's concerned. Everybody is really pulling for him and Calhoun is really enjoying the way he represents us."
The once unguardable Saints point guard will use all his basketball and football skills to leave a mark in the biggest game of his career and it won't be a surprise to the folks in Calhoun if he's able to do it. Because they saw it first.
"He's a big game player. The bigger the game, the better he plays. You won't have to look for him Sunday. I can assure you of that," Fredrick said. "He'll be all over that field Sunday. So I'm looking forward to him having a big game and I'm hoping the Eagles are going to win."
New England and Philadelphia will play in Super Bowl 52 Sunday at 6:30 ET.