There’s a storm coming.

We are all witness to the advent of Delta Charter. The school hit back-to-back home runs in consecutive weeks, and with such momentum, I have a feeling the Storm are going to get in on this wacky transfer trend in the Miss-Lou.

But before diving into that, congratulations are in order to Delta Charter for being accepted by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association this past week. Starting next school year, Delta Charter will most likely be in a district with Sicily Island and others in LHSAA Class A. This announcement comes a week after the school decided to hire one of its own in Dewayne Taylor as head coach of the football team. Though being accepted by the LHSAA is the best thing to happen to the school athletically, it might not have had the same impact if the school hadn’t selected Taylor as its head coach.

Taylor is one of those people who have that “it factor.” First, he has strong people skills that have allowed him to blend into the community and form relationships at just about every school in the area. When Taylor told me he was originally from New Orleans and didn’t come here until 2008, I was shocked because of the amount of connections he had in the area. Secondly, Taylor has a great knowledge for football and basketball for which he both coaches. Taylor played football at Alcorn State before coming to Natchez to help assist Natchez High School. Add in his ability to form a personal relationship with his kids and that he plans to marry further into the life of sports with his fiancée being Natchez High girls coach Alphaka Moore, and Delta Charter has a great poster boy to build its program around.

Taylor’s personality and coaching ability, combined with the presence of Delta Charter baseball coach Jarrett Hoffpauir, the former Major League Baseball player, have me believing this school is destined to do big things. We’ve all seen what Taylor has done with the basketball team, posting a 21-4 record despite playing against varsity competition with a group of freshmen and sophomores. And if what everyone is telling me is true, the baseball team is poised to be one of the best teams the school has to offer. In other words, the school is on the up-and-up.

Now here’s where it gets interesting. If Delta Charter becomes a local powerhouse as I believe it will, the school will have a tremendous impact on the local landscape. You know how it is in the area (I refuse to be mum about the topic as if I’m Marshawn Lynch at a Super Bowl press event) — kids transfer to different schools in the blink of an eye. Because we already have so many schools in a confined area, players tend to swap colors faster than New England equipment managers let air out of footballs. And now that little ole’ Delta Charter is destined to play varsity ball in a district, well, the local transfer soap opera will only likely intensify.

And that’s not to say Delta Charter is recruiting. The point I’ve already illustrated is the school won’t need to with the staff its put in place. Kids will gravitate toward Taylor because —  He’s already proven he can win, as he won 21 basketball games with a junior varsity team playing mostly varsity competition. And His charisma and outgoing personality already has and will continue to make him an attraction. Now, add in Hoffpauir, who I’m sure baseball kids in the area would love to play for, to the mix, and you can see where name recognition alone could shift the sports paradigm.

Kids transferring in the area will never go away. It’s how certain schools survive, while others try to hold onto their athletes to thrive at higher levels. But from the look of it, Delta Charter isn’t going anywhere either, and if I was a betting man, I’d say this school will become a powerhouse in the not so distant future.

 

JAKE MARTIN is the sports editor for The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3633 or jake.martin@natchezdemocrat.com.