Player Spotlight/South Georgia/November 2013
Adam Choice and Malkom Parrish
Thomas County Central High School, Brooks County High School
Robert Preston Jr.
Pair of blue chip quarterbacks lead South Georgia’s talented football class
According to Google Maps, it’s just over 25 miles from Quitman, Georgia, to Thomasville, Georgia. Scouts from some of the top football programs in the country have traveled those same 25 miles hoping to convince two of Georgia’s best players, Thomas County Central’s Adam Choice and Brooks County’s Malkom Parrish, to play football at their schools. Choice and Parrish, both quarterbacks and four-star recruits at ESPN.com, had been among the sought-after players in the country. Both have made decisions regarding their football future and are off the market. They lead state champion-caliber teams, are seasoned veterans despite their youth, have a combined 56 wins as starting quarterbacks over their careers, and are proven playmakers under center. Neither, however, will play quarterback at the Division I schools to which they’ve committed.Adam Choice, a 5’9”, 200-pound All-State and All-Region selection, is a Thomas County native who has been the Yellow Jackets starting quarterback for the last three years.
From the time he stepped foot on the Thomas County Central campus, everyone knew he would turn into an excellent football player. Choice has not disappointed.As the leader of the Yellow Jackets veer offense, Choice is a run-first quarterback who would much rather use his legs than his arm. “I run as many times as the defense will let me,” he says, which is usually around 15-20 times per game. He has tremendous speed, is very elusive, and is a player who creates space when there is none. Through seven games this year, he has rushed 149 times for 1,141 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’s the leading rusher in the region and has 4,715 career rushing yards at TCC. He is less than 300 yards away from breaking the career rushing record at TCC, which is held by Joe Burns, his cousin and former Buffalo Bills running back. Choice is also 24-of-44 passing for 440 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.That kind of playmaking ability has had college coaches salivating for years. The attention runs the risk of becoming a distraction for Choice and his teammates. All parties involved with the TCC program have determined not to let the attention shift their focus from the tasks at hand, which are a region championship and a deep run through the playoffs.
“This is my last high school football season. I want to make this one a season to remember and get the most out of it. I try to be humble about the attention. I want to keep working hard and do my best at every opportunity I’m given,” he says.Choice had nine offers from Division I programs. None wanted him as a quarterback. That hasn’t been a problem for Choice at all; he has known all along that he would be a running back in college. “I’m very comfortable running the ball. That doesn’t bother me at all. I knew my position at the next level would be in the backfield.” He eventually settled on Clemson, a school he loved the minute he stepped on campus for the first time. And when he realized how much he enjoyed the campus, he didn’t see the need to hold out on his decision. Choice committed to Clemson in May, which means he had the rest of the summer and the entire football season to worry about little else except his senior year with his Yellow Jackets teammates. “I didn’t want to wait. I knew I wanted to go there. It’s a good football program and a great school with a great vibe,” he says.
The football gene pool in Adam Choice’s family runs deep. A cousin, Joe Burns, a retired running back with the Buffalo Bills, has already been mentioned. Another cousin, Tashard Choice, is also a running back with the Bills. Tashard played high school football at Lovejoy then, like Burns, went to Georgia Tech. He was a fourth-round selection out of Tech and has put together a pretty good NFL career. “I talk with him some. He motivates and encourages me. The best advice he’s given me has been about recruiting. He tells me to make sure whatever decision I make is my decision and not to let others influence me,” he says Adam.
Favorites:
• Sport to watch on TV: College football
• Team besides Clemson: Texas Longhorns. “I grew up a Longhorns fan. They offered [for] me but it’s too far away.”
• Player: Tashard Choice
• Last movie: Transporter 3
• Superpower: Invisibility
• Person to meet: Michael Jordan
• Place to travel: Europe
