PROGRESS FOR PRYOR’S CAUSE
Last week, Ohio State commit Evan Pryor, a running back at William Amos Hough (N.C.) High School, used his voice to advocate for social change at his school, saying he is willing to sit out his senior season if progress is not made at Hough regarding social issues.
This came after fellow Hough students made racist posts on social media, and Pryor and teammate Curtis Neal took action by declaring they would each sit out this upcoming season if progress was not made – similar to the actions that recent college football players such as Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard and Texas’ DeMarvion Overshown have taken.
Last Thursday, Pryor appeared on The Charlotte Observer’s show Talking Preps to discuss the situation, saying that he wants “to see changes through (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools) or maybe throughout the state” and that he will “do what I have to do because at some point it has to end.”
There appears to be progress being made, as the rising senior quote-tweeted a statement from Hough on Tuesday that looks optimistic in terms of the school making steps toward social change:
Pryor then followed up on Wednesday with a tweet of his own in which he said “encouraging” progress was made at Hough:
Rule 8 of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' Code of Student Conduct (on page 12) is a rule in place to protect students against bullying/cyberbulling, profanity, obscenity and/or derogatory language and to punish students who violate those protections. That includes, among many other things, protection against bullying and/or harassment because of one's race.
The rule states, in part:
This rule applies to cursing, possessing, sending, or receiving written materials or electronic text and/or images that convey an offensive, racial, derogatory, bullying or obscene message to another person. This includes but is not limited to references to race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, physical or sensory disability, physical appearance, or making offensive statements or gestures. ... In addition, as with other disciplinary violations, any manner of bullying that occurs off campus may violate the Code of Student Conduct if it has a direct and immediate impact to the orderly and efficient operation of the school or the safety of individuals in the school environment.
On that same episode of Talking Preps, Pryor told The Charlotte Observer he plans to “keep on using my voice to reach out to different groups – not just talking to the African-American community, but also I’m a guy who has many different friends, whether it’s Hispanic or white, just making sure it’s all good on all ends. Whether that’s spreading it out through people I haven’t talked to much, just making sure we’re all part of the same understanding so this won’t happen again.”
PRYOR FULLY SUPPORTED AT OHIO STATE
In that same interview, Pryor said he has the full support of Ohio State’s coaching staff, including from both Ryan Day and Tony Alford.
The 2021 Buckeye commit also has support from his fellow commits in Ohio State’s recruiting class, including from running back TreVeyon Henderson and quarterback Kyle McCord.
“Obviously, his situation is a lot different than mine, but seeing what he’s doing in his community and the impact that he’s making on others I think is huge,” McCord told Eleven Warriors. “I think for Evan, being 17 years old, to go out and make a change like that with his high school’s head board speaks a lot to Evan as a person. Obviously, he’s a great player, and he’s gonna be a dude at Ohio State. But for him to go off on a limb there and make change within his own community, I think is a prime example of why he’s such a great kid on and off the field.”
“I support him, and I stand with him,” Henderson told Eleven Warriors last week. “He’s definitely trying to make a change.”