The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

betubbs@tribunemedia.net

MAKING the switch from The Bahamas to the United States and from basketball to football has paid off for Raynor Andrews Jr.

The former Noble Preparatory Academy basketball player has secured an athletic scholarship to play for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team next season. 

On his decision to make the transition from basketball to football, Andrews Jr said it was a conversation he had with a friend of his mother, Lakeya Hamilton-Swann. The friend came to The Bahamas and advised him to move to Florida to play football. 

After going to Miami last March for a spring training session, the 18-year-old 6-foot, 6-inches and 312 pounds Andrews Jr said he was awarded a scholarship and he begin playing on their offensive line at left tackle. 

“I missed basketball because it was my first love,” said Andrews Jr, who played on the offensive line at left tackle where they finished with a 7-3 win-loss record for fourth place in the standings. “I got into it and now I love football much more than basketball.”

Despite the change, Andrews Jr said he will forever be grateful to coach Geno Bullard and Noble Preparatory Academy for really preparing him for moving from the high school to the collegiate ranks. 

“From Noble and playing basketball, all the stuff that coach Bullard prepared us for,” Andrews Jr reflected. “I already knew what I had to do to stay focused and concentrate on my schoolwork.

“The workouts over there were different from what we had here, so I couldn’t mess up. I knew if I messed up, I may not have a second chance, so I just had to keep focused and stay on the right track because I didn’t want to come back home.”

What was so remarkable for Andrews Jr in his journey is the fact that he never played football before leaving The Bahamas.

“All of my coaches and everyone were surprised about how fast I caught on with everything,” he said. “But I think they felt with me playing basketball, it really helped because I had light feet, and I was quick to play at left tackle.

“My quick reflexes really helped me, but I think I caught on pretty fast so that really helped me out a lot.”

Andrews Jr, who spent most of his summers in Black Point, Exuma where he started to play basketball, began playing with the SC McPherson Sharks before he enrolled at Noble Preparatory Academy.

He left The Bahamas last year to attend Miami Jackson, but instead of playing basketball, Andrews Jr got into football. He will be transferring to Miami Orleans in August before he takes off to start his collegiate career at Rutgers where he hopes to study either Sports Medical or Sociology.

“I just feel like from the beginning of my recruiting process, this was the school that stood heavily on my mind,” Andrews Jr said. “They kept really close to my family and so when I went for my official visit, my family found out first hand for themselves and so the decision was made to go there.”

For the past week, Andrews Jr has been back home. One of the first things he wanted to do was to indulge in some of the good old home cooking that he missed, especially from his grandmother, Marylee Strachan. 

“I also want to focus on helping some of the guys who have been recruited to go to the United States to play,” Andrews Jr said. “I want to work out and show them that if this is what they really want, they have to go for it.

“I didn’t have anyone there to guide me through it before I left. So I really didn’t know what to expect. But now that I’ve experienced it, I want to show them how hard it is going to be and so I want to help prepare them for it.”

Andrews Jr is expected to return to Florida in a few weeks to begin his summer workout sessions to get ready for his final high school season before it’s off to college and eventually the pro ranks.

“I selected Reuters because the OL coach is a former NFL head coach and Super Bowl champion for the Philadelphia Eagles,” said Andrews Jr, who is a big an of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, like most Bahamians.

Andrews Jr was a huge fan of the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association, so naturally like so many other Bahamians, he was also disappointed that they lost the championship title to the Denver Nuggets in five games.

“We’re good. Next year,” said Andrews Jr, who predicted that his Heat will return to prominence in the league for another year after falling short in their second trip to the finals in four years.

Andrews Jr thanked Noble Preparatory Academy, the Black Point Community Association, his uncles and his father, Raynor Andrews Sr, for the roles they all played in his career so far. 

With two younger brothers. Kaleb Black and Kyis Asquith, following him, Andrews Jr said he will definitely push them to follow in his steps as an athlete, preferably playing football as well.