“It’s not just about being a good athlete,” continued Ollis. “It has something to do with being a good person.”

At Lenoir-Ryhne, Philpott will focus on football, and regardless of what position he’s assigned, Polk’s coach expects Philpott to do well.

“Alec is a hybrid athlete,” noted Ollis. “He can do lots of things well. He’ll grow where he’s planted.”

Ollis, who has coached the Wolverines for 12 years, formerly coached at Lenoir-Rhyne. Lenoir Rhyne competes in the eight-school South Atlantic Conference (SAC), and has won the SAC title the past two years. Lenoir-Rhyne assistant coach Aaron Brock recruited Philpott.

Ollis expects that his former star will gain weight and strength in the Bears’ football program.

How does Philpott feel about playing for a college team? “I’m excited,” he said. “It’s a dream come true . . . to play college football.”

Philpott, whose family moved here from Milford, Mich., when he was just a year old, is proud of his time spent at Polk County, under Ollis, noting that if he’d played anywhere else, he would have been simply an average player.

“I’m beyond blessed to go through Polk County,” he said.

He’s also “excited to go to Lenoir-Rhyne,” a liberal arts university, affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  “I think it will be a really good experience for me.”

Philpott has researched the driving times from his home in Polk County, to Lenoir-Rhyne and to Western Carolina University, where older brother Tyler Philpott plays football.

He predicts that his parents, Todd and Kelli, will be driving “the triangle” to see their two sons play.

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