Atascocita’s Green big on skills, heart
OT has quickly climbed ranks to become area’s top recruit
Shalonda Green laughs about her son’s unabashed confidence in his adolescent years.
Kenyon Green could be whimsical, breaking out in dance at the grocery store when a song blared through the speakers.
One time during a church service, some of the youth were given the chance to sing in front of the congregation, but shyness usually prevailed.
Not with Green. He’d snatch the mic, let out a tune and sound good doing it, too.
“Now you probably couldn’t get him to do none of that,” Shalonda said.
For one, Atascocita’s lead man wishes he still had the voice he used to. He can’t hold much of a note these days, and his family lets him know
with any attempt to sing.
And the only footwork that matters to him happens on the gridiron and not the dance floor.
But the 6-6, 320-pluspound offensive tackle with a short-lived foray into singing still holds that same unbridled confidence as the Houston area’s top Class of 2019 recruit. He just carries it in a quiet vessel.
Maybe Green is the linchpin for an Atascocita team that could end up at AT&T Stadium this December. Maybe he’s Texas A&M’s — or the Houston area’s — next great export from the trenches.
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Green sits in the middle of a surge of blue-chip offensive tackles in the Houston area — not that there is ever really a down period.
Walker Little wowed at Episcopal on the way to Stanford in 2017. Early returns say the top Class of 2021 recruit in the state could be an offensive tackle from Houston and perhaps three or four might figure in the top five. There is another emerging tackle just a few spots across from Green in Atascocita freshman Kam Dewberry, who’s picked up a Baylor offer.
The top recruit in the state from the 2016 class was Allen offensive tackle Greg Little, who is now at Mississippi. Green watches his tape a lot, along with NFL Pro Bowlers Tyron Smith and Trent Williams.
During that 2016 season, Green was a sophomore on the Atascocita team that beat the defending Class 6A state champion North Shore team that beat the other Class 6A state champion, Katy.
Then-North Shore linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson told Green he was the best tackle he’d gone against. Chaisson, who was an LSU pledge at the time, believed in the statement so much as to let former LSU offensive line coach Jeff Grimes know Green was can’t-miss.
Green was offered by and committed to LSU nine days after that North Shore game. LSU’s coaching staff had a major shake-up. Jimbo Fisher landed at Texas A&M, and offensive line coach Jim Turner remained part of his staff. Green figured maroon was a more suitable shade.
Green’s LSU commitment was his family’s first brush with recruiting fame, which is always interesting through the parents’ eyes.
Some parents become public relations firms for their sons. Some spend time trying to make sense of a world where adults clamor for their children.
Kenyon’s level-headedness meant Shalonda and his father, Henry, didn’t have to do much of either.
“Quiet man wins wars,” said Henry, as he watched his son at Atascocita’s Friday scrimmage against The Woodlands.
It’s a lesson Kenyon takes to heart.
Down-to-earth kid
His parents are often amazed their son is a home body, opting to hang with them and his sister Kamirah — who already stands 6 feet in middle school — rather than out and about, taking advantage of his status.
Green likes video games, like any teenager. He likes “Call of Duty” and beating his dad in Madden. He’s still a bit of jokester, if you know him well enough. He can tear into any plate of wings, which is a prerequisite for the position he plays.
He has a mean streak on the field — also a prerequisite. And quiet doesn’t always mean being mum on his skills. He’ll let you know if the situation calls for it.
As normal as he seems, he still commands a crowd. Shalonda remembers being at a camp and seeing a crowd of recruits gravitate toward Kenyon. All he was doing was sitting.
Kenyon is big on faith. He grew up in the church and is still very much involved.
He and Henry meet and pray before each game. They did so at Friday’s scrimmage and have been since the pee-wee football days when Henry was his coach.
Kenyon wanted to start the prayers.
“You build yourself up in the church house, you become a great person,” he said of his beliefs. “That’s why I’m so into church. I’m so blessed that God gave me this opportunity to show my talent and praise his name while doing it.”
He’s more coy about Atascocita’s 2018 outlook, believing great potential is there but a lot of work is ahead.
If the heart of every good team beats from the offensive line, then Atascocita should like its chances.