Sanford safety Pritchard gets offer from Hurricanes
Freshman says Miami is a top choice, but his main goal is Alabama
Ethan Pritchard was not sure how to react Thursday morning when his head coach Eric Lodge informed him he had been extended a scholarship offer from the University of Miami.
“It was like ... I started shaking and just got happy. It was unreal,” said the Sanford Seminole safety of his first college offer.
“It’s just shocking, and it feels good.”
Pritchard is coming off a season in which he had 1 interception and started two games for the 11-2 2020 Class 8A state champion Seminoles. Sanford lost in the playoffs to Apopka last week so there’s no defense of its crown.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound defensive back said the loss to Apopka stung, but getting his first offer from a big-time football school such as Miami certainly relieved the hurt.
“It’s taken everything away,” Pritchard said.
He said Miami would be in his top 10 schools he’d like to receive offers from, but the ultimate offer would be from his favorite team, Alabama.
Asked if he was offered by
Alabama would he commit to the Crimson Tide immediately, Pritchard said: “The way I’m feeling right now, probably so.”
The freshman has had quality upperclassmen to learn from, most notable twin-brother defensive
backs Demari and Ja’Cari Henderson and linebacker Kameron Moore. All three are headed to UCF.
“I’ve learned a lot,” Pritchard said. “If I mess up on something they’re going to get on me, but they’re going to teach me at the
same time.”
Seminole will lose five defensive starters, and Pritchard will likely be looked to as a leader despite his youth.
“All the good ones are gone now,” Pritchard said. “And there’s gonna be like four seniors next season.”
He also said he learns plenty from Lodge.
“It’s been great,” Pritchard said. “He’s just showing me things and developing me as a player and developing me as a person.”