Sonoraville’s Darnell signs to play basketball at Maryville
Sonoraville High senior Orry Darnell signed a basketball scholarship on Thursday with the Maryville College (Maryville, Tenn.).
Darnell said of the signing: “Coming from where I was in 10th grade, I really put in a lot of work. I knew I wanted to do something with basketball, and this means that all that work that I did has paid off. To get the chance to play college basketball is amazing. It’s been my dream, and now basketball is my gateway to getting to college. I’m really excited about that. Coach P (Maryville head coach Raul Placeres) was one of the first coaches to contact me about playing in college. He played at Maryville, and he said it was a great program and a great school to play for. They always told me they wanted me to come there. They put in more effort recruiting me than anyone else. They really wanted to get me there, and it showed. The scholarship money worked out, and everything with Maryville just worked for me. They helped me through the process and really made it easy for me. I’ve had a really good experience at Sonoraville. I loved high school. I loved being able to play for such a great program and loved playing with my teammates and Coach (Brent) Mashburn. It’s tough to see high school come to an
end, but I’m really excited to get started at Maryville. Ever since our last game losing in the playoffs to Cherokee Bluff, I’ve been working harder than ever. I’m going into college trying to be ready to go. I’m always trying to stay in shape and be ready whenever I get my chance.”
Also attending the signing were his sister
Grace Carter, mother Pollyanna Darnell, father Josh Darnell, Sonoraville High assistant principal Matt Fox, Sonoraville High assistant principal Kim Pruett, Sonoraville High head boys basketball coach and athletic director Brent Mashburn and Sonoraville High assistant boys basketball coach Chris Perry.