Adonis Otey, who recently left Blackman High School, has enrolled at Franklin Road Academy
Franklin Road Academy
Franklin Road Academy lost quite a few skill players from last year’s 11-1 squad, which reached the Division II-A quarterfinals.
The Panthers, however, managed to pick up a pretty good one this preseason in sophomore Adonis Otey, who recently transferred to FRA from Blackman High School in Murfreesboro.
“He’s only been here for a few days,” FRA coach Bill Whittemore said. “But he is a high-level talented player, and more importantly, what I’m excited about, is his character. He’s a yes and no sir kid, and he’s worked hard the days that he’s been here. Everything is new to him and he’s got a lot to catch up on, but he’ll be fine.”
Otey, who primarily played for the Blackman’s freshman team in 2015, has already received scholarship offers from Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, and Whittemore said that the 6-foot-1, 168-pounder will play a significant role for the Panthers this fall.
“He’ll factor in for sure,” said Whittemore, who has posted a 29-18 record in four seasons at FRA. “The biggest thing is that it gives us another skill player to shuffle around. We spread it around, get a lot of people the ball and try to keep the defense guessing. This allows us to have another threat to put on the field this year.”
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“We run kind of a wing-bone offense and so he can be at wing or receiver, and he’s done a little quarterback,” Whittemore added. “The biggest thing we want is for him to play free and not have to think, so we have to catch him up with what we’re doing as much as possible.”
Otey will also play cornerback on defense, according to Whittemore.
FRA, which is coming off its most successful season since 1991, opens the year at Fayetteville on Aug. 19.
Reach Michael Murphy at 615-259-8262 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.
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