By Jack Voight, Sports Editor
Dylan Blake dribbles up the hardwood. It’s the fourth quarter, the Nighthawks are trailing Hertford County, a conference title is on the line. Blake has already hit his first two shots of the quarter, both 3s. The crowd starts to buzz as the excitement of a fourth-quarter comeback fills everyone’s mind. Blake just about reaches the Nighthawk logo – a favorite shooting spot of his – and before anyone can react he’s pulling up, with a defender not even two feet away.
Drained it.
As the home crowd erupts, you can look across the court to Hertford’s fans and see the disbelief over this high schooler who just pulled up from beyond NBA range. But through the shock, you can see something else in the crowd: respect for his game. Because what can you do about that?
First Flight would go on to beat Hertford 76-70, clinching the Northeastern Coastal Conference and maintaining an undefeated league record for the season.
“My eighth-grade year in middle school, we were the first team there to win the conference,” Blake said. “So I made a goal to be the first team here to win it, too. It’s definitely good to finally get it as a senior.”
Blake scored a career-high 48 points, including nine made 3-pointers. It just added to his glowing resume: He’s First Flight’s leading all-time scorer, the school’s only member of the 2,000-point club, currently fourth all-time in state history for 3-pointers made, putting up an insane stat line of 29.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 3.2 steals per game this year.
Despite all of this, Blake remains an unsigned senior entering Friday’s final regular-season home game against Currituck. The lack of heavy recruiting from colleges has many of his local fans and even people across the state asking, “Why not?”
“I think that there is a stigma attached to him that he is just a spot-up shooter because of the number of 3s that he has hit,” head coach Chad Williams said. “I think that our geography and our location hurts his recruitment as well.”
Even though First Flight has played its hardest schedule to date, with powerhouse schools such as Word of God and Kinston headlining, the offers have not come rolling in, even though his statewide attention seems to have increased exponentially after great games against great competition. Just scroll through Blake’s Twitter mentions and it’s filled with people praising his game and asking, as everyone that has watched him seems to be doing, “Where are the offers?”
Interest has picked up to a certain degree, Williams said, but perhaps not to the level deserved.
“There’s been a lot more interest in the last few weeks with some bigger schools calling,” the coach said.
Williams is just one of many cheering on Blake with one tweet after another. Blake has grown used to the attention with every @dyl8blake tag: “It’s nice seeing people who aren’t from here know who I am and be in my corner and cheer me on even though they don’t really know me,” Blake said.
With the season coming to a close, Blake seems more focused on finishing off with a strong postseason run with the Nighthawks than his college recruitment.
“Last year we got knocked out third round, so I’m hoping we can make it past that at the very least,” Blake said. “Maybe even the state championship.”
Schools such as High Point, UNC Wilmington, Appalachian State, UNC Greensboro and Navy have all made offers or shown various levels of interest in Blake. But other options remain for the talented senior as well, as Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia has shown interest in having him play a postgraduate season with them. That would allow Blake to have another year to work on his game and collect college offers.
But for now, Blake is in no rush to commit his talents anywhere and prefers to sit back and wait. He believes more offers will come rolling in just like all his fans here and throughout the Twitterverse think.
“If a school decides to offer me and it’s the right fit, I’m going to take it,” Blake said. “(Not being signed) definitely puts a chip on my shoulder, just motivates me to be the best I can be.”
Junior Jack Voight can be reached at 21VOIGHTJA99@daretolearn.org.
