Gavin Blackwell, a four-star football recruit, was just a freshman on junior varsity not too long ago; however, next year he will be suiting up for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill football team.

     In eighth grade, Blackwell joined the Sun Valley Middle School football team. Even though this was Blackwell’s first time playing organized, tackle football, he immediately stood out among the other players. 

     “The game where I felt that I was really good was the game when we played Porter Ridge in eighth grade, and I had five touchdowns in the first half,” Blackwell said. 

     After Blackwell’s short career in middle school, the wide receiver moved on to high school. As Blackwell began the year on junior varsity, it didn’t take long before he was called up to varsity, where he would tally 538 yards and 5 touchdowns in his freshman year. Once the season ended for the freshmen, the recruitment kicked off as he received his first scholarship offer from Florida International University.

        “[Gavin] called me excited while he was at school, so I thought something was wrong,” Blackwell’s father Garrick Blackwell said. He then told Gavin, “I am proud of you, I’m excited. If you keep that up there will be many more of them to come.”

     At the beginning of Blackwell’s sophomore year, he had four scholarship offers. Even with all the spotlight on him, Blackwell continued to be a leader on the field.

     “Gavin is a great teammate,” former teammate Jacob Bowman said. “Just as he’s doing his job first, he makes sure he leads by example and leads with his voice. He is a great guy to be around on the field.”

     More colleges began to notice Blackwell and invite him to campus visits. On Oct. 27, 2018, Blackwell took his first out-of-state, unofficial visit to Florida State University. 

      “Going to a football school like that who has a lot of tradition was pretty cool,” Blackwell said. “I was with Sam [Howell] so being around him [and] getting to see the recruiting process was really cool.”

     Howell, former SV and current UNC-Chapel Hill quarterback, was Blackwell’s teammate for two years. During those two years, Blackwell took advice from Howell. 

     “[Howell] told me when you are looking for an offer and when you want an offer, it’s not going to come, but when you just wait for it and let things play out, that’s when it will come,” Blackwell said.

     Blackwell took Howell’s advice to heart and caught for 1,136 yards, 19 touchdowns, and won SV’s Offensive Player of the Year in his sophomore season. Blackwell’s performances allowed him to become a highly touted recruit with over 20 scholarship offers from universities such as Ohio State and Florida State. 

     “I think he handled [the pressure] well,” Bowman said. “He didn’t let anything get to him. He doesn’t care about [the recruiting polls]. He still goes day in, day out putting in the work every day.”

     On Feb. 10 Blackwell made his final decision and committed to Chapel Hill. He made it official when he signed his National Letter of Intent on Dec. 16.

     “Every visit I went on, [North Carolina] made me feel special,” Blackwell said. “Every time I stepped foot on the campus, I had a great time, I felt like I was at home, and I had a great relationship with the coaches. One visit I went to a basketball game and got to meet Michael Jordan.”

    Due to Covid-19 postponing the football season, Blackwell will not be playing his senior season. He finished fourth on the Union County all-time receiving yards list (2,702) and 15th on the all-time receiving touchdowns list (23). As Blackwell suits up to play on Saturdays for North Carolina, he will no longer be playing in front of his parents on Friday nights.

     “I’m still dad,” Garrick Blackwell said. “It will be amazing, but I look at him as my little 18-year-old boy.”