Kayla Hodges: After four seasons at Elon University as an All-Colonial Athletic Association midfielder in women’s soccer, Kayla Hodges has announced she will attend to Virginia Commonwealth University as a graduate transfer in 2022. In her final season with Elon, Hodges was named first-team All-CAA. Last season, she started all 17 games for Elon and scored three goals. Last spring, Hodges helped the Phoenix win its first-ever Colonial Athletic Association Tournament championship. In ten games, she was named second-team All-CAA. Hodges played 42 games in her career at Elon. She was also a factor in Elon fishing the 2021 season with a team-GPA of 3.693, the highest in team history. She will transfer to a VCU team that won the 2021 Atlantic 10 Conference regular season championship. The Rams finished 13-4 overall, 9-1 in the A-10. The Rams narrowly missed out on going to the NCAA Tournament, losing to St. Joseph’s 1-0 in the Atlantic 10 Championship game.
Payton Wilson: Joe Giglio of WRAL.com reported that Wilson will return for another season with the N.C. State football team. Wilson, who was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference linebacker in 2020, suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against Mississippi State on September 11. Wilson completed only one game this season as the Wolfpack finished 9-3. He was eligible to declare for the National Football League draft since he graduated from Orange High in 2018, longer than the three-year minimum period required by the NFL. He is still a redshirt sophomore with the Wolfpack. N.C. State will face UCLA in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Tuesday.
Connor Crabtree: The Richmond men’s basketball team will go into Atlantic 10 Conference play with a ton of momentum. The Spiders defeated N.C. State 83-74 in the Basketball Hall of Fame Shootout at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on December 17. It was the first win over an ACC team for the Spiders since they defeated Boston College in November 2019. Crabtree came off the bench to play seven minutes. He didn’t score. Last Sunday, the Spiders knocked off Old Dominion 67-61 at the Robins Center in Richmond. Crabtree came off the bench to play six minutes and didn’t score. On Wednesday, the Spiders routed Bucknell 81-50 in its final game before Christmas. Crabtree played eleven minutes and scored five points. He also had four rebounds and two assists. Richmond went 6-0 in December with wins over Wofford, Northern Iowa and Toledo. The Spiders open Atlantic 10 Conference play against St. Joseph’s on Thursday.
Joey McMullin: The Sandhills Community College men’s basketball team ended 2021 with five straight wins in December. On December 15, Sandhills defeated Shooting for Greatness 108-78 in Pinehurst. McMullin came off the bench and scored 13 points in 12 minutes. McMullin shot 4-of-6 from the field and knocked down a three-pointer. He added three rebounds and one assist. On December 18, the Flyers defeated Thomas Nelson Community College 90-71. McMullin had 16 points for Sandhills, which improved to 10-4 overall. McMullin had 16 points along with a team-high eight rebounds. He shot 7-of-10 from the field, including scoring on his only 3-point attempt. The Flyers are ranked #10 in Division III of the National Junior College Athletic Association. They are also 1-0 in Region X of the NJCAA. Sandhills will travel to Davidson-Davie Community College in Thomasville on New Year’s Day.
Desean Motley: Following in his father’s footsteps, Desean Motley has been promoted to Associate head coach for the Division II Lees-McRae men’s basketball team. Motley was a guard for his father, former Orange men’s basketball coach Greg Motley, at Orange. He averaged 14 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Panthers. Motley played two seasons for Lees-McRae before he started his college coaching career during his senior year with the Bobcats. Lees-McRae is currently 5-2 in Conference Carolinas, 7-4 overall.