Last Chance U star to highlight Marengo Student-Athlete of the Year Banquet

In an effort to promote and celebrate local student-athletes, the Marengo County Parks and Recreation Board is partnering with The West Alabama Watchman to host the third annual Student-Athlete of the Year Banquet. The event, which is set for Tuesday, May 22 at the Demopolis Civic Center, will feature one male and one female student-athlete from each of the six public and private high schools in Marengo County.

This year’s banquet welcomes as it guest speaker famed counselor and consultant Brittany Wagner, who gained national notoriety during her tenure on the hit Netflix series “Last Chance U”.

Wagner is a nationally respected athletic academic counselor, speaker, consultant and life coach. She was the “mother” to the most dominant junior college football program in the United States – the East Mississippi Community College (EMCC) Lions.

Brittany spent eight years on the EMCC athletic administrative staff where she was responsible for monitoring the academic well-being of the school’s 200 student-athletes. EMCC’s athletic teams achieved tremendous classroom success during Wagner’s association with the college.

During her time in the junior college ranks, she helped over 200 football players and over 50 men’s basketball athletes reach the next level – many of whom are now playing professionally, including Quinton Dial, Denico Autry, Za’darius Smith, Jarran Reed, and Chad Kelly.

Ms. Wagner garnered world-wide fame as the television star of the hit Netflix documentary series, “Last Chance U” – which follows the three-time NJCAA national champions during their 2015 football season. Known for giving “troublemakers” their last chance at making it to the NFL, Ms. Wagner is the vivacious, mentor and mother-figure to these men – often times the driving factor behind their future successes. Wagner’s stardom has landed her interviews with The Dan Patrick Show, GQ Online, New York Times, New York Daily News, and ESPN affiliates all over the country. Her common question, “Do you have a pencil?” has become a phenomenon across the world since the show’s debut.

Since leaving EMCC, Brittany has launched her successful consulting practice, 10 Thousand Pencils which works with colleges, high schools and communities to build programs that support student athletes’ success and growth both athletically and academically.

Ms. Wagner earned her undergraduate degree in sports communication from Mississippi State University, followed by her master’s degree in sport administration. Wagner is a native of Clinton, Mississippi, and a single-mom to one daughter, Kennedy.

The evening will be a celebration of the academic, character and athletic prowess that epitomizes the student-athlete. Each individual honored will be considered a finalist for the title of “Marengo County Student-Athlete of the Year” with the awards going to one male and one female winner. In addition, the Marengo County Parks and Recreation Board will make a donation of $500 to the respective athletic department of each winner.

All athletes who competed in varsity athletics during the 2017-2018 school year are eligible for the award and the endeavor is utilizing a selection committee to determine the winner. The committee will employ selection parameters that consider a student-athlete’s performance in varsity competition and in the classroom as well as extracurricular activities and character recommendations from educators and school officials.

The inaugural banquet, which took place at the Demopolis Civic Center in 2016, saw Marengo Academy’s Andrew Martin and Sweet Water’s Emily Black become the first award winners. Mike Turk, head football coach and athletic director of Huntingdon College, served as guest speaker for the initial event.

The 2017 banquet welcomed, Eli Gold, the voice of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, as its guest speaker. Award winners that year included Linden High’s Tomysha Boykin and Demopolis High’s R.J. Cox.

The finalists from each of the six high schools in Marengo County will be announced in the coming weeks along with on-sale information for tickets.