No. 1 HS football sophomore in America plays in Charlotte — and he wants to be a surgeon
Before he goes into English class at Providence Day School, 16-year-old David Sanders has to turn in his cell phone — everyone in class does.
Sometime during class last Wednesday, 247 Sports, a respected national recruiting site, released its rankings for football players in the class of 2025. Sanders, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound offensive lineman, was ranked at the top.
The news spread across social media about as fast as Beyonce’s latest hit, “You Won’t Break My Soul,” was bouncing across his friends’ iMessage texts.
But Sanders had no clue.
When he got out of class and turned on his phone, it started buzzing — and it wouldn’t stop.
“I checked my phone,” he said, “and, man, it had blown up. I saw I was No. 1, and that’s a very big deal. I was thanking God. I was very, very happy when I found out that news.”
Why is he at the top?
Providence Day coach Chad Grier has coached some amazing high school football players, including his son, Will, who was once the national high school player of the year, and current Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman.
Now, Grier is coaching junior Jadyn Davis, who 247 Sports ranks as the nation’s No. 2 recruit at his position.
No pressure, but Grier thinks that Sanders can become the best prospect he’s ever worked with.
“He’s a unicorn,” Grier said. “I’ve never been around anyone like him. In eighth grade, I watched him move around and said, ‘You can be really good at football.’ “
Back then, Sanders was more of a basketball player. His father, David Sr., is 6-foot-7, and played college basketball at Johnson C. Smith University in West Charlotte. His mother, Samantha, played in high school in New York, where both of his parents are from.
Sanders always had basketball agility and a naturally big body. Grier marvels how Sanders’ build is different than a prototypical offensive lineman.
Think more Julius Peppers, less Larry Allen.
“David is freakishly athletic,” Grier said, noting that Sanders broad-jumped nine feet, eight inches at a camp at the University of Alabama last summer. For reference, the average of 551 players tested at the 2021 College Pro testing days was 116.3 inches, or about the same distance.
Sanders is just 16.
“It’s not normal,” Grier said. “That’s the thing that sets him apart and why he is worthy of the ranking. You watch him move and you don’t have to be a football expert to know he’s good, but it’s everything else. It’s the million-dollar smile, the gentle and kind person he is, how respectful he is.
“He was raised right.”
Finding comfort at home
Sanders has 21 college football offers, from schools like Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan, as well as in-state Power 5 schools like UNC, Duke, N.C. State and Wake Forest.
Of course, Sanders, a left tackle, wants to follow the path of former Providence Day standout Ickey Ekwonu, who graduated in 2019, went to N.C. State and turned into a top 10 NFL Draft pick with the Carolina Panthers.
But he also wants to become an orthopedic surgeon. He fell in love with the field after suffering a broken femur bone in his leg during his freshman year.
“I had a really cool surgeon,” Sanders said. “The guy was in mid 40s, early 50s and he was full of energy and passion for medicine. That really piqued my interest in becoming an orthopedic surgeon.”
Grier thinks that’s a realistic goal for Sanders, who carries a 3.47 GPA at one of the state’s toughest academic schools. But if his football keeps going the way it is....
“He’s as good a kid as I’ve ever been around,” Grier said. “There’s not enough adjectives to say how special he is. Of course, he’s got to prove it, but he’s off to a good start.”
Luckily for Sanders, he’s on a team full of Power 5 prospects like him, and one of them — Davis, the wunderkind junior quarterback — was at one time ranked as the nation’s No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2024.
“We talked a little bit (after the ranking came out),” Sanders said. “He tells me to stay focused and how during games, you’ll get the overrated chants, and to just stay the course, and if it makes you happy, it doesn’t matter what the world thinks. We have some big-time players on our team and us being able to go to school together and not being the only guy that has a high-major Division I scholarship helps a lot.
“Just being around like-minded guys who have the same goals has been a positive in my life.”
But after Wednesday, Sanders knows that his life has changed — and probably won’t ever be the same again.
“It’s been an amazing journey, to be honest,” he said. “Being the No. 1 player in the country is not a little thing. That’s just an amazing blessing. But it’s not a thing that’s going to change me as a person, and I want it continue to stay that way and try to be able to able to impact others in a positive way.
“I mean, I still have to go to school and I’ve still go to class, right?”
Photo Gallery: Providence Day’s David Sanders
