Twyman Signs to Play at Ball State

All-Met in Two Sports Chooses Basketball

Deontay Twyman will take his basketball skills from Sherwood High to Ball State, which is coached by Ronny Thompson. (By Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post)

Sherwood's Deontay Twyman, the first athlete in 17 years to be named first team All-Met in both football and basketball by The Post, signed yesterday to play basketball at Ball State.

Twyman had long desired to play quarterback at the collegiate level, but grew frustrated once it became apparent this spring that no Division I-A football programs were going to offer him a scholarship to play the position. Twyman was told his 5-foot-11 frame was too small, despite throwing for more than 7,000 yards and 80 touchdowns in three seasons and leading Sherwood to consecutive appearances in the Maryland 4A final.

"After I realized that none of the schools were going to look past my size and offer me a scholarship, I had to look at basketball," said Twyman, who led Sherwood's basketball team in March to its first state title since 1979.

Twyman said Ball State, which is coached by Ronny Thompson, the younger brother of Georgetown Coach John Thompson III, initiated contact with him in early April. Twyman overcame his last stumbling block to a scholarship last Sunday when he learned his score on the ACT exam allowed him to satisfy all NCAA initial eligibility requirements.

In the five days since, Twyman said, he received scholarship offers from Radford, Robert Morris and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

"A lot of coaches were holding off, because they thought he was going to play football," Sherwood basketball coach Dondrell Whitmore said. Along with needing to meet eligibility requirements, "everything was just bad timing."

Lawrence Moten of Archbishop Carroll was All-Met in both sports in 1989-90.