ROCKINGHAM — Two Richmond Senior High School student-athletes signed their official commitment letters to play college soccer on Wednesday.
Seniors Jullian Cline and Jeremiah McLean held a signing day ceremony in the school’s cafeteria, joined by coaches, teammates, family members and friends.
The duo, who have been varsity starters the past two seasons, became the third and fourth Raider soccer players to sign the past two years.
In 2022, former Raiders Cody Eason (Coker) and Alex Medina (Cape Fear) joined the college circuit.
McLean, who verbally committed around Thanksgiving, signed with Shaw University. Cline verbally committed more recently, announcing over the holiday break that he would be playing at Coker University.
This school year, Cline and McLean join the list of several other Richmond student-athletes to verbally commit or sign.
They include softball players Macy Steen (Coker) and Makayla Parks (Pfeiffer), football player Jeffery Linton (Tusculum) and baseball player Camron Seagraves (Campbell).
Both players remained persistent with the recruitment process, using their senior season to catch the attention of their respective college programs.
“It’s always good when you see kids being rewarded for putting in a lot of effort over the last handful of years,” head coach Chris Larsen said. “Both guys are four-year players who bought their time early on and found themselves in big roles the last two years.
“I’m happy that they’ll get to continue playing at the next level and hopefully they’ll represent what we’re doing at Richmond Senior. And maybe that’ll encourage their former teammates to follow in their footsteps.”
This past season, Richmond went 6-15-1 overall with a 5-9 mark against Sandhills Athletic Conference opponents. The Raiders made it to the semifinal round of the SAC tournament.
Jullian Cline, forward
Cline first got in contact with the Cobras over the summer and attended a camp in July. The conversation went from there, with Cline sending footage of his games with the Raiders to Coker’s coaching staff.
Also receiving interest from Shaw, Cline explained he went with Coker following a visit and said it “felt like home.” He plans to major in business management.
“I’d been to Coker several times and met some of the players and coaches,” Cline said. “It really felt like the perfect place for me because they have a great program and it’s close to home. When Coach Larsen moved me to striker in our first game this season, I think that really increased my recruitment.
“It feels good knowing the fact that I’m signed and that it’s done,” he added. “I’m also glad I overcame an injury late in the season and that I’ll be able to continue to play soccer.”
During his senior season, Cline was tied for third on the team with four goals in 20 games. He found the back of the net in two wins over rival Scotland High School, and added a goal in matches against Lumberton and Union Pines.
Coker registered a 6-2-9 record in 2022, which is a Division-II program that competes in the South Atlantic Conference. Against conference opponents, the Cobras went 5-0-6 and netted 1.53 goals per game.
Jeremiah McLean, defender
McLean explained that playing at Shaw was his No. 1 landing spot for both soccer and academics. A student at Richmond Early College, McLean hopes to major in computer science.
This past fall, McLean played in 18 games for Richmond before a lower body injury kept him out during the final stretch.
Switching positions between left and center back, McLean anchored the Raiders’ back line which kept opponents to 3.04 goals per game.
“I’ve been looking forward to this day since I verbally committed,” McLean shared. “I’m really happy that it’s official now. Today was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of feeling having everyone here to celebrate.
“I want to keep improving and see what I can do at the next level,” he continued. “And I’m looking forward to playing against JuJu in college.”
The Bears, which are an independent Division-II program, went 5-7-3 in 2022. McLean will join a growing program that was established in 2017 and is coached by Randy McClure.
Below are photos of Wednesday’s signing day, taken by sports editor Kyle Pillar.
