HUNTINGTON -- Yes, the announcement was sports-centered, but Friday's setting was more about family and friends.
Teammates, coaches and proud parents offered testimonials of Huntington High School boys soccer standouts Matt Gray and Chris Owens, who moments earlier secured their college playing careers. Gray signed with Frostburg State (Md.) alongside good friend Owens, who inked his letter-of-intent with Concord College.
Owens and Gray, four-year starters with the Highlanders, requested the joint press conference at the high school library.
"It means the world to me," Gray said. "It makes it that much more special, because you sign, you're going off to college -- that's a big deal -- and doing it with your best buddy, I couldn't have dreamed it.
"They're like a second family to me. I go over to their house and they treat me well."
Gray led Huntington in assists the past two seasons and was the team's leading goal scorer as a senior. Owens, likewise, was a promising field player early in his career but segued to goalkeeper. Their statements Friday afternoon were telling, each spending his time offering congratulations to the other instead of opining on their own futures.
"He's a presence," Gray said of Owens. "He's strong. He's somebody you can put your trust in. He doesn't let you down."
Owens will help kick off Mountain Lions soccer this fall as a member of the first-year program's inaugural recruiting class. Described as low-key and steady by classmates, Owens carries a knowing maturity into his unique opportunity.
"There will be two other goalkeepers, but there's no set goalkeeper right now, so I think I'll have a pretty good shot to start," Owens said. "I expect to start but we'll see how it goes.
"We want to create a legacy for the program. We want to start it out right so people in the future are going to want to come there and see it as a respectable place for soccer."
Gray's recruitment also featured interesting storylines. His uncle, Carl Gray, is a Frostburg State Hall of Fame former soccer player. And by the way, Matt's father, Bob Gray, is the well-known, veteran men's soccer coach at Marshall University.
So did Bob Gray, who has recruited countless teen-agers to Huntington, serve as father or coach during the recruiting process?
"It was different," Matt said with a laugh. "He was definitely influential and he gave great advice. He's been through (recruiting) I don't know how many years.
"I think he was definitely more of a dad in helping me get a different perspective."
Bob Gray admittedly balanced his roles but is more than content with the end result.
"I was a little bit of both, because everybody naturally thought 'well, he's going to end up at Marshall playing for his dad,'" coach Gray said. "The reality is we really wanted him to go to a school that was a good fit for him both academically and athletically, and I think quite frankly that he could play at the Division I level, but he has a chance to go in and play right away. And I think he wanted to get away from home a little bit."
Matt said the same, expressing an interest to experience college life beyond the Mountain State borders.
"I tell a lot of the kids I recruit that that is part of the maturation process of getting away from home and being on your own, finding out what it's really like," Bob said. "But the dad in me wanted to make sure all of the things fit. .... The coach in me wanted him to come to Marshall. The coach in me wanted him to stay in state because it's going to be very difficult for me to see him play because our seasons will coincide."
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