Three Lowcountry state champions sign letters of intent

Three Lowcountry state champions were among those signing national letters of intent Wednesday during the first day of the early signing period.

Hilton Head Prep tennis player Ali DeSpain, Hilton Christian golfer Danny Azallion and Hilton Head Island swimmer Kevin Geist signed with Division I schools.

DeSpain signed with Clemson while Azallion is headed to Virginia Tech. Geist is going to Villanova to continue his swimming career.

Despain helped Hilton Head Prep win the state championship last year. She also won the Class A/2A singles championship as an eighth grader when she was at Waccamaw High School.

Despain is the No. 1 ranked tennis player in state and No. 25 nationally. She trains at Smith Sterns Tennis Academy.

Azallion was the medalist in last year’s SCISA 2A tournament and he also won the SC Junior Championship, CGA Jimmy Anderson Invitational, the SCJGA Jimmy Self Invitational, and the Harvey Brock Orange Jacket Classic in 2017. He also finished fifth in The Blade Invitational, seventh in the Sea Pines Junior Heritage in 2018 and third in the 2017 Southern Cross Invitational.

JD Patterson, another Hilton Head Christian golfer, signed with Navy.

Geist was a decorated swimmer for the Seahawks in his career. He won five state championships including two this season in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly.

Hilton Head Prep tennis player Scott Sculley signed with Wisconsin. Sculley is the No. 64 recruit in the nation and No. 4 recruit in South Carolina according to TennisRecruiting.net and helped HHP to SCISA 2A title last year.

Sculley was 22-11 in the traveling tennis circuit, posting six wins over other five-star prospects while 9-1 over four-star opponents.

Lowcountry Signees List

Battery Creek

Emily Crosby (Softball/Spartanburg Methodist)

Alexis Ortiz (Softball/Coker)

McKenzie Young (Softball/USC Aiken)

Hilton Head Prep

Matthew Barnett (Tennis/University of the South)

Ali DeSpain (Tennis/Clemson)

Hunter Hopman (Lacrosse/Palm Beach Atlantic)

Scott Sculley (Tennis/Wisconsin)

Hilton Head Christian

Danny Azallion (Golf/Virginia Tech)

Lukas O’Grady (Soccer/USC Upstate)

JD Patterson (Golf/Navy)

Hilton Head Island

Kevin Geist (Swimming/Villanova)

Davis Molloy (Basketball/Huntingdon College)

Jake Radar (Lacrosse/Lander)

This story was originally published November 14, 2018 at 3:09 PM.