Southeastern District player to watch: Javanti Sparrow of Western Branch

CHESAPEAKE

Javanti Sparrow has more than a dozen scholarship offers to play college football.

The reason is no secret.

Need speed?

Need Sparrow.

While Sparrow’s high speed in football and track have made opponents look like dial-up, this 6-foot-1, 190-pound Western Branch senior has proven to be a quick learner, too.

Thrust from running back to wide receiver before last season, Sparrow responded by running exact routes and nabbing a team-high 20 receptions in the Bruins’ run-oriented offense.

“I had to study a lot more because there’s a lot more things I had to know,” Sparrow said. “I had to get more into it, had to be more mentally prepared.’’

Sparrow is not South Hampton Roads’ most sought-after wide receiver — or even the most coveted wideout in his own district. That distinction belongs to Great Bridge’s Logan Heastie and Oscar Smith’s Tim Smith . Heastie, regarded as one of the nation’s top recruits at the position, has committed to West Virginia; Smith has more than 20 scholarship offers.

Still, college coaches like Sparrow at wide receiver and defensive back, and he lists his top six as Clemson, UNC, Penn State, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.

Sparrow “has that great speed, that burst and has a real good vertical, so he’s able to go up and get balls,’’ Western Branch coach Scott Johnson said. “He could play either side of the ball” in college.

Sparrow grew up watching his cousin Aaron Sparrow , a star quarterback at Wilson High, then at Norfolk State, and imagined zipping TD passes.

Javanti, though, never got to play quarterback. Instead he was tabbed as a running back and defensive back early on.

At Western Branch, he played running back and receiver as a sophomore. But Hykeem Brodie was entrenched at running back heading into last season, and Bruins coaches moved Sparrow to receiver full-time.

“Javanti’s too good a football player to not have him involved offensively,” Bruins assistant coach Michael Donovan said. “We felt like his hands were good, and once he learned how to run some precise routes we could get the ball to him, and he could make some plays.”

The move helped Western Branch lead South Hampton Roads in total offense last year. Brodie rushed for more than 1,200 yards, and Sparrow averaged 16.6 yards per catch.

“Once I started to play it and started to get the ball more I started to take the role as what I really needed to do,” Sparrow said. “I kind of forgot about running back and started to love receiver more.”

Sparrow also has burned up the track, winning a state title in the 500 meters and helping the Bruins win indoor and outdoor state titles.

Now, he heads into his senior football season with a host of college suitors and with higher expectations. Brodie graduated, and star quarterback Kevin Newsome transferred to Hargrave Military Academy.

Sparrow should see the ball in a variety of ways, including out of the backfield.

That’s fine with him.

“I see my role,” Sparrow said, “as being whatever the team needs.”