NEMCC's Hurley persevered through pandemic to continue career

Walnut native and NEMCC quarterback Kevin Hurley used a shortened season to go from no offers to committing to UTEP.

Today for some athletes, is the culmination of hard work and perseverance, it is early national signing day for high school seniors and junior college transfers.

Wtva's matt st.

Jean joins us in the studio with a story of a football player who used the opportunities given to him to keep his dream of playing college football alive.

Going into the 2020 junior college football season, coaches and players didn't really know what to expect.

The national junior college athletic association recommended teams postpone their seasons.

The mississippi association of community colleges conference kept pushing the start date back, but for northeast community college's kevin hurley, he never lost focus on his goal to play for a 4-year program.

(nat) (kevin) i was just going into the season, hoping to play, just getting able to play, just getting able to showcase what i could do and we got to do that.

(track) quarterback kevin hurley went into the season with no offers, not a situation he was unfamiliar with, he wasn't widely quarterback kevin hurley went into the season with no offers, not a situation he was unfamiliar with, he wasn't widely recruited coming out of 2a walnut, which is why he went to northeast out of high school.

He played defensive end in his first year as a tiger, which meant 2020 was his time to shine.then the maccc announced jucos would only play six games, not a big sample size for d1 programs to get a look.

(kevin) a lot of stuff was going through my mind just like every other player, if we were going to play or not but, six game season, i wish we could have played a full 9 i think that would have helped out a bunch of other athletes and stuff.

(track) six games was enough, hurley threw for 10 touchdowns and rushed for 2, playing a big part in the tigers 5 and 1 season.

(greg davis) just his overall reflection in the way he comes about business every day, you kind of see his poise, his understanding of the game and just his overall leadership on the field and how he carries himself day in and day out it's a pleasure to coach the young man.

(track) then on november 20th, the university of texas at el paso's head coach made hurley's dream come true.

(kevin) i don't know what was going through my head, i think i was with my best friend, we was at the barber shop and he called and said we're going to offer you and i think my heart just kinda, just dropped, so i was really excited about that, that was a blessing, it was the biggest school offer i've ever had, probably one of the biggest schools to ever talk to me that meant a lot.

(track) from a small school in north mississippi, to the grind of the juco circuit, and the coronavirus, hurley overcame all the odds and he sets a sparkling example for all small town kids with big dreams. (greg davis) he's an inspiration for all kids at his age, at any level really, perservance overcomes everything.

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