Help Save Demetrius's Education & Football Career

Hello everyone, this is Demetrius.

Something a lot of people don’t know about me is that although school isn’t my favorite thing; I have always wanted to go to college to pursue my secondary education to get a college degree. Just when I was getting familiar with college courses, expectations, had chosen my major and was looking forward to the courses, complications occurred and it fell apart.

In addition to my education, my football career has been put into limbo. Something everyone knows about me is that my passion is and always has been football for more than 10 years! I was built for this, love everything about the game and my position as a defensive end. I have invested so much into football. When I play, I feel like I am where I’m supposed to be at this moment in my life. Now I am unable to return to school due to financial issues, putting my educational and athletic dreams in jeopardy.

Hello everyone, this is Demetrius’s Family.

Demetrius was developing as a college student when we encountered financial issues that put a halt to building his educational career. Although Demetrius was not fond of school in the past, he still chose to go to college for a degree and to continue playing football. If you’ve seen him play you know and can see that he feels a sense of belonging and purpose on the field. You truly see him in his element!

During the athletic recruitment process, we were led to believe that his tuition, as well as room and board, would be fully covered through academic and athletic scholarships. So, we never saw financial aid becoming an issue. Over winter break; we were told that he had an outstanding balance of over $7,000. We were told that the athletic scholarship would be applied (as it was mistakenly not applied) but that another scholarship would have to be taken away and that the university was unable to “stack” scholarships. Later the amount due increased to approximately $9,000. We (Demetrius’s mother and father) exceeded our reasonable ability to take out loans to cover tuition costs.

He is no longer able to attend the current university as a result of this “misunderstanding” and is in the process of looking for a school to transfer to. However, his transcripts WILL NOT be released until this balance has been paid. This may likely impact his ability to transfer and play football at a more transparent and affordable institution.

We are devastated and heartbroken to find ourselves in this situation. With no other options and with humility, we have reluctantly decided that requesting financial help from family, friends, and the community is our only option to help us pay the amount due.

To cover the tuition balance due and any fees associated with raising funds we are hoping to raise $10,000. While not in school Demetrius is working to also earn money to begin making payments on this amount. He has also applied and is planning to take classes at MATC until he finds a new 4-year university. Our goal is to see him earn his degree and ultimately have a successful career.

Please consider donating if you can. Anything you can afford is greatly appreciated and will help us get Demetrius successfully enrolled in a university to continue his education and his football career.