SIGNING: SC's Sutton inks NLI with Wake Tech

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on March 1, 2017 9:57 AM

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jhayes@newsargus.com

SEVEN SPRINGS -- The setting, dressed simply, said it all.

There was the mother, clutching a bouquet of flowers. The old ball coach, anxious and excited and constantly checking the time, wondering aloud whether or not the table skirt looked gaudy or gorgeous.

There were also onlookers, roughly 30 or so, each armed with a smart phone flash and a bit of Hollywood-inspired camera direction to boot.

"Do this," someone suggested.

"Over here, look here," said another.

But the stage talk -- well intended, sure, and designed to capture every grain of celebratory detail -- barely registered with the show's star, who simply wanted to sign her paperwork and resume her day.

Destiney Sutton, you see, doesn't do pomp and circumstance.

She just works.

And the soul of her substance -- a first-in-the-gym, last-out spirit -- is exactly why Wake Tech of Raleigh was eager to have the point guard sign its national letter-of-intent on Monday, a move which likely solidified the position for the next two years.

It's also why Spring Creek -- which lost 54 percent of its scoring and rebounding to graduation a year ago -- was able to defy long odds en route to a second straight appearance in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A playoffs.

"She and I talked extensively about what had to be done," noted SC head coach Charlie Cotten. "She had the tools and ability -- and when she accepted that (leadership) role, she just took off."

Without question.

Sutton's calling card this season -- and over the course of her career, for that matter -- was diversity. On a nightly basis, she filled the box score with a broad range of numbers that not only made her stand out, but allowed her teammates to prosper as well.

In addition to averaging a career-high 16.6 points per game this season, the senior also managed 4.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.6 steals a contest -- metrics which provided balance for a team that often dressed just six players.

And her coach, long a student of the game, won't soon forget the effort.

"There were nights she really made me smile," Cotten said. "Because the little things she was doing allowed the game to slow down for her -- she was in control."

As she was again on Monday, when Sutton selected the Eagles over offers from the likes of UNC Pembroke and Lenoir Community College.

"They made me feel at home," she said of the program. "I really like how they are together as a family... and they work really hard -- that suits me."

Imagine that.