Jornell Manns shares a laugh with Mansfield Senior High football coach Chioke Bradley. Most Tyger football fans know Jornell Manns’ numbers on the field – 37 touchdowns and nearly 2,000 total yards gained in his senior season – but many aren’t aware of perhaps his most outstanding number: 4.0.
That’s 4.0 … as in grade-point average … as in straight As.
It’s no fluke that the University of Minnesota recruit, who will receive a coveted statewide award in February, was one of eight Mansfield Senior High seniors to achieve a perfect 4.0 GPA in the semester’s first grading period. He has excelled academically since grade school, applying the same work ethic and determination that led to success between the goal posts.
“I started participating more in class,” Manns said, explaining how he increased his grade-point average from a solid B last year. “Too many people are embarrassed to speak up or read out loud. I’m not.
“I know my teachers. If I have a low A, I ask what I can do to raise it. I don’t want an A minus. I’m always looking to better my grades.”
Manns’ favorite subject is French. He has taken other demanding courses, including Spanish and calculus.
Head
football coach Chioke Bradley recalls that Manns completed algebra I as an
eighth-grader and achieved the ACT score required by the National Collegiate
Athletic Association while still a junior.
“Jornell is a very intelligent human being. He is one of those kids with an ‘old soul’ who grew up at a young age. Those tools made him extremely coachable,” Bradley said.
Gary Feagin, a Senior High graduate and member of the Mansfield City Schools Board of Education, understands the pressure involved in maintaining good grades as a high school and college athlete.
“It requires focus, total focus,” Feagin said. “Jornell has that focus. I commend him for his dedication and achievement in the classroom as well as on the football field.”
Manns
credits part of his classroom success to the lasting friendships he made in
grade school.
“Around the fourth grade my friends were smart kids. It wasn’t cool if we didn’t have good grades. They’re still my friends,” he said.
Manns
imparts that philosophy to his 13-year-old brother.
“I tell him, ‘I don’t care what you do on the field. Work hard. Get good grades,’” he said.
Manns completes his classes at Senior High by noon, then works a four-hour shift at Wendy’s before returning to Senior High for basketball practice. As a younger teen he worked at the YMCA.
He has participated in community service projects as a member of Senior High’s Ohio Cardinal Conference Leadership team and helped distribute Thanksgiving dinner boxes to those in need as part of the school’s Feast of Love.
Named to the
All-Ohio Div. III football team, Manns was the OCC Offensive Player of the Year
and the Co-Offensive Player of the Year on the 2017 All-News Journal football
team.
Manns will sign his letter of intent to join the Big 10’s University of Minnesota Golden Gophers during a Dec. 20 ceremony in the Senior High auditorium.
In February,
Bradley said, Manns will receive a coveted award given to one player in Ohio.
“Jornell will receive the Art Teynor Ohio Player of the Year Award from the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association,” he said. “It is given to an Ohio high school football player who has overcome tremendous adversity, demonstrates high character values, achieves academic success, participates in community service projects and has a passion for football.”
Manns will
choose a major after he settles into college but his goal is to play in the
National Football League. He is neither cocky nor intimidated by the
competition he will face at Minnesota.
“I have never been the kid who was expected to be the greatest,” he said.
Bradley said
Manns has completed the requirements for early graduation and could have
enrolled at Minnesota to get a jump on other freshmen players, but he has opted
to remain at Senior High for the second semester.
“I’ve been a freshman before. I’ll be ready,” Manns said. “I wouldn’t trade growing up here for anything.”