News



Senior Spotlight: Dreshawn Pinkston (Memorial Day School

By By Todd O'Neal for the Prep Sports Report | May 11, 2020

Share This Story




Dreshawn Pinkston had a fantastic athletic career at Memorial Day, leading the Matadors to a football state championship during his Freshman season. The team was Region Champions during two of his four years at Memorial.

He played both sides of the football, lining up at quarterback on offense and outside linebacker on defense. He played so well in his career that he signed a scholarship to continuie his football career at Savannah State University.

Dreshawn also played a little basketball. He was an outstanding player and started for the last two seasons. He was one of the leaders that led us to the regualr season Region Championship in 2019-20 and Region Championship in 2018-19.

We ended both seasons in the Georgia Independent School Association Final. This season was supposed to be a rebuilding season after losing eight seniors from the previous team, including all-everything guard Winston Wright.

Dreshawn was one of the returners that had varsity experience and was a proven scorer. His junior season he averaged 11 points and 10 rebounds per game, and this season averaged 13 points and 9 rebounds per game.

That was worthy of Co-Max Preps Player of the Year, the GISA South All Star Team, All Region, Honorable Mention All State and Honorable Mention All Savannah. Dreshawn grew leaps and bounds with his leadership of our team and was one of the guys that led our team in the direction it needed to go.

He brought a lot of energy to practice and started to believe in the phrase “Championships are won in practice first.” Dreshawn is a part of the heart and soul of Memorial Day School and our program.

When you lose a student and player like this you can’t replace them. Last year when I started coaching the basketball program at Memorial Day School I saw a lot of raw talent in Dreshawn but not a lot of discipline. I saw a player that wanted to work on his own terms and that wasn’t totally invested in a team concept.

But this year everything changed. I saw a player committed to his team. I saw him personally hold others accountable and work with them. I saw a different Dreshawn -  a better version of Dreshawn.

I think that if Dreshawn wants to go into coaching after his playing career, he will make an outstanding coach. He has a great way with his teammates and coaches, and I will miss our day to day relationship.

I had the best laugh this season after a big win in the first round of the state tournament. I did not think we played very well and jumped all over our guys after the game.

We were travelling back and stopped at a Burger King in Perry, GA. Dreshawn and the others sat with me at a big round table and began to talk. One of Dre’s questions to me was “Coach have you ever had a losing season?” I told him” I have had a couple of losing seasons.” He said without missing a beat “Coach I bet you were a mean son of a gun to them. No disrespect.”

Everyone started laughing, including me. That was Dreshawn - a great leader that will help all those around him and has a great sense of humor.

I have not been a Savannah State Tiger Football fan before now, but I'm a fan now. Hopefully our paths will cross again. Thank you for your leadership, your hard work and effort and the laughs you gave us at Memorial. May God Bless your journey ahead. 

You May Like

The "Coach" Karl DeMasi has been teaching and coaching for the past 35 years on all levels of academia and athletics. One of his hobbies has been writing, announcing and talking about sports. DeMasi has been involved in the Savannah Area sports scene since 1995, and he created the high school magazine "The Prep Sports Report" in 2000. In 2010, the "Coach" started broadcasting The Karl DeMasi Sports Report. He's still going strong, broadcasting on Facebook live and Twitter live every Saturday morning. You gotta love it!


The Latest News