Skyline High sees Gallot, students where Kincade studied and played

By MINIYA SHABAZZ
GSU Media Bureau

DALLAS — Grambling State University President Rick Gallot and the Royal Court made a special visit to Skyline High School in Dallas. They visited with high school students, encouraging them to go to college and telling them why GSU would be a good college choice.

During their visit, the royal court made a grand entrance, walking through scores of high school students in resplendent dress as some students gawked and others applauded. They went to the senior cafeteria to talk with students considering colleges, hoping to convince them that their choice should be GSU. It’s the same cafeteria where a star GSU football player once ate.

Skyline was DeVante Kincade’s high school, and the place where he became a national high school quarterback sensation. Skyline administrators, coaches and students are happy with the Kincade-Skyline success story, and they remember him fondly. He returned to Dallas this past weekend to play in front of family, friends and thousands of others in the annual State Fair Classic at the Cotton Bowl, leading the GSU G-Men to a 36-16 victory over the Prairie View A&M University Panthers. Kincade was named Offensive Player of the Week by the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Monday, the second week he received the honor.

“He is one of the best athletes to come through Dallas …schools in a long time,” said Carnally McGee, 41, a Skyline defensive coordinator and health teacher from Ardmore, Oklahoma. “He had big dreams coming out of high school … To see him doing the things he’s doing right now is big. It’s big for not only me, but the Skyline community to see him succeeding.”

The Skyline royal court visit was scheduled in advance, but the president’s visit was a surprise. Cathy Wasson-Cartwright, Grambling University National Alumni Association –Dallas Chapter vice president and GUNAA vice president-elect, said it was the first time she recalls a GSU president visiting during a Grambling State high school recruitment visit in Dallas in the 20 years her chapter has been coordinating high school recruitment visits with GSU. “This was a first,” she added.

Kincade was in touch with Gallot soon after the visit, sending the president a text to let him know he had taken notice.

GSU’s starting quarterback graduated from Skyline in 2012 and went to the University of Mississippi to play football. In spring 2015 he transferred from Ole Miss to Grambling State to be closer to his family, especially his mother.

“It was important to go to Skyline number one because our starting quarterback is a graduate of Skyline,” said Gallot. “Not only is he an exceptional athlete but he is a young man of strong and positive character. We want to … recruit other good students with strong character from that magnet school as well.”

The Skyline visit was one of several middle and high school visits by the Royal Court, and Gallot joined the group for three school visits. They visited Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center in Dallas, Skyline High School in Dallas, Curtistene S. McCowan Middle School in Glenn Heights, Texas, and DeSoto High School in DeSoto, Texas.

GSU student ambassadors visited another three schools in the Dallas area. Roosevelt High School in Dallas Texas, Duncanville high school in Duncanville Texas, Obama Male Leadership Academy in Dallas Texas. Townview Center welcomed Grambling State University with a pep rally. The Big D Marching Band gave a huge welcome to Grambling by performing different songs and chants like Kent Jones’ “Don’t Mind.”

McCowan Middle School students got an early start thinking about college as GSU visited their school gymnasium. Principal Nicholas C. Johnson, a proud Grambling State alumnus, rocked a black GSU T-shirt. “I always represent Grambling. It’s not unusual for me to have a Grambling shirt on,” said Johnson, 46, from Shongaloo, Louisiana.

The second generation alum graduated in 1992, and his wife, Lisa G. Johnson, graduated from GSU in 1990. In his second year as principal at the middle school, he was principal of W.A. Blair Elementary School for seven years of his 23 years in education. He has known Gallot for many years, and the president’s mother, Mildred Gallot, was one of his teachers. “It was a special day,” said Johnson.

###

Media Contact:
Office of Communications
318-274-2866
mediarelations@gram.edu