Southmont senior Kion Cornelius was a key figure for the stout Southmont defense this past season. Not afraid of anything he helped anchor the Mountie secondary and returned punts and kick-offs. He led the team with three picks this past fall. His breakout senior season caught the attention of many colleges. Last Friday Cornelius made it official as he signed with Indiana Wesleyan to continue his football and academic career.
Along with playing for the Wildcats, Cornelius will major in Business with the possibility of participating in the ROTC program.
“All four of the schools I was choosing from were all really great schools,” Cornelius said. “The biggest thing that jumped off the page about IWU was that their football program is fantastic. Then you combine that with the Christianity aspect and the education that I’m going to get there and having the ability to have all three of those parts of my life in one place was great to find in a school like that.”
The Wildcats this past fall had their best season in program history as they finished 11-2 overall on their way to ending their season in the NAIA FCS semi-finals. They reached as high as the 5th ranked team in the country. This past fall Cornelius also played a little bit on offense for the Mounties whether that was catching passes out wide or carrying it out of the backfield. His versatility is something that allows him to be used in many different ways on the field.
“I had a great talk with one of their defensive coaches,” Cornelius said. “I’ll primarily play safety and jump in on all of the special teams that I can. I’ll do as much work as I can early to try and move up the depth chart. They (IWU) I have the talent and drive to do just that. Those are really my main goals as I prepare for my freshman year.”
Moving over the academic side of things both business and the ROTC have been passions of Cornelius and the opportunity to potentially pursue both was just another reason why the Wildcats seemed like a perfect fit.
“Being able to possibly serve my country is something that I’ve always kind of thought about,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to help others and serving would be the ultimate testament to that. That business degree has almost infinite possibilities that go along with it and is something that I can fall back on if I choose to go into the service.”
