Kyndell Overton transferred to Lansdowne High after spending his freshman year at St. Frances Academy, and in three short seasons, he emerged as a positive leader in three sports and a popular personality in the school.
The 6-foot-3-inch senior, who played soccer, basketball and lacrosse, has been selected as Arbutus Times male co-Athlete of the Year along with senior Antoine Jones.
Before games were played, Overton made an impression on all his coaches at practice.
"He never missed practice and was always a good team leader," Lansdowne soccer coach George Dunn said. "He's a great kid, really nice. He gets good grades and gets along with all the kids. He was a pleasure to have on the team."
On the field, Overton was a key defender for a squad that went 11-2-1.
"He was able to cover the field very quickly with just a few steps because he had a long stride," Dunn said. "He had good power in his foot and could clear the ball real well."
On a team with players from five different continents who spoke several different languages, Overton's English was a steadying influence.
"He was able to communicate to the players and also talking to the referees was helpful," said Dunn, noting Overton was one of four captains on the squad. "He was a stand-up defenseman for us, had good vision of the field and he played hard and had good work ethic."
That work ethic translated to the lacrosse field where Overton was most accomplished.
The All-Division Second Team offensive midfielder earned a scholarship to play lacrosse at NAIA Montreat College in North Carolina.
"When he told me he got a scholarship to go down and play lacrosse in North Carolina it didn't surprise me," Lansdowne lacrosse coach Brian Brown said. "He was one of the few people who came in here and he already knew how to play, so seeing the body of work over the last two or three years, you could definitely tell lacrosse is something he is really passionate about."
Overton scored nine goals and had 11 assists and was second on the team in ground balls (70).
His tall frame was an advantage on the lacrosse field.
"His strength was the combination of his lacrosse knowledge and his drive. He wants to be good," said Brown, noting Overton sometimes begged the coach to a have a Saturday practice when he wanted to give the team the day off.
Overton also absorbed coaching tips.
"Anything I told him, he was like a sponge," Brown said. "If I told to him to change his stick, or the way he was supposed to do something, you could see the next couple of times he was actually trying to do that."
His positive attitude made some tough losses during the 6-8 season easier to swallow.
"He's always smiling," Brown said. "The only time I ever saw him in a bad mood was when we gave away a couple bad games and after the game he was like, 'We will come back, we'll practice hard and get it next time.' I've never actually seen him made for no reason."
Lansdowne basketball coach Greg Karpers also enjoyed that bubbly personality.
"Kyndell always had a smile on his face and was always the first one to say hello," Karpers said. "It was really great to have him at our school."
On the basketball court, Overton was the tallest player on the 12-10 squad and he had a unique role on a team loaded with guards.
"People underestimate how athletic Kyndell is," Karpers said. "Everybody took him for granted."
Overton took on the challenge of being the only post-up starter who played with his back to the basket.
"I don't think people realize how hard that is to do and he worked so hard to get better at that and to become a presence in there," Karpers said. "By his senior year he was pretty polished down there in the low post. He had some nice moves, up and under and he could face up and score from 10-12 feet out."
Overton just got better with age after transferring to a new school as a sophomore.
"Just to see his growth when he came here after his freshman year at St. Frances and how much he matured on the court was tremendous," Karpers said. "It's a credit to him because of how hard he worked at it."
Overton was the team's second leading rebounder (110) and scored 201 points (9 points a game).
His teammate and Times co-Athlete of the year, Jones, led the team in rebounding, assists and steals and both players left an impression on Karpers.
"Both those guys in the classroom and in the hallways, you never had to worry about them," Karpers said. "Both of them were just quality young men and they are everything that is right about Lansdowne in those two guys."