Going into his first year at Wetumpka, sophomore Kaleb Ballard is taking athletics by storm. Within his first few weeks as an Indian, Ballard, who just transferred in from Central Coosa, picked up two Division I football offers from Georgia State and Troy University.
While he enjoys it, football isn’t even Ballard’s main sport — basketball is.
“Basketball has been my favorite since I was a kid,” Ballard said. “I don’t know (why). I just liked playing basketball with my cousins, on the corner when I was a kid. I didn’t get into football until a few years ago.”
Picking up Division I offers only a few years into a football career is hard to believe until you see Ballard on a basketball court or football field. He is 6-foot-5 inches of pure, lean muscle with incredibly long arms that give him a wingspan of more than 7 feet. Wherever he is, Ballard manages to move with the grace that is innate to athletes destined for high-level competition.
His 30 inch vertical jump and 4.5 second 40-yard dash don’t hurt either.
Ballard arrives at Wetumpka coming from Coosa Central, a Class 2A school. Even with his athletic build and natural athleticism, the adjustment to Class 6A competition likely won’t be a walk in the park.
In talking to his coaches Bear Woods and Steven Thomas, Ballard understands the adjustment and is taking every opportunity he can to prepare. You can likely find him at Open Gym with his twin brother Kyle, doing ball handling drills and working on his jumpshot.
“Coach Bear helped me a lot,” Ballard said. “He introduced me to some folks on the football team and basketball team, it made the transition a whole lot easier.”
Woods also played a part in Ballard’s offers, telling him if he put the work in and performed on the field, the offers would come. They did, quickly.
As only a sophomore, Ballard has plenty of time to develop before he moves on to college-level athletics, but that doesn’t mean he’s not thinking about and planning for it.
“I want to see if I can play (both football and basketball) at the next level,” Ballard said.
The goal is lofty, but for an athlete like Ballard, it seems achievable.
