Monday afternoon wasn’t what I would call a whirlwind of activity, but it definitely was one of the more interesting days in my time at The Meridian Star.

I was coming back into town after a weekend visit at my mother’s, and I had to make sure to be at the MSU Riley Center by 1 p.m. for what was the first of several big things coming this year in your hometown newspaper.

With a list in my hand, I waited on the Riley Center’s first floor as football players from Lauderdale and its surrounding counties made their way to the lobby. From there, I directed them to go up the elevator to the second floor, turn right and walk into the staging area.

A total of 22 first-team players — every player selected — made the photoshoot for our Premier Preps football squad.

When I arrived at The Meridian Star in February 2014, I learned the paper hadn’t done an all-area team in quite some time. Having come from a newspaper where it was already an annual event to do an All-Metro team for several sports, this surprised me. After a year on the job, I decided in the fall of 2015 it was time to institute All-Metro teams of our own.

A year later, after having already done All-Metro teams for football, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, fast-pitch softball and baseball, our new publisher, Alexander Gould, suggested we expand the effort into something bigger.

Last year’s format included the list of each player that made first-team, second-team and so on, along with a feature story about the players and coaches of the year. Instead of simply running some lists, we decided we would have each first-team football selection come to the MSU Riley Center for a photoshoot, allowing us to get these players’ faces in the newspaper instead of it simply being a name and a list of stats. Instead of running a story about a player and coach of the year, we opted instead to save those selections for our May 22 Premier Preps banquet next spring, for which we are mapping out the details.

So this year, coaches from our coverage area’s 18 high schools were asked to submit up to 10 players for consideration. Along with their names, positions and year in school, we asked them to provide season stats and any postseason honors (All-Region, All-State, All-Star selection, etc.) the players may have received.

From there, Elton and I began the grueling task of selecting a first and second team. Some players were obviously going to make it. A few surprises popped up along the way. There were at least one frustrating debate about whether we wanted to consider a two-way player for his offense or defense. 

Perhaps the most noteworthy thing was how many dominant linebackers we have in our coverage area. We were planning to give the defense a “4-3” look but quickly decided it would be a “3-4 defense” based on the number of high-quality linebackers. There were several players who made second-team at linebacker that were easily first-team caliber — and would have made first team any other year.

We hope you like the look and feel of Premier Preps, which is not meant to just be a catchy name, but is meant to highlight some of our area’s best athletes — and not just in football, but in a number of different sports, boys and girls. 

Be on the lookout for the boys and girls soccer teams, the boys and girls basketball teams and the fast-pitch and baseball teams. And stay tuned for more news on our Premier Preps banquet.

A special thanks goes out to the MSU Riley Center for providing us a location to do the photoshoot.

Drew Kerekes is the sports editor of The Meridian Star. He can be reached at dkerekes@themeridianstar.com.